One of the most foundational spiritual teachings is found in nearly every faith system: “Man/Woman, know thyself.” Know who you are and whose you are. Know your people’s history, heritage, and culture. Know that you possess an inherent value and inner divinity not given to you by society or money or position or title. Knowing these things is incredibly important to your mind/body/spirit health.
KNOW WHO, KNOW WHERE
The Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey put it like this: “If 400,000,000 Negroes can only get to know themselves, to know that in them is a sovereign power, is an authority that is absolute, then in the next 24 hours we would have a new race, we would have a nation, an empire – resurrected, not from the will of others to see us rise, but from our own determination to rise, irrespective of what the world thinks.”
“Man/Woman, know thyself.” Every major faith system on the planet uses similar words to convey the same message – knowing who you are is critical to your survival.
But so, too, is knowing where you are. Just ask any Black person who found themselves in Vidor, TX, or any other “sundown town” after dark. Knowing where you are is critical to your survival.
If we (Blackfolk) succumb to historical amnesia – forgetting who we are and where we are – we’re gonna be in a mess of trouble come Nov. 6 – the day after the 2024 Presidential Election.
PREMATURE DEMOCRATIC EUPHORIA
Right now, Democrats and progressives and folk who see clearly the clear and present danger posed by a potential second Trump term in office, are feeling pretty good about things. They (we) are excited about a presidential candidate (VP Kamala Harris) who brings more to the table than just incredible historical significance. They (we) are encouraged by the level of energy and excitement Harris has brought to the fight as head of the Democratic ticket. Folk are feeling themselves with all the energy from the Democratic National Convention and all the various “groups for Kamala” popping up left and right.
But on Day 1 of the DNC, I think it was U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (I could be wrong) who reminded folk, “We are still the underdogs in this election.” And those words are so important.
Because if we forget “who we are” and “where we are,” all these good feelings will translate to underestimating the forces that seek our demise.
We are Blackfolk… in America.
REALITY REMINDER
And in America, there has never been a day, minute, or second in this country’s 248-year history (plus those 100-plus years before it even became its own country) that Blackfolk have not been under attack, declared inferior, demonized, brutalized, mistreated, etc.… (I’m running out of descriptors).
In this land, racism (the institutionalization and weaponization of the myth of Black inferiority paired with the myth of white superiority) is more “American” than baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie combined. There literally is no America without racism.
Don’t let all the commercials with multi-racial couples fool you. I could pull out the stats in education, healthcare, criminal justice, housing, economics, politics, etc. But just know, in 2020, Donald Drumpf ran on a Republican Party platform (the party’s official mission statement on the issues and policies most important to them and their vision for America) of racism and hate. Look it up. In 2020, the GOP didn’t even bother putting together an official party platform, and instead chose to run on everything Drumpf and all his minions were spitting out – racism and hate.
And racism and hate as the official and unofficial Republican Party platform got Drumpf 74 million votes. That’s almost 47% of the popular vote, which translated to 232 electoral college votes – just 38 shy of what he needed to win that election.
Those who worship the myth of white supremacy have always used racism and hate (the real “Race Card”) to get what they want and keep what they stole. And when they believe their stolen stuff looks like it’s about to be taken away, racist policies, rhetoric and actions (especially violent actions) rise exponentially (read Carol Anderson’s book “White Rage”).
I’m sharing all this as a friendly Public Service Announcement so that we don’t get so swept up in the current euphoria of the Harris/Walz ticket rise in momentum that we forget “who we are” and “where we are.”
Contrary to racist misinformation, this country has given Blackfolk nothing. Everything we’ve ever “received” we got from our own blood, sweat, tears, work, grit, sacrifice and determination. And it’s going to take all that to secure an election that won’t offer us salvation, but will save us from the unapologetic anti-Black policy wrath of Republicans, by providing us with the space and opportunity to continue to fight and build and work and rise.
As long as we remember who we are and where we are.
