We Know Darkness When We See It
America has been the same since 1619. America has never considered Black Folks to be anything at all. If we don’t gather ourselves to create a Black Nation, how will we protect ourselves? How will we make sure our children and their children and their children will have an identity? I hear the blood of colonizers boiling over, bubbling up in hate. I see the white establishment getting bold again in its interactions with Black and Brown. If we don’t take care of ourselves, who will? No one! NO ONE!
The Democratic Leadership seems to be cruising along like it’s only a matter of time and things will be back to normal. Nothing has ever been normal for Black Folks. Our Ancestors built and propped up this nation, yet we find ourselves here again. We are surrounded-by white militia, cops, conservatives, liberals, judges, prosecutors, mayors, governors, CEO’s, wardens, nosey white neighbors, an outdated electoral college, land developers, prison complex owners, Hollywood, white images, slave owner statues, zones, districts, deceit, bribery, surveillance, profiling, war, hate and jealousy.
400 Years. Who am I? Why would I pledge allegiance to their flag? What has patriotism ever done for me? Who am I? My heart belongs to my country, the Diaspora. My allegiance belongs to my People. I only have them. I only need them. No political party has ever done anything for us. We have to put the enemies of our race out of business. We have to close ranks, turn our backs on them. We have to make them suffer, leave them holding the stolen bag of money. We have to make them poor so we can have a chance. We need plants, factories, capital to build and invent. We have to fill up HBCU’s. We have to shut down the liquor stores in our neighborhoods unless we own them. This country, called a melting pot, leaves us out of the stew to rot. Our brothers and sisters must be released from race cages. Plantations have to be burned. We have to line up, plan, protect ourselves from further loss. They don’t care. We cannot sit back and wait for some kind of compassion from the white government. They want our money and our talent but not our mouths. They want us to shut up and be thankful. They want us to stay in our places, be obedient. Black Liberation, Black Power, Black Nation, has to mean something from this day forward. Maybe I’m just catching up because I’ve been sleep for a long time. I’ve been caught up in the mirage of assimilation and Americana. I thought I was an American, but I realize I’m a displaced soul on God’s Planet. A missing piece of a puzzle, put in the wrong box, therefore a misfit of sorts. America is not my home. America has never loved me. In some ways I can identify with the American Flag though. My Ancestors, past, recent, have had their blood shed, or taken. White Supremacy continues to haunt us, which makes me feel kind of Blue. Ain’t that fucked up?!
I would rather have written something warm, cushy, feel-goody, loving. My heart is heavy. I have to get my feelings out of the way, pour them onto the page. 2020 has been a year of planning for white supremacists. ICE camps, pandemic rhetoric, voter suppression, poll tax in Florida, rights abuses, storms, denial of history (what’s new?), and the stuff we don’t know about. We are watching in real time, from a loudspeaker, a xenophobic and racist administration! They have one goal-annihilation. Fuck America.
Rest In Peace RBG. Also, I don’t speak for everyone. These are my thoughts and opinions.
Written by Michael Allen
Escape Indie 2020
All Rights Reserved
For my People!
