Originally,
I wasn't going to write about the movie 'Selma'; 'cause I basically
knew, this movie would serve as another trigger to get Black folks to
hate themselves via more imagery of us being brutalized trying to get
the right to sit or stand next to a white person. Then I
had a change of heart, behind a gathering I was within earshot of at my
local library.
A
middle-aged Black woman led five young Black girls, the oldest
appeared to be about seven or eight, into the library's lounge; which
I happened to be seated next to. She began waxing philosophic about
Black women heroines of the past, and I thought that sounded pretty
positive. The girls took a vote on which biography they wanted read
to them; the choice was between Coretta Scott King or Rosa Parks.
Being that we've all been force-fed the iconography of Dr. King, the
girls voted on Coretta. But somehow, the Black woman mentor gave up
talking about Coretta and began speaking about Rosa.
The
woman mentor went through the usual paces of talking about Rosa Parks
not giving up her seat to a white man, before the lecture took a
strange turn. This woman began asking the girls whether or not Rosa
was brave for not giving up her seat to the white man on the bus, so
she could start the initiative to integrate the bus system and this
country. The girls all agreed Rosa was indeed brave. Then the Black
woman began talking about Rosa having to go to jail to start the
integration initiative, i.e. the 'Civil Rights' movement. A second
later, this woman asked the girls, would they be willing to go to jail in
support of the integration movement? Then I turned around and shot
this woman a perplexed look. She didn't see me 'cause her back was
turned to me. The woman continued asking the girls in different ways,
if they'd be brave enough to go to prison in support of integration.
I was thinking about saying something to this woman, when another
Black woman working for the library, came and told her that the room
they usually use was now free; so the small class moved out of the
lounge and into this room.
After
the small group of girls went in this room, a sign was put on the
door saying, 'Meeting in session, do not disturb'. My head couldn't
stop shaking.
Now,
this would be insidious enough if it were a group of young Black boys
being asked this, but this woman was asking this of young Black
GIRLS! What this woman was imparting to these Black girls was the
notion that they should be ready to literally lay their lives on the
line for the privilege of standing or sitting next to a white person.
And
this again, ultimately, is the message of the movie 'Selma'.
Now,
I'm not gonna' lie and say I saw this movie, 'cause I haven't...and I
won't. To me, this is one in a long line of cavalcade of stars coon
show flicks, in the spirit of: '12 years a slave', 'The Help', 'The
Butler', 'Django Unchained', etc. And when I watched the trailer of
this flick, what I saw repulsed me. There's one moment in the trailer
I'll include at the end of this post, where a state trooper at the
march on the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, puts razor wire around a bat, for the
up-coming slaughter of our people. There's another moment where the
actor playing Martin King introduces himself to a white man, who
punches him in the face a second after. A moment later, you see
Martin with an ice-pack on his face, uttering the words, “Man, that
white boy sure can hit.” Now this is doing two things, one, it's
quelling the white man's inferiority complex around his being
physically weaker than a Black man; and two, it's telling Black
adults, like the woman mentor in the library was doing with those
children, that we as Black people, should be masochists when it comes
to trying to gain, or keep, a close proximity to white people...who are
killing us!
And that's the main tenet of this film folks, to tell the Black Diaspora how we should
continue to love these inbreds, literally, TO DEATH!
And,
at the base layer of this crap flick, again, is the good 'ole
psychological trigger of Black people watching themselves being
brutalized, so as to make sure our minds stay anchored in the
self-hatred these people have bred into us. Good night at the
pictures, huh?
Now,
as of late, I've begun talking on this Blog about the virtues of
segregation, hence, the title of this post. And what I always want to
make perfectly clear is, if you're a Black man or woman reading this,
I'm not telling you to pack a bag and get on the next thing smokin'
to Africa. But if you have the financial wherewithal to do so and
that's the choice you've made, more power to you. For myself and the
overwhelming majority of Black folks in america, it's not that
simple. Not only have we built lives here, but it takes an organized
infrastructure to make this transition on a massive scale. And we all
need food, clothing and shelter in the meantime. But, I say our
'long-term' goal should be building a nation, or nation state where
ethnic homogeneity, on our terms, would mean we could work for an
economy that is literally, for us, by us. But before
we can achieve any of this, we have to rid our selves of the
self-hatred that movies like 'Selma' are hell-bent on reinforcing.
And, whether we, the Black Diaspora, like it or not, we're going to
face another period of segregation in this country. What's coming
behind this massive wave of gentrification in america, is our people
being put into areas where we have less access to resources,
especially the resource of public transportation. Whitey feels we
have too much access to stores, trains, buses, and other vital goods
in the areas he's sequestered us into. So, white fascists are
hell-bent on putting poor Black folks in rural areas, where you have
to get pretty much of everything, and where you have to get everywhere, by car. And if you don't have one,
then they can more easily restrict your access to damn near
everything.
But
again, before building any kind of sovereign nation, our diaspora has
to get back to square one, which is, how do we recondition ourselves
out of our self-hatred?
Now,
my answer will always be, by accessing the subconscious through a means
of meditation. And, beyond the fact that I'm working on a technique
allowing anyone to access the subconscious in under five minutes,
which I'll share with the family soon; I understand, the majority of
our diaspora are really not gonna' take to this. So I say to those
who really want to rid themselves of this self-loathing, that you
should find what works best for you. Whether it be positive
visualization, self-hypnosis, or some sort of chanting ritual. But
whatever you do, don't think you're gonna' pray this away, 'cause you
won't. Like I said in a previous post, prayer changes things, but one
thing it doesn't change is behavior. Find a way to get into your
subconscious, so you'll see some tangible results. 'Cause again, ten
'hail marys' and five renditions of the 'lord's prayer' ain't gonna'
cut it.
And,
it could be that my generation is too far gone to be saved from this
self-hatred, but we should do all we can to help our youth rid
themselves of this. 'Cause if we do this seriously and diligently, we
could see a change in our people in a matter of two or three decades.
Now,
will we do all this before it's too late? Ultimately, that's the
greatest question of all. So let's get to work...and the sooner, the
better.
Later...
MontUHURU
Mimia
P.S.
Here's the 'Selma' trailer I spoke about earlier, this footage let me know that this was a movie I needed to miss.
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