HARD TRUTH By J. Kojo Livingston Un-American on the 4th of July
On July 4, 1776 a group of white, racist, slave owners gathered to sign one of the world’s most profound documents on freedom and human equality. That document is called The Declaration of Independence. It was the basis for the Independence Day celebration of the United States of America. Let’s look at some of what it says: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” The Declaration of Independence could also be described as the most hypocritical document in the history of the modern world. The only folks “created equal” were white males, who also happened to be the only people with the ‘ unalienable rights’ mentioned. Please, please, please find and read the text of the document. The Declaration gives, as reason for revolution, a list of about three dozen offenses committed against the 13 colonies by King George, III of England. Since that time, every single listed offense and worse has been committed by the United States government against its own population or against other countries. How can they get away with this, you ask? Easy. Any first year law student will tell you that the Declaration of Independence is not even part of the basis for US law; it’s the Constitution that you’d be looking for. The ‘ founding fathers’ realized, immediately after victory, that a lot of the ‘crimes’ committed by the King were things they would like to do themselves. So the Constitution puts forth a very different set of values from those lofty ideals put forth in the Declaration. This weekend, the United States will celebrate the so-called ‘American Revolution’ that formed this country. Black people have nothing to celebrate. Even ‘patriotic’ Black folks ought to have a limit as to how much hypocrisy and falsehood they will participate in while trying to be accepted as any other citizen. On July 5, 1852, Black freedom fighter, Frederick Douglass gave a speech at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence. No doubt they regretted inviting him to speak. Here is a small part of what this ancestor had to say about Independence Day, "This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn." And he asked them, "Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day?" “What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. “There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour. “Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival....” Uh, Baba Frederick? That’s not exactly how you get asked to come back to speak again. No, the ‘American Revolution’ was not a cause for celebration for Afrikan slaves who were promised freedom if they fought with the 13 colonies and who were later betrayed. Heck, the British freed their slaves several years before the US. The ‘Americans’ who won their independence did not include us. That’ s true till today, when we still depend on the sons and daughters of the slave master to feed, clothe, house and employ us. With the rapid loss of Black land and businesses, the dramatic decline in Black males in college, the disproportional and growing number of Blacks in prison, a cancerous and spreading drug culture, rotting public education systems and a political system that is overtly hostile to our very existence, much less our rights or liberties, the ‘American’ dream is eluding most Black people. America?...American?...What is that anyway? Most people don’t seem to even know the real name of the country we live in. There are 24 nations in North America, 7 nations in Central America and 15 nations in South America, yet when most people use the term ‘American’ they are only referring to a single nation, whose proper name is the United States of America. Queen Mother Moore (now a blessed ancestor) used to call it linguistic imperialism. Others just call it arrogance. There are problems with the idea of naming these continents after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci that we don’t have space to address here, (the continents had a name before white people came here) but if that were the legitimate name for most of the western hemisphere, why wouldn’t any person in the Americas be called ‘American’? Why does the whole world participate in this verbal gaffe? Because it’s right? Because it’s accurate? No. It’s because for over a century, the United States has been the most powerful, ruthless and vicious military force on the planet. When you’re the baddest bully on the yard, the other kids call you whatever you want. ‘Might’ may not make right, but it sure can affect how people speak and think. Most of us participate in this ridiculous insult without ever questioning the real implications of what we are saying because we’ve been taught it forever. Before you choke on that holiday rib, you might want to remember that a Black man, Crispus Attucks, was duped into being the first to die for the independence of others and it still did his people no good. How much longer will we continue to give our lives, our labor and our allegiance to that which is committed to our own enslavement and destruction? A smart people with our historical experience would be focusing their energies on developing their own self-sufficiency and self-rule. Time is running out. So, whatchagonna DO? Min. Kojo Livingston is the founder of Liberation Zone/Destiny One Ministries, a hurricane Katrina evacuee, currently residing in Shreveport, LA, and a 34 year veteran of the Black Liberation Movement. For more info call 318-834-0322 or e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) . [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> See what's inside the new Yahoo! 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