Where We At Black People?
By Zala Highsmith-Taylor
Hotep. Hobari Gani. Aloha. Asalaam Alakeem. Shalom. Buenos Noches. Good Day! What’s Up! How Ya Doing? Que Pasa? Bon Jour. Yo! Greetings, my sisters and brothers. Greetings Basement. Greetings Brooklyn. Greetings world. My praises and respect are for those who walked before me, those who paved a way out of no way; my songs are for those who continue to walk on the path and live and fight for justice and peace. My soundings are for our sisters and daughters who were meant to fly.
As we celebrate Women’s History Month, we should be reminded of the fact that a society that completely practices equality, justice, peace, and inclusion would not need a women’s history month or a Black history month. We would be included each day throughout the year, every year. This is why I know that during this month of celebration of women in the United States, there remains as much an obligation as ever for barriers to be broken and gaps to be bridged in our human relationships. The disparities and inequities threaten to suffocate us in the mud of hunger, ignorance, and despair.
The rapid changes in the world and the fact that most of the world’s people no longer exist as isolated islands dependent on none but the members of their individual community mandate that we become better prepared to communicate, operate, and compete in a multi-racial, multi-cultural, multi-lingual, cross-cultural, and cross-lingual world that becomes smaller each day. Indeed, the new millennium, with all of its complexities, confusion, and possibilities, is here, and the concept of the global village is more of a reality than ever. We are in a period of universalities, a period of the survival of the fittest, a period of a New World Order, an order that some think signals a new form of enslavement for the majority of the world’s people, i.e. people of color and women.
While we pay homage to our sheroes and heroes of the past and the present, we know, in some frightening ways, that this is one of the most horrendous yet enlightened periods of human history. It is, indeed, the worst of times and the best of times. It is an age of technological advancement such that our very words can be spirited across continents in a matter of seconds, while holes in the ozone layer and pollution in the water threaten our very existence. It is a time when the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the South Pacific are hours away by airplane or minutes away by bomb. It is a period of stretch limousines and homelessness found on the same street corner. It is a period when the world’s disorder is such that we see neighbor killing neighbor by the hundreds and thousands while politicians or religious leaders attempt to either justify it or arrest it while gaining greater hegemony for themselves or their group. It is a time when quality grass roots/ working class education and the arts have ceased being a priority in most places, including rich, rich America, and it is a time when science, for those who have the money, can locate the smallest of ills in the human body. It is a time when DNA testing can determine who the daddy is or who the real criminal is, yet lack of money and proper legal representation can still send an innocent man or woman to death by lethal injection. It is a time when more people than ever can gaily bask in the sun of shimmering material wealth while others suffer from the lack of basic human necessities. It is a time when we can pass the peas, chicken and mashed potatoes without skipping a beat while we eat dinner and watch bombs being dropped on women, children, and the elders in other countries. It is a time when too many of us can idly stand by and watch beautiful warrior men and women like the Mumia Abu Jamals of the world face death sentences, and the Assata Shakurs of the world face sentences of life in prison or life in exile for saying "no" to injustice, for learning what good old Patrick Henry meant when he shouted, "Give me liberty or give me death."
It is a time when super slickness and spin control has made up look down, wrong look right, a dog sometimes look like a cat, evil look good, and the enslavement of the human spirit the norm. It is a time when someone can tell you what you saw with your very own eyes was not what you really saw, telling you that it was an illusion, for example, the Rodney King beating. It is a time when some government officials can tell you that they have a contract with America, that is a contract with you, and they never even called to ask what you want. It is a time when human beings have touched the moon and people who have never read an entire book in their lives are reading novels written by Black people and other people of color. It is a day when Black folks still have to search for adequate inclusion in the mass media, yet the federal government can give us Brother Malcolm X on a postage stamp. (The same Malcolm that, while he was alive, incurred the wrath of white America, including the New York Times which had headlines that read, "The Apostle of Hate is Dead," the day after his assassination on February 21, 1965. Who are they trying to fool with the stamp? Are we really to believe that these people love and respect Malcolm, our shinning Prince? Or is this yet another example of the trickery of the times?) It is a time when the creative genius of the Black oppressed has given us rap and hip-hop to be added to all the music of resistance created by Black people since the time of our enslavement. It is a time when the younger people are asking the older people, "What have you done? What are you doing?" It is a time when the older people are looking at the younger people and, like generations before, believing that all is lost.
The Artist (formerly known as Prince) has said, "There are thieves in the temple tonight!" The thieves are often those we deem most holy, most powerful, both in the material and the spiritual world. The thieves are many of the individuals that we have allowed to lead us in life, those whose glitter we chase. There are holes in the ozone layer, and news reporters tell us that the quality of the air is more often "bad" than "good." (On the days that it is "bad," can someone please tell me what we should do besides remain in the house, something which the average working person cannot afford to do?) Thieves in the temple. Thieves who have thrown oil, chemicals, and garbage in the water are now telling us that the drinking water may be giving us cancer. Yet what if you are amongst the millions on earth who don’t own a water filter? Or you can’t afford to buy bottled water. Or worse you find out that the bottled water is the same water that comes out of the faucet, that is, crystal pure lead that gradually kills you and your children, your brothers and your sisters, making them brain dead in the process.
Thieves in the temple tonight! What about a place called Jasper, Texas? (This is the place where some white men decided to have some "fun" by lynching a black man.) What is it about a society that leads to men of one race kidnapping and beating a man of another race, and then dragging him down a concrete road for three miles while chained to the back of a truck, decapitating him and dismembering the rest of his body in the process? What were their thoughts? What were his thoughts? What kind of society fosters that kind of hatred? What kind of society was it that led to millions of people being put in concentration camps and millions of people being put to death while their neighbors watched? Does the society in which we currently live have some of the same characteristics as Germany during those times? What about the Black people currently being herded into prisons? What about the Black man who was sodomized by white police in the bathroom of a New York City police precinct? What about the 43 bullets recently fired by white police at an innocent Black man who was trying to enter his Bronx, New York (located in democratic America) home after a long day of work? How do we possibly talk about the 19 bullets that punctured every vital organ in his body and killed him, and not know the need for our unity, the need for us to break the barriers and bridge the gaps? How does anyone justify shooting at any human being 43 times? And how do we talk about it? Do we say, "Never again…"? Do we say, "No justice, no peace…"? Do we even remember Eleanor Bumpers, the 62-year-old African-American grandmother, killed by white police during an eviction process in the same Bronx, New York? They said she was wielding a knife. (Neighbors say that she probably picked up the knife because she thought that the people breaking down her door were drug addicts trying to rob her.) The police, armed and covered by protective gear, used a shotgun, and shot off her finger before they finally killed her. Eleanor Bumpers was an overweight, arthritic, diabetic, 62-year-old grandmother, and we were told that New York’s "finest" police department could not disarm her. And didn’t we say "Never again…" then? Didn’t we march with our fists in the air and tears in our eyes and say, "Never again…"? And what do we say to those who try to tell us that race had nothing to do with it? How is it possible that responsible people can say that race has nothing to do with it when there are no examples of white grandmothers being shot in eviction proceedings or innocent white men being shot at 43 times. And what should we say or do when they tell us this? 43 bullets. Not one, two, four hundred years ago. Not during a time way back when Black people were really catching hell, enslaved, castrated, raped, whipped, chained, separated, worked, robbed, beat down, worked and robbed -again and again, while being called lazy and good for nothing. Today.
Yet we survived and continue to survive! What are the lessons? What enables us to continue to dream, work, hope, pray, analyze, and struggle for a better day? Where are we at Black people?
We are the children of those Black folk who refused to die, refused to die even under the most horrendous conditions. Refused to die in Trinidad, Venezuela, Brazil, St Lucia, Barbados, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Panama, the Dominican Republic, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, New York and all the places in the Americas where Black people were enslaved and can be found today. Our ancestors survived because they understood why the bridges had to be crossed, why the barriers broken! They survived because of strength of mind, body and soul, an understanding of community, and a belief in the Creator, themselves, and the future. They did not have any illusions. They survived because they knew themselves and knew their enemies, and they understood that there would always be sell-outs amongst us, those who would opt for privilege over people. They survived because one’s word was bond, and sacrifice was accepted as a key ingredient for change. They survived because they understood that ‘by any means necessary’ includes the ballot and the bullet. They survived because they understood that discipline, organization, and culture are needed in order for oppressed people to move forward.
Today many Americans are not safe from hunger and malnutrition, not safe from increasing homelessness, not safe from environment pollution, and, also very important, not educationally safe. One in seven is at risk of dropping out of school. And the millions more who remain in school are not developing the strong basic skills they need in order to become productive workers and college students. Black children, Asian children, Latino children, and Indigenous children have little if any formal education that affirms their cultures and teaches them the truth about history. The white child is, thus, also denied the rich tapestry of history. This past century witnessed Star Wars spending become three times greater than spending for the entire Head Start preschool program. It was the century of more police and more jails. It was a century that saw education budgets drastically cut while baseball stadiums and additional missile sites got funded. It was the century of some of the universities of the United States opening their admission policies only to close them again. It was the century that saw the creation of affirmative action and the destruction of that very action. It was a century that guaranteed that we would proceed in this next century with a reduced number of Black and women doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, etc. It has been a time when white America has boldly told Black America that the time for catching up, for leveling the playing field has past. They have told us to forget about President Johnson who once told white America with regards to his vigorous affirmative action program, "You do not take a person who for years has been hobbled by chains and liberate him… bring him up to the starting line in a race and then say, ‘you are free to compete with all the others’ and still justly believe that you have been completely fair." According to this way of thinking, Tarzan will swing again. And we, Black people, must return to what we always knew. It will be us who saves us.
In addition to our recognizing that we must take responsibility for us, Black people and others must also understand that much of this nation’s strength, social fabric, and ability to compete internationally depends on Congress’ budget decisions. Will our dollars go into more guns and bombs, more prisons and police, more gifts to big business? Or will our tax dollars go for education, housing, and health care? The American public must urge our elected officials to make the hard choices to bring the interest of the American people, not the interest of big business to the foreground. The politicians must be made to see the necessity of investing in the new generations of young Americans plagued by poverty-related problems such as high infant mortality rates, teenage pregnancy, school dropouts, high rates of abuse and neglect, and joblessness.
A national investment plan is essential if America’s children are to acquire the education, skills, health, and character that the nation will need from them in the future. One of the things that I know must happen is that children, families, and the poor of all ages must be a major part of any federal, state, or city political race in this country. No candidate should go through any debate or convention without having to explain his or her specific policies for strengthening children and families, his/her vision for lifting the weak as well as cultivating the strong, and his/her plans for peace. And while I do not place most of my eggs in the electoral basket, I do believe that every eligible person should register and vote, even if he/she just votes for the local dogcatcher. Politicians respond when they are watched and when they hear from people back home. One or two hundred letters from every community about issues that are pertinent to the community will shake them up. That’s because they consider every letter as representative of 25 people. That’s how much power we have in our hands. (Of course, we understand that demonstrations, rocks, and various other weapons have also been part of what has made policy makers and despots listen in history. We know that, ultimately, it is the political and economic system that needs changing, not just the political players.) It is when we are apathetic, obviously doing nothing, not unified that politicians think that they can do whatever they want to do. That’s when they listen to their rich bosses, those ten percent of the earth’s people who control what happens in Congress. But imagine what would happen if the ninety percent stood up, and actually showed our power.
The last thirty years have left many of us tired and disillusioned, but not defeated. We must continue to work to reverse government spending priorities. We must end federal policies that favor weapons of death over tools for life. Remind anyone wanting to scrimp and save at the expense of today’s four year olds that these four year olds will soon be the adults making policies affecting all of our lives. Do we dare not invest in their future – and ours?
We need to know that people who just sit back and wait for change have never made history. History is made by people who move, those who stand up, take risks, and spread and speak truth to power. We must remember that we stand on the backs of those who paved a way out of no way, those who survived enslavement and reconstruction, those who took to the streets and bushes during the fifties and sixties and demanded a change.
We must remember those who have done the diligent research to show us that we too had Kings and Queens, and that the blood and brains of Africa created pyramids and civilization while other people were still in stages of barbarism. We must remember those who did the research and allowed us to know that most of the world’s religions have roots in the Nile valley, i.e. Ethiopia and Kemet. We must pay homage to those story tellers who put their stories to pen and paper, in spite of a recent history that made it against the law for enslaved Black people to learn to read and write.
I also offer thanks and respect for those artists who continued to sing the songs, perform the dances, and paint the pictures that allowed our Black story to survive. I give thanks to the workers, those that farm the food, sweep the floors, sew the garments, collect the garbage, run the trains, make the furniture and the cars, mine the mines, pump the oil, drive the trucks… those who dared to organized when the threat was loss of a job and sometimes death… so that we might be. I thank the students, like those led by sister Ella Baker and brother Kwame Toure during the sixties, who risked their degrees and lives so that we might have the right to vote, the right to Black Studies Programs, the right to seats on various campuses where we were formerly banned in this country. I give praises to those who inspired us to know that no student should graduate from high school or college and think her/himself educated and not know the names of Shango, Imhotep, Queen Zenobia, Queen Nzingah, King Sundiata, Chief Shaka Zulu, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner, David Walker, Kwame Nkrumah, Sekou Toure, Toussaint L’Ouverture, Marcus Garvey, Amy Garvey, Franz Fanon, Cheik Anta Diop, W.E.B. DuBois, Mary Church Terrell, Paul Robeson, Zapata, Frederick Douglas, Che Guevera, Lolita Lebron, Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright, Shirley Graham DuBois, Zora Neale Hurston, Arthur Shomberg, Eric Williams, Katherine Dunham, C.L.R. James, Mahalia Jackson, Mao Tse Tung, Sterling Brown, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Ho Chi Minn, Wole Soyinka, Bessie Head, Ivan Van Sertima, Walter Rodney, Derek Walcott, Ella Baker, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Elijah Muhammad, Fannie Lou Hamer, Malcolm X, Huey Newton, Audre Lorde, Alice Walker, Bob Marley, John Henrik Clark, Ben-Jochannan, Thomas Sankara, Larry Neal, George Jackson, Isabel Allende, Kwame Toure, Winnie Mandela, Nelson Mandela, Toni Morrison, Walter Mosley, Sonia Sanchez, Maryse Conde, Angela Davis, Geranimo Pratt, and others… I give thanks for those who helped me to see that every subject – be it math, science, sociology, politics, literature, music, dance, or art - should have a practical component, one that connects theory to praxis, as well as one that places each of the world’s peoples in the center of the discussion.
To Black students (and other intellectuals) in general, I believe that we have an obligation to history to do more than just go to class, get good grades, and/or conduct research for the sake of research. We are a part of a small percentage of people in the world who have access to information that needs to be shared with the majority – by any means necessary. We are able to negotiate libraries, computers, and the Internet, and we have an obligation to go beyond traditional information, and research the missing pieces of history. These missing pieces will help us in our quest for unity, justice, peace, and dignity. The information that we continue to find will put some additional meat on the phrases, "Black is Beautiful" and "Say it loud, I’m Black and I’m proud." It will also give us the stories that show that throughout her/history, we have been able to unite around those issues that have affected us as a whole. We also have the obligation to put ourselves on the line sometimes. It is not enough to just offer our laments about the condition of Black people. We have got to put ourselves on the line sometimes. We have to get out there, face the storm, and dance in the whirlwind.
To our sisters and daughters, I offer a specific plea. I ask that you begin to know yourself and love yourself. Your generation was to be the generation that could fly, the one that could touch the impossible. While generations of women have made strides, we know that we still have quite far to go. The same ills that continue to plague the Black community also plague Black women, yet those ills do not stop there. Women must also face the wickedness of sexism, including mental, physical, and spiritual abuse, and levels of self-hatred that have some of us lost in the urban and rural wilderness of ignorance. Worse than how many of the world’s men view us (women), some of us view ourselves as nothing without a man or a child for whom to care. Some of us think that woman’s natural place is behind, not beside, man. Some of us have bought into the belief that women loving women is abhorrent and should be wiped out even at the cost of life.
In spite of the truth of the matriarchal period of history and the numbers of single women heading households today, there are those of us who still think that women can and should not lead. There are those of us who see and judge ourselves with secondary consciousness, as Sonia Sanchez would say. Some of us see and judge ourselves thorough the eyes of others, using their subjective measuring sticks. Audre Lorde tells us that we cannot use the master’s tools to dismantle the master’s house. Sisters and daughters, history cries out for us to stop, regroup, and once again begin the journey of self-love, of people love.
For our sisters and daughters, I want to offer the borrowed words from a flier distributed by the Center for Women’s Development at Medgar Evers College in New York: Imagine yourself as a woman who believes that it is right and good that she is a woman, a woman who honors her experience and tells her stories, and who refuses to carry the sins of others within her body and life. Imagine a woman who believes she is good. A woman who trusts and respects herself, one who listens to her needs and desires, and meets them with tenderness and grace. Imagine a woman who has acknowledged the past’s influence on the present. A woman who has walked through her past. A woman who has healed into the present. Imagine a woman who authors her own life. A woman who exerts, initiates, and moves on her own behalf. A woman who refuses to surrender except to her truest self and to her wisest voice. Imagine a woman who names her own gods. A woman who imagines the divine in her image and likeness, one who designs her own spirituality and allows it to inform her daily life. Imagine a woman who is in love with her own body. A woman who believes her body is enough, just as it is. One who celebrates her body and its rhythms and cycles as an exquisite resource. A woman who honors the face of the Goddess in her changing face, a woman who celebrates the accumulation of her years and her wisdom. One who refuses to use her precious life energy disguising the changes in her body and life. Imagine a woman who values the women in her life. A woman who sits in circles of women. A woman who is reminded of the truth about herself when she forgets. Sisters and daughters, let us imagine ourselves as women who can fly, the only people on earth who have wings and can fly!
Black people, now is the time for committed forward movement, for keeping ‘our eye on the prize.’ We know that the road will not be easy. Times are difficult, but not uninspiring, not impossible. Sojourner Truth, a Black enslaved woman who could neither read nor write, pointed a way for us. She never gave up talking or fighting against slavery and the mistreatment of women - against odds far greater than those we face today. Once a heckler told Sojourner that he cared no more for her talk than a fleabite. Her answer? "Maybe not, but the Lord willing, I’ll keep you scratching."
Enough fleas, biting strategically, can make even the biggest of dogs – the biggest of institutions or governments or the smallest of fools - mighty uncomfortable. They may flick some of us off, but others of us, with innovative and principled ideas, with love of self and humanity will keep coming back. That is how we can all begin to live our ideals and make a profound difference in the lives of our children, our people, ourselves. Asante Sana. Peace.
Dr. Zala Highsmith-Taylor is a companion/partner, a visual artist, a
professor, a mother /grandmother, a cultural activist, a community worker, a
spiritualist, a sista, a keeper of the flame…
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