We have seen this too many times. A black man is killed, black community is infuriated, protects erupt, #blacklivesmatter trends for a few weeks, and then blank. Life goes on. Nothing changes. System remains the same, and then the next black man is killed, and the cycle starts over.
Protests are important, but meaningless if not backed by action to effect real change. What we are dealing with is not just racism in America, but rather a global institution of racism and white supremacy that started 400 years ago when the first slave ship landed on the African continent.
How do we undo 400 years of injustice and oppression? We need radical change. We need a revolution rooted in the unification of black people around the world.
Our forefathers, the great giants of the pan-African dream, had a premonition about what we are seeing today. That’s why they fought for the United Africa, for the return of blacks to the African continent, because they knew that for as long as we are divided, we can never be powerful enough to fight the system and rewrite history.
Ghana’s first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, after leading Ghana to independence said: “Our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of the African continent,” and I would add the black diaspora.
Let’s support our anger and frustration with a strategy- a real goal and intent to bring about the radical change needed to change the future for our children and their children. Until then, I am sorry to say that it is likely we will only be waiting until the next black man is killed!
Nkrumah further stated: “All people of African descent, whether they live in North or South America, the Caribbean, or in any part of the world are Africans and belong to the African nation.”
Where is the mobilization of people of African descent at this time?
I would love to see African leaders and other black leaders around the world coming to the table with some concrete plans and actions that will shake the world.
