BLACK INTEGRITY NOW IS ALMOST NON-EXISTENT

A Dispensation of No Valor

by Quincy Stewart III, War Correspondent

"Without Black leaders with principle integrity and courage there will only be duplicity, treachery, and check cashing!" – Kenny Anderson

During the 1950's and 60's in particular, the times were ripe for a Dr. King, Malcolm X, Black Panther Party, NOI, and even the Republic of New Afrika. The demarcation line was socially clear with separate public facilities, Jim Crow in full display without apology or cover, and very small to no black representation in government. 

The clear runway for King, Malcolm X and even Fred Hampton to land and hit the ground running plus get support was open and ready. The groundswell of public support from the black community and the liberal white community came from what turned out to be world-wide revolution. Whether it was S. Africa, the Congo, Cuba, the former Soviet Union or Birmingham, Alabama upheaval and the energy to sustain it was there.

Today, now that black folks can marry "Beth" ( or "Bob"), live in certain once restricted areas, hold jobs previously exclusive to whites and hold political office we think we have arrived. Now that we can join organizations like LGBT, Women's Rights, and so forth that excuse us from focused black causes, the demarcation lines are blurred into an opaque social no-man's land; an ambiguous black purgatory which yields satisfying steps for the scripted dance of brotherly love we do between choruses of bludgeons, guns, racial slights and outright white supremacy. 

It is far more difficult in this dispensation of our struggle here in Amerikkka for black men and women of integrity to establish any momentum toward the true struggle for liberation. It is very common these days for high profile black talking heads on CNN and other networks who are called upon by the white controlled media,(even if its liberal media)-to say just enough to sound "conscious" but never enough to sound too rebellious or revolutionary. 

That could mean FBI investigations, loss of income (as many are now paid adjunct staff of these networks; paid to be just black enough for ratings and the appearance of equity), possible firings from their Ivy-League colleges they are proffing at and even loss of "friendships" from their liberal white supporters. It's not polite cocktail party conversation to suggest self-defense against police brutality or explicit recitations of historic white on black barbarism. 

In order to be a true leader in this struggle, one must be razor sharp on his or her integrity. To always speak the truth and consequences be damned. Relationships will suffer greatly as a result of true integrity, as they did during the heyday of the struggle. Corretta didn't always support King nor did Betty, Malcolm. 

Children will turn against their parent(s) that is conscious, citing every reason they can find, but will find no reason to reject, fight against white supremacy nor support black liberation save piecemeal, safe struggles that garner pats on the back from the Establishment. Friends will distance themselves in those times where confrontation is direct and risky. 

If its a man that is conscious, his own wife, girlfriend or lover will want them to focus on them and not the struggle with the intent of whipping them into some harmless puppy-dog state and then say, "I have a good man." Now that he is lamed out, un-resistant and compliant with both the system and she, now he is a "good man." She, in all practicality, is an unwitting agent of the State. 

If its a woman who is conscious and revolutionary in her actions and thinking, the man is a lame and bares all of his deepest insecurities for mama to be re-realized in her. He is a baby boy, who can't get off of mama's titties and drink milk on his own. He, in all practicality, is an agent of the State. 

A conscious black man or woman will ultimately realize in this utter dispensation of inertia, selfishness and apathy (and cowardice) that he or she is alone in many cases as King discovered right before his death in 1968. (Why do you think nobody else who was with King was killed except King AND nobody since?) Malcolm did have some few who were loyal to the Cause at the time of his murder but his revelation of shocking alienation and betrayal came during the course of a year which culminated in his death.

The list goes on, be it Fred Hampton (Bobby Rush became a sell- out politician), the Republic of New Afrika (Milton Henry became a Presbyterian minister of all things), The Black Panther Party (Huey Newton became a drug dealer and street brute) and the list goes on. We will never be able to call someone a Revolutionary in total until they die. The finale. If one can hold fast until their last breath as King did, and Malcolm and Chairman Fred or Mumia Abu Jamal (who languishes in prison today totally committed and struggling from the bowels of white-hell), then one can wear the moniker. As the Bible says, "the race is not given to the strong nor to the swift, but he(or she) who endureth to the end." 

Today too many of us black folk are afraid of being a monolith. It's hip these days to be all over the place and nowhere at the same time. Our issues are monolithic and affect us all the same. We are afraid of what white America might think, or plain scared of white folks period and choose to stay uniformed, uninspired, unmotivated (other than chasing skirts ( or trousers), chasing money and some form of psychological comfort to avoid the stark reality of our beleaguered state. We go shopping for causes to be a part of to make us feel like we are doing something or assuage our fear and cowardice but unless its liberation for us, it might be cool to post up with but it won't get us free. 

Our elected leaders are almost all some form of neocolonial. They middle manage our worst interests and call it "service." We have a collective dependent personality disorder on simple voting and once we leave the voting booth, an overwhelming sense of posterity floods our veins and we get doped-up on false promises and evasive gradualism, while we sit and wait, and wait, and wait. 

In my travels I have found some disturbing results. Wherever I go I do social investigation. I look for the local political climate, the housing conditions and what is the prevailing mood and sway of the black folks. Who is holding down the struggle? I have found nearly zilch pure, black liberation struggle and no local activists who speak forcefully and truthfully in simple public forums like a city council meeting or county board meeting, or teaching liberation education in the schools. 

Not that council meetings nor county board meetings are places of revolutionary change but IT IS a place of direct confrontation of established authority. Many of these meetings are televised which puts the conscious brother or sister at far greater risk of scrutiny by the system and targeted for any number of retaliatory responses up to and including prison or death. I'm not talking about violent confrontation just verbally speaking up and out on REAL issues of institutionalized white supremacy and the resultant ills faced by us as a result of its existence in Amerikkka. Hardly anyone is even doing that, because we are scared. 

It takes tremendous integrity, valor and courage to be honest, to be forthright and committed. Oh, you have your Pharisees and Sadducees who like in the Bible, look the part; they will say little phrases that excite people but are back-room deal-makers who pimp the struggle for profit and ultimately, we see them emerge on the other side with an endorsement or a position in the very apparatus they opposed. As is said, if you fight the system long enough, they will make you a part of it. 

Integrity is built over time and tested like a diamond in the rough. It is rounded and shaped through trial and error, facing fear and doing it anyway, being consistent and becoming richer in integrity and knowledge as the process molds and shapes a soldier. You don't just become this way because one day, after being a lame all your life and a coward, you decide now you want to pick up and fight, nor as a proven warrior, do you retire. Your only pension is your legacy of loyalty to the cause that is bigger than you!