Here we are again... Looking at this year's annual lie filled story about the 4th of July representing freedom and independence for people living in the U.S. The lie will be presented in true imperialist patriotic fashion, complete with a smothering blanket of propaganda designed to tie the useless deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis and Afghani citizens and hundreds of U.S. service people to this fabrication about protecting U.S. democracy.
News flash: The U.S. wasn't founded on freedom and democracy and those things are not facets of this system today. The U.S. was founded on the exploitation of labor which was initially European labor along with Indiginous labor, and most prominantly in the South, African labor from the chattal slave system. Since the original U.S. system which was organized through the signing and institutionalization of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 was all about protecting the land rights of white men, this set in motion the initial wealth of white people in the U.S. Since this wealth was based on land and was transferred down, it institutionalized the disparity between white wealth and the lack of wealth of people of color and poor whites (who worked to provide wealth for the wealthy white emerging classes). So, white people today, who have generations of land ownership, if you check that history in each case closely, there is no question that at some point, that land ownership is tied to the exploitation of folks. This is why the majority of wealthy folks are white and the majority of poor folks are not white. It has nothing to do with hard work as the African, Latino, Asian, and poor white folks have worked harder than most wealthy white people would ever imagine possible. This isn't democracy and it certainly isn't freedom. Instead, its capitalism and that's what you celebrate every July 4th.
To underscore the point that 7/4 is all about wealthy white people, all you have to do is do the math. Since the D/I was signed in 1776, we know that chattal slavery as an institution continued in full form for another 87 years until 1863. If you count the segregation period of continued exploitation, that is another 102 years until the Civil Rights legislation of 1965 which outlawed "legal" segregation. If you understand capitalist exploitation, then you continue to realize that this still continues so there is certainly no merit for any African or logically thinking person of any nationality to consider July 4th a day of freedom. Instead, at best, it can be what it really is; a day for rich white people and the wealthy people of color who apologize for capitalism to celebrate their continued dominance of the world's resources and benefits from the exploitation of the majority of the world's populations.
We strongly suggest that those who celebrate this July 4th enjoy that party to the fullest because last call is coming soon. That party is in its final hour. Everything happening in the world today; from the economic slowdown in capitalist countries, to the rise of countries like North Korea and Iran in challenging imperialist hegemony. Its not a question of whether everything about Iran and North Korea's positions are correct. Especially since uncle sam the pimp is in no moral position to question the legitimacy of any claim for justice. Its a question of understanding that people are no longer going to permit uncle sam to run buckwild controlling all of the world's resources for the capitalist countries while the majority of people suffer in silence.
We celebrate the true progress of human existence. This can never be represented by false claims to justice as those made by the apologists for capitalist and imperialist exploitation. This can only be accomplished by the mass organization and forward movement of all justice loving peoples of the planet. As that progress continues, the Fourth of the Lie will continue to be exposed for what it is, the justification of rich white supremacy and the statement of continued exploitation of the planet.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The Legacy of Kwame Ture (formally Stokely Carmichael)
June 29th marks the birthday of Kwame Ture who most people still know as Stokely Carmichael. The capitalist media defines Kwame as a former organizer and chairperson for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and Prime Minister for the Black Panther Party during the middle and late 1960s. Then, as is typical with capitalist media, they provide no further information until they report to you that Kwame died in November 1998.
With such a weak source of infomration, you are led to believe people like Kwame are has beens who made some noise 40 years ago and basically spent the rest of their lives living off of the reputation they established in the 1960s. Most people fall for this confusion because of a lack of understanding about history. For example, people today believe that South Africa is an independent country free of apartheid because of the spiritual presence of Nelson Mandela. Most people know nothing about the relationship of Southern Africa today to the role of Che Guevara and the Cuban presence in the Congo after the illegal overthrow and murder of Patrice Lumumba in the mid 60s. It was that initial Cuban presence in the Congo that contributed to the later Cuban presence in assisting the liberation of Guinea-Bissau from European colonialism and the 10 year assistance of Cuban troops in overthrowing the colonial presence in Angola. It was the victory of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, which could not have happened without Cuban military assistance, that weakened the South African regime and helped pave the way for Zimbabwean independence and ultimately, the fall of settler colonialism in Azania, South Africa.
When we look at the life of Kwame Ture, we have to closely examine the last 30 years of his life which were spent in Conakry, Guinea, West Africa as an organizer member of the Democratic Party of Guinea and the All African People's Revolutionary Party. Kwame spent those years helping develop the theoretical foundation of the African revolution as articulated by his mentor; Kwame Nkrumah in the Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare, the textbook for Pan-Africanism.
Kwame's last 30 years was also spent laying out the foundation for the actual building of an All African Committee for Political Coordination which is the primary organizing mechanism to bring about Pan -Africanism which Nkrumah defined as the total liberation and unification of Africa under scientific socialism. I remember when I first joined the All African People's Revolutionary Party in 1984, the party had basically one organizer and presence in Africa. That was Kwame's physical presence in Guinea. Today, the A-APRP has an active organizing presence in several African areas including Ghana, Senegal, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Azania, South Africa, and Zimbabwe with contacts and work taking place in other areas of Africa as well. Kwame made his physical transition 11 years ago, but today the A-APRP is actively working to make Nkrumah's prediction about an All African Committee for Political Coordination come true. This committee will pave the way for a true A-APRP which is the life blood of the African revolutionary transformation to scientific socialism.
This theoretical and practical advancement of the African revolution can be gauged by looking at Kwame's work from 1968 to 1998 in Africa while also broadening your mind to understand the work of the A-APRP. At this stage of the struggle, the A-APRP's primary objective is to increase the political consciousness of the African masses to pave the way for a revolutionary consciousness which paves the way for a dominant revolutionary culture which will facilitate revolutionary change.
This is probably the most widely misunderstood aspect of the A-APRP's present program. Possibly, we just are not at the point where people can truly appreciate the necessity to achieve revolutionary consciousness before we can make any mass progress. Possibly, people just don't agree that the masses are the true makers of history so if the masses are not conscious, change can never occur. I'm not sure exactly what that answer is, but I think its a safe bet that Kwame's most important contribution to African and human progress took place between 1968 and 1998, the period where he was absent from the capitalist media. Not the period of 1966 to 1969 when he was in the capitalist media every day. RIP Kwame Ture and long live the African revolution!!!!!
With such a weak source of infomration, you are led to believe people like Kwame are has beens who made some noise 40 years ago and basically spent the rest of their lives living off of the reputation they established in the 1960s. Most people fall for this confusion because of a lack of understanding about history. For example, people today believe that South Africa is an independent country free of apartheid because of the spiritual presence of Nelson Mandela. Most people know nothing about the relationship of Southern Africa today to the role of Che Guevara and the Cuban presence in the Congo after the illegal overthrow and murder of Patrice Lumumba in the mid 60s. It was that initial Cuban presence in the Congo that contributed to the later Cuban presence in assisting the liberation of Guinea-Bissau from European colonialism and the 10 year assistance of Cuban troops in overthrowing the colonial presence in Angola. It was the victory of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, which could not have happened without Cuban military assistance, that weakened the South African regime and helped pave the way for Zimbabwean independence and ultimately, the fall of settler colonialism in Azania, South Africa.
When we look at the life of Kwame Ture, we have to closely examine the last 30 years of his life which were spent in Conakry, Guinea, West Africa as an organizer member of the Democratic Party of Guinea and the All African People's Revolutionary Party. Kwame spent those years helping develop the theoretical foundation of the African revolution as articulated by his mentor; Kwame Nkrumah in the Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare, the textbook for Pan-Africanism.
Kwame's last 30 years was also spent laying out the foundation for the actual building of an All African Committee for Political Coordination which is the primary organizing mechanism to bring about Pan -Africanism which Nkrumah defined as the total liberation and unification of Africa under scientific socialism. I remember when I first joined the All African People's Revolutionary Party in 1984, the party had basically one organizer and presence in Africa. That was Kwame's physical presence in Guinea. Today, the A-APRP has an active organizing presence in several African areas including Ghana, Senegal, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Azania, South Africa, and Zimbabwe with contacts and work taking place in other areas of Africa as well. Kwame made his physical transition 11 years ago, but today the A-APRP is actively working to make Nkrumah's prediction about an All African Committee for Political Coordination come true. This committee will pave the way for a true A-APRP which is the life blood of the African revolutionary transformation to scientific socialism.
This theoretical and practical advancement of the African revolution can be gauged by looking at Kwame's work from 1968 to 1998 in Africa while also broadening your mind to understand the work of the A-APRP. At this stage of the struggle, the A-APRP's primary objective is to increase the political consciousness of the African masses to pave the way for a revolutionary consciousness which paves the way for a dominant revolutionary culture which will facilitate revolutionary change.
This is probably the most widely misunderstood aspect of the A-APRP's present program. Possibly, we just are not at the point where people can truly appreciate the necessity to achieve revolutionary consciousness before we can make any mass progress. Possibly, people just don't agree that the masses are the true makers of history so if the masses are not conscious, change can never occur. I'm not sure exactly what that answer is, but I think its a safe bet that Kwame's most important contribution to African and human progress took place between 1968 and 1998, the period where he was absent from the capitalist media. Not the period of 1966 to 1969 when he was in the capitalist media every day. RIP Kwame Ture and long live the African revolution!!!!!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
U.S. Spies for Cuba? Please! Just Tell Us Anything!
The U.S. State Department has now announced that they have arrested Kendall and Gwen Myers, two high level state department employees, and charged them with providing classified information to the Cuban government for the last 30 years. This allegation has come with the usual full assortment of lies and propaganda about how the ugly enemies of America, who are jealous of the wonderful freedom that capitalism provides, are working overtime to sabatoge American democracy.
Of course, the U.S. version of this story will focus exclusively on the above premise that the U.S. is somehow wronged and betrayed in this story. Of course, the truth that the U.S. government has initiated, supported, financed, and perpetuated acts of illegal espionage, sabatoge, murder, and mischief against the Cuban Revolution since its inception in 1959. This sabatoge was amped up in 1962 (when the Cuban Revolution declared its intentions to build a socialist revolutionary system) with the imposition of the now 47 year old illegal political and economic stranglehold embargo against Cuba.
Beyond the embargo, what you won't hear in mainstream capitalist media is the truth about who is the spy and who is the victim as it rpertains to U.S. and Cuban relations. Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and NBC, can say whatever they want to propagate the capitalist perspective of the Myers story, but no matter what they can accuse the Myers couple of doing, or even what the Myers couple may have actually done, it pales in comparison to the vicious nature of sabatoge the U.S. has engaged in against Cuba for 50 years. Even the Iran/Contragate hearings over a decade ago revealed the criminal nature of the U.S. government when evidence was presented (to substantiate the U.S. illegal activity in Nicaragua as a result of illegal gunrunning with Iran) that the CIA worked with the American Mafia to organize over three dozen assassination attempts against the life of Fidel Castro. These attempts included sending people illegally into Cuba and having those people attempt to poison Castro's food, his cigars, locate and shoot him, and sabatoge government activities. There is now clear evidence that efforts were made to destory Cuban crops, illegally sabatoge medical research, sell drugs to Cuban citizens, and foment false opposition against the Cuban government. Even these heinous activities proved minimal compared to the support given to terrorists who conducted illegal and deadly operations against the Cuban people. These efforts included the bombing of a Cuban airliner in 1977 that killed 73 people. This act was masterminded by Luis Carrilles Posada, a disgruntled terrorist in South Florida who currently lives in comfort on the dime of the U.S. taxpayers.
Then, there is the continued illegal radio and television propaganda that is beamed daily into Cuba in violation of international law. This, along with the continued illegal plane incursions into Cuba b y U.S. supported anti-revolution terrorists who bomb sovereign Cuba terroritory represents the systematic efforts to destabilize the Cuban Revolution. These types of examples could be given for pages and pages, but the point is that clearly, it is the U.S. government, and not Cuba, who is, and has always been, the instigator of espionage. As a result, anything anyone is doing on behalf of the Cuban government, whether it is the Myers, the Cuban 5, or even everyday people in the U.S. who simply desire justice, is just to try and give Cuba a chance against the big imperialist bully from the north.
But then, we know that the bully always perpetuates the myth that it is they who are under attack.
Of course, the U.S. version of this story will focus exclusively on the above premise that the U.S. is somehow wronged and betrayed in this story. Of course, the truth that the U.S. government has initiated, supported, financed, and perpetuated acts of illegal espionage, sabatoge, murder, and mischief against the Cuban Revolution since its inception in 1959. This sabatoge was amped up in 1962 (when the Cuban Revolution declared its intentions to build a socialist revolutionary system) with the imposition of the now 47 year old illegal political and economic stranglehold embargo against Cuba.
Beyond the embargo, what you won't hear in mainstream capitalist media is the truth about who is the spy and who is the victim as it rpertains to U.S. and Cuban relations. Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and NBC, can say whatever they want to propagate the capitalist perspective of the Myers story, but no matter what they can accuse the Myers couple of doing, or even what the Myers couple may have actually done, it pales in comparison to the vicious nature of sabatoge the U.S. has engaged in against Cuba for 50 years. Even the Iran/Contragate hearings over a decade ago revealed the criminal nature of the U.S. government when evidence was presented (to substantiate the U.S. illegal activity in Nicaragua as a result of illegal gunrunning with Iran) that the CIA worked with the American Mafia to organize over three dozen assassination attempts against the life of Fidel Castro. These attempts included sending people illegally into Cuba and having those people attempt to poison Castro's food, his cigars, locate and shoot him, and sabatoge government activities. There is now clear evidence that efforts were made to destory Cuban crops, illegally sabatoge medical research, sell drugs to Cuban citizens, and foment false opposition against the Cuban government. Even these heinous activities proved minimal compared to the support given to terrorists who conducted illegal and deadly operations against the Cuban people. These efforts included the bombing of a Cuban airliner in 1977 that killed 73 people. This act was masterminded by Luis Carrilles Posada, a disgruntled terrorist in South Florida who currently lives in comfort on the dime of the U.S. taxpayers.
Then, there is the continued illegal radio and television propaganda that is beamed daily into Cuba in violation of international law. This, along with the continued illegal plane incursions into Cuba b y U.S. supported anti-revolution terrorists who bomb sovereign Cuba terroritory represents the systematic efforts to destabilize the Cuban Revolution. These types of examples could be given for pages and pages, but the point is that clearly, it is the U.S. government, and not Cuba, who is, and has always been, the instigator of espionage. As a result, anything anyone is doing on behalf of the Cuban government, whether it is the Myers, the Cuban 5, or even everyday people in the U.S. who simply desire justice, is just to try and give Cuba a chance against the big imperialist bully from the north.
But then, we know that the bully always perpetuates the myth that it is they who are under attack.
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