The more things change, the more they stay the same. In every history book, the account given about slavery states that the first African slaves were brought to the New World in the 1620s, and slavery was not abolished until 1865 when the 13th amendment to the Constitution was ratified. However, this account is false. Deception has led us to believe things have changed; however, very little to nothing has changed for Black people referring to the stature we uphold in society now compared to a century ago. For example, growing up we are deceived by schools that teach the false doctrine “all men are created equal,” which is a quote taken from the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence.
“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.”
However, all men are not created equal. Black people have never been equal to white people in Amerikkka. Even though a Black man, Barack Obama, held the highest position of power in Amerikkka from 2009 to 2017, that STILL does not mean Black and white people are equal. Black people in Amerikkka are still enslaved mentally and physically due to the systemic, racist society that favors white people granting them all white privilege.
“It’s like the Negro in Amerikkka seeing the white man win all the time. He’s a professional gambler; he has all the cards and the odds stacked on his side, and he has always dealt to our people from the bottom of the deck.”- Malcolm X
Amerikkka treats us as if the activism that has occurred over the last century has fallen on deaf ears, like the Civil Rights Movement never happened. Perhaps we need a different approach when tackling social injustice since nothing has changed. Of course, activism draws attention to the social injustices that occur, but how much does peaceful protests or riots that demonstrate how we feel towards injustice change injustice? Let’s take a second to evaluate the things that have changed. Yes, we no longer have a master beating and killing us. We have the police who do that now. Yes, the 13th amendment made slavery unconstitutional, yet the mass incarceration of Black Americans labeling them as prisoners is just a synonym for slave. Stated in the 13th amendment,
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
Yes, the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965 allowing black people to exercise their right to vote, but if 40.2% of black men are incarcerated, who is doing all the voting? Yes, Brown vs Board of Education desegregated schools, yet schools are more segregated now compared to the 1970’s due to segregation in our neighborhoods. Our own government is accountable for this due to decades of enacting redlining policies to create the suburbs for white people to have their own space, which left people of color in the inner city. Yes, black people have more opportunities than they did in the past, and the things we have accomplished are remarkable. However, Kanye said it best, “Even in a Benz you still a nigga in a coop/coup.” They still see us as niggas despite our credentials or the positions of power we uphold. Let’s face it; the only people in this world who have freedom are white. One of the many reasons little has changed since the Civil Rights Movement is the fact that Black people continue to try to build on top of the broken foundation that society was built upon: White Supremacy. Using an analogy of a house, if a construction worker continues to build a house on top of a foundation that is already broken, that house will not stand. It will fall over and leave you back at your starting point, which is the broken foundation. It always seems like we are making progress, then we end up where we started. We are stuck in these 360 cycles where we always end up where we started no matter how much we protest and march. I am not suggesting that we should stop protesting, marching, and fighting for our rights; however, it seems like we need a different game plan to earn the equality and equity we deserve. I don’t have the complete game plan yet, but I’ll be damned if I haven’t started it, and that I don’t think about it every day. So far, I’ve figured out three steps. Step one is to change the way we think. We are what we think; we become what we believe. We must recognize the power of our thoughts and words. If Black people and other non-black people of color want to become free, we must believe we are free. Some of us still possess a slave mindset partially because this systemic, racist society conditions us to think we are inferior.
“People get used to anything. The less you think about your oppression, the more your tolerance for it grows. After a while, people just think oppression is the normal state of things. But to become free, you have to be acutely aware of being a slave.” - Assata Shakur.
It starts in our schools; they teach us about how they enslaved us but not how we were kings and queens and that we STILL reign.
“Schools in Amerika are interested in brainwashing people with Amerikanism, giving them a little bit of education, and training them in skills needed to fill the positions the capitalist system requires. If we expect Amerika’s schools to educate us, we will remain ignorant. The schools we go to are reflections of the society that created them. Nobody is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them. Nobody is going to teach you your true history, teach you your true heroes, if they know that that knowledge will help set you free.” -Assata Shakur
This is what brings me to step two: Educate ourselves and be an activist. We cannot rely solely on what our schools are teaching us. We must read outside of school, learn our own history, and learn from the activists that came before us. However, we cannot just read and retain the information. We must be activists. This does not necessarily mean every day we have to chant in the streets “Black Lives Matter.” We can be activists through art, music, poetry, writing, etc. because if you claim you are not racist, then what are you doing to stand against racism in Amerikkka? Also, we need to be financially literate. We need to know and understand how to make money, save money, invest money, and most importantly how to utilize it to help our brothas and sistas instead of spending it carelessly on material things that will never change how white people see us. The last step is to support each other. Buy Black. If you see a brotha or sista with their own business, help them out. Ultimately, we need to own our own grocery stores, banks, hospitals, schools, libraries, restaurants, clothing stores, etc. The only way we can do that is by supporting each other. So, what year did slavery end? It never did. We are still enslaved physically and mentally. The solution to abolishing mental slavery has already been established. Recognize that we possess black privilege and we are NOT inferior to white people despite their possession of white privilege and a system that works to their advantage. However, there are many solutions that need to be developed to abolish the slavery we continue to endure in Amerikkka today. It’s time to end these infinite 360 cycles that Amerikkka has kept Black people in for centuries, and finally, put an end to slavery.
This article was originally published on November 27th, 2017 on Tumblr.