My Response to Eddie Griffin's Comment "How the Sixties Messed People Up" Part Two and Three

Greetings Family,

I apologize for the long delay, but moving at the speed of life, I just was not able to finish this series, this is Part Two of Seven, as I originally intended.  A brief snynopsis Mr Griffin made above comment which my sister Pam posted on her Facebook page.  Being a daughter of the Sixties, I HAD to reply.  For Part One, see my post on June 11, 2014 (I'm also still in the process of responding to my sister's comment for Part One as well-I'm so proud of her because she's so bright and studying to be an attorney)

At any rate, this morning I was glancing at the "Smithsonian" 101 Objects (Special Collector's Issue) November 2013 Magazine.  Basically the issue showcased 101 pieces the Smithsonian museum houses. One was a Duck Decoy from 400 B.C. to A.D. 100, Neil Armstrong's Space Suit as well as Benjamin Franklin's Experiments which was a book on Electricity (Note: Ben Franklin has been credited for discovering electricity after flying a kite in a storm-others would disagree.)   Yet as I turned the magazine's pages, I saw many objects of African American history displayed as well. One was Marian Anderson's Fur Coat that she wore as she sang on Sunday April 9, 1939 as she performed for 75,000 people on the Lincoln Memorial steps.  This usual venture being provided to her by the Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickes, because the Daughter's of the American Revolution barring Ms Anderson from performing at Constitution Hall on the basis of her color.

Another was the Nat Turner's bible, The Gordon Photograph. Yet the object that deeply moved me, thus prompting me to write this blog, was the "Stained Glass Shards" from the 1963 Church Bombings that killed (listed in no order in particular) 14-year-old Cynthia Morris Wesley, 14 year-old Carole Robertson, 14-year-old Addie Mae Collins, 11-year-old Denise McNair. it's their legacy Mr. Griffin comes from and whose shoulders he stands with "comment" of disgrace to them. Again I hope the aforementioned statement was taken out of context, otherwise, again, "Epic Fail"

So here now is Part Two and Three (which is taken out order of Pam's original comment, but is related to Part Two which simultaneously address one of the responses Pam had to my Part One retort):

Pam’s take:  As such, our idea of freedom is a bit distorted. We confuse the state of freedom with acceptance by the oppressor and other groups. That acceptance is mostly social in nature, which is then interpreted to mean that we are free because we can now do the same things that they do....or we can now force them to accept us into their circle so we can do things with them. Its like asking the teacher to force the other kids to play with you.

Kioni’s Take:  Our ideas are not distorted.  Our Ancestors worked within the fabric of White Supremacy to create what “freedom” looked like and mind you  this was skewed, having by that time been beaten into to conformity, was the European images shown to us, (via pictures, witnessing it, or stories) something which we're still grappling with to this day via media, social or otherwise, which played a monumental role in teaching us how to hate the very skin we inhibit, but that's another blog.  

Remember Pam, when we were placed in those ships hulls, it was with the intention of stripping us of our humanity, divorce us from our culture, blind us from our Heritage which was why we were chained to another African who DID NOT speak the same language, have the same tradition, dress, mannerism you held from your “tribe”-without that basic connection of communication you're lost and you know the power that welds. Fore a person who does not know his culture, can be subjugated to another that's what happened after 400 years of being told what you're NOT.  

Yet in spite of that enormous communication gap, we formed communities by learning our Captor’s dialect.  There are commonalities to the Human experience and whether you want to accept this Pam or not the European wants the same things you and believe it or not there are “White” people who do not agree with what has and still is happening to us.  Check out Tim Wise,  Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn or John Brown who’s act of “aggression” against the institution of slavery started the Civil War.  

And lastly children, before their parents instill their social mores onto their impressionable minds, will play with a different child from another race without no problems-which is why they are the true role models for race interrelating to one each other. Also another shocker Pam there are “White” people who authentically want to know you and your experience and not in the, “I’m trying to infiltrate you, Cointelpro kind of way, but more in the vain of, “I want to join your struggle because it is wrong what you had and are still struggling with” And these are actually people I know personally. 

Pam’s Take: We need to stick together as a people and build ourselves and our community up without the assistance from outsiders who do not understand our struggle. People can attempt to empathize as a fellow human being, but they do not truly understand….

Kioni's Take:  Have you conversed with anyone outside your own race? And I’m not talking one person, I’m talking extensively.  There are mounds of information at your fingertips.  Goggle “Struggle” and you’ll see more entries than you can read in a lifetime.  My point, “How do you know?”

One of my hero’s Malcolm X also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz 

became ostracized by some of his own people because he expanded his vision to encompass a world view.   Read, if you haven't already,  The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley.

I conclude this blog with this, I'm apart of the most important race, the human race and for me that is the only one that matters...



Blessings of Peace,

Kioni

Soundtrack of a Revolution: Sung by The Roots

"Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around"  from "The Freedom Rides"


Further Reading and Video clips:

Who Discovered Electricity by wiseGeek
Tim Wish Lecture
Noam Chomsky
American's Who Tell the Truth
El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz