*I'm writing this as an addendum to a vlog that I recently published on my Brian Speaks On Youtube/Facebook pages*
I woke up this recent Sunday, and when I turned on my television, the first thing I see is the headline announcement that CIA Director Robert Mueller has enough evidence to file charges against former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn AND his son in conjunction with his investigation of possible collusion with Russia's ties to influencing America's previous election, which saw Donald Trump become our country's president, defeating Hillary Clinton(albeit it 3 million votes less in the popular vote, but I digress).
As a person of color, I have no binding interest in either Trump, nor Clinton, because both have histories that are very negative, in conjunction to black people. So, for me, Trump only represents at minimum a caricature of a president who will only ignore black people, leaving us in the same position that we've always been in society here, or, at worse, a malignant authoritarian, who will play on long standing stereotypes and fears that his base has toward black people, to justify ratcheting up the persecution and systemic racism that we already are suffering from, thereby setting us back even farther.....oh, and that whole possibility of dragging us into a nuclear war, too. So, I feel that I represent the general attitude of black people here, where I just pull up a seat, sip some tea, and play spectator to the festivities of being entertained by the current confederacy of dunces, all the while, laughing and trolling the supporters of this failed, last gasp attempt at white supremacy domination.
For those who have been following me since the presidential race, and the subsequent victory by Trump, I have been consistent in saying that this shock to the system was the best thing that happened, because people needed to be shocked awake from their being asleep in this dream that America was a post racial place and that these people haven't been laying in the weeds, just waiting to seize an opportunity to have control. These truths needed to be exposed in a way that couldn't be unseen, or dismissed as tales of sour grapes from a class of people who've been crying wolf for over a century. A lot of things that I've predicted have come to pass, regarding Trump's failures, incompetence, and being the symbol of racism, xenophobia, sexism, Russian puppet strings and general lack of class and couth eventually coming back to blow up in his spray tanned face, and I have yet to be proven wrong, or be disappointed. In fact, it has been even more spectacularly bad than I even imagined it would be, which has given me no end of cynical joy.
But, even as I laugh about the epic failure of white supremacy for the world to see, I feel a sense of strong disappointment in black culture, for not seeing this as the perfect opportunity to seize the day, take control of our culture, and our communities, and become self-sufficient and independent of any proclivity to rely on help from the government, or any other entity that can claim themselves as our 'white savior'. This is the perfect time, a time where white supremacy is on the ropes, getting beaten down, to be able to take control of how we are perceived in this society to the masses and prop ourselves up to the levels of which we've been advocating to be all of this time.
So, why aren't we competing? Why aren't we making legitimate and tangible moves?
I understand the effects of long-standing systemic racism and it's psychological ramifications on the psyche of black culture. I understand that these obstacles have created a sense of distrust, and as a result, the idea of collective unification among black people is a concept that's almost seen as science fiction within Black American culture.
Even though I understand these scars of long term, psychological warfare, I still have to call us out on not trying hard enough to break free from our programming. Our ancestors dealt with straight up, hostile, overt systemic racism, and STILL managed to create a Black Wall Street(and literally built the Wall Street we all know and hate now), before it was burned to the ground by white supremacist hatred. So why can't we re-create the formula that our ancestors weren't given the ability to grow for us to be able to inherit? Why can't we be the foundation that our descendants will be able to prosper from? We're accomplishing great things on individual levels, breaking glass ceilings and destroying stereotypes. Now it's time for us to do it as a collective.
We can be, if we get out of our own way, and get together....I'm ready when you are, and I'm ready for the day of our collective redemption.
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