Our purpose is to reveal TRUTH, produce JUSTICE, produce CORRECTNESS...with the ultimate purpose being to produce PEACE in the known universe.
safe space
"historically, safe spaces were 'safe' because they represented places where Black women could freely examine issues that concerned us. by definition, safe spaces become less 'safe' if shared with those who were not Black and female. Black women's safe spaces were never meant to be a way of life. instead, they constitute one mechanism among many designed to foster Black women's empowerment and enhance our ability to participate in social justice projects. as strategies, safe spaces rely on exclusionary practices, but their overall purpose most certainly aims for a more inclusionary, just society. as the work of Black women blues singers and Black women writers suggests, many of the ideas generated in such spaces found a welcome receptions outside Black women's communities. but how could Black women generate these understandings of Black women's realities without first talking to one another?"*excerpted from "Black feminist thought" by patricia hill collins, pg.110
the god above?
"we told the white missionary we had such fables too, but kept them for the entertainment of those yet growing up -- fables of gods and devils and a supreme being above everything. we told him we knew soft minds needed such illusions, bu that when any mind grew among us to adulthood it grew beyond these fables and came to understand that there is indeed a great force in the world, a force spiritual and able to shape the physical universe, but that that force is not something cut off, not something separate from ourselves. it is an energy in us, strongest in our working, breathing, thinking together as one people; weakest when we are scattered, confused, broken into individual, unconnected fragments."*excerpted from "two thousand seasons" by ayi kwei armah, pg.158
hannibal
"we need not insist on the fact that the carthaginian general, hannibal, who barely missed destroying rome and who is considered one of the greatest military leaders of all time, was [African]. it can be said that, with his defeat, the supremacy of the [Black] world ended. henceforth the torch passed to the european populations of the northern mediterranean. from then on its technical civilization would spread from the coast toward the interior of the continent (just the opposite of what happened in Africa). from then on the northern mediterranean dominated the southern mediterranean. except for the islamic breakthrough, europe has ruled Africa down to the present day. with the roman victory over carthage, european penetration and control of Africa began; it reached its high point at the end of the nineteenth century."*excerpted from "the African origin of civilization" by cheikh anta diop, pgs.118&119
dr. frances cress-welsing
illegal aliens?
"Black and brown people from around the world have bought into the american good-life lie and as a consequence many spend sleepless nights trying to get into this country. often at great expense to them and their families. the cruel irony is that for every dissatisfied Black (born in america) in the labor force there are 3 to 4 Black and latino aliens (and some whites) here and elsewhere willing to step in and fill their position. thus, the contradiction is that the people who have little and should be partners in the struggle against evil often end up killing each other for small and insignificant openings into the evil megalopolis. one must not minimize the attractiveness of america to many of the world's people.
as Black people try to bring revolutionary change to the united states others in the hundreds of thousands are trying to get into america and maintain it as it is -- this is the most dangerous contradiction. Black people often end up fighting on two fronts."
*excerpted from "enemies: the clash of races" by haki madhubuti, pg.226
the peonage system
"to maintain the inferior position of Black people within agricultural production, southern whites developed the peonage system and convict leasing. peonage was a logical byproduct of the sharecropping system that replaced slavery immediately after the civil war. in principle, sharecropping represented a real step forward for Black rural workers. an industrious farmer would borrow farm utensils and seeds, and would divide the proceeds from the sale of the produce at year's end. some Black farmers used the system to accumulate small amounts of capital, eventually buying their own farms. many bitterly discovered at the end of a harvest that they actually owed more to the white planter than their share of the crop could pay for. since virtually all white merchants and planters inflated the cost of their supplies, and kept all business records, illiterate Black farmers were caught in a never-ending cycle of debt. 'peonage occurred only when the planter forbade the cropper to leave the plantation because of debt,' writes historian pete daniel. 'a laborer who signed a contract and then abandoned his job could be arrested for a criminal offense. ultimately his choice was simple: he could either work out his contract or go to the chain gang.' southern legislatures and courts always sided with owners in their disputes with Black sharecroppers. once convicted of breaking their legal agreements with white planters, Black prisoners were sometimes bailed out of jail by other white businessmen [slavers?], who in turn paid off the Blacks' fines and previous debts. but as convicts, these Blacks were now obliged to labor for their new 'employer' in work gangs for long periods of years, often under the most brutal physical conditions."
*excerpted from "how capitalism underdeveloped Black america" by manning marable, pg.111
