Principalities of Evil: Anger & Rage

Today, I write to assuage the ache in my heart with words. In the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., I came across a profound image that I have since been unable to find. It depicted a group of Afrakan Americans holding signs calling for justice and honoring the slain civil rights leader. However, one sign, held by a young Afrakan American man, stood out from the rest. It read, "You better kill all the blacks." The audacity and defiance of this young man's message is both jarring and courageous. In a time of such great upheaval and violence, it took great courage to write such words on a board, as if to say- why don't you get on with it already, I see you too white Amerikkka. This image is a powerful reminder of the complexities of the human experience and the challenges of fighting for equity and justice for all.

"YOU BETTER KILL ALL THE BLACKS"

I presume, he did not mean to say as an identified 'black' himself to kill them all. Rather, it was a political statement about the unity of the many 'black' people in the face of oppression. The barbaric notions of race, control, and oppression have a long and bloody history, and it is clear that they have not yet been eradicated. The political agenda of those in power has often been to kill off or control the 'black' race, and this agenda has been carried out through a variety of means, including through violence, economic exploitation, and social control. Was (is) the political agenda to kill off the 'blacks' or is it simply to survive the ferocious system of capitalism built on the backs and bloods of the so called 'coloureds, blacks, and negros'? Ain't it strange to live in a world that normalized and normalizes death by means of politico-economic, socio-physical, biological and chemical warfare on an entire group of people based off phenotype or geographic location. The kidnappings, rapes, hangings, destroying, burnings, bombings, and killings of 'black' people have been forgiven and forgotten, and this is due in part to the technological boom, social control, and distractive mechanisms that constrict our ability to act with sense and reason as a collective consciousness.

Perhaps, the blatant acts of dishonor are over in this time and replaced with a more concealed yet deadly version where you can work for the 'white man' or 'woman' and it be alright because you have a higher wage, with a home and maybe even your 'white' wife or husband. After all, race is a social construct and does not matter at all. Yet people were and are killed for it. The times we live in are filled with delusions and agendas that state their intentions for justice and peace, but our entire lives are situated on unsustainable living. We must wake up to the reality of our situation and work to create a more just and sustainable world for all.

How many are killed to create the technologies we hoard and harbor? How many of us do not think much about it? No matter the distance between the continents our lives are inextricably intertwined, despite the various languages spoken, or complexion in our skin. It has always been so. From the enslaved people of the Americas to the caste-ridden Indians to the aboriginals of Australia, countless people have been killed, disregarded, and degraded in the name of progress. These atrocities- are not just historical footnotes. They are the foundation upon which our modern world is built. The land we live on, the resources we use, and the technologies we rely on are all stained with blood. We must never forget the cost of progress and always inquire "for whom?" There wasn't just enslavement in the Americas but all over the world. Indians had been enslaved and had their own version of Jim Crow called the caste system. India's land was colonized and exploited but also the minds that inhabited those lands for generations to come. In Australia, the diverse aboriginals (Koori, Murri, Nyungar, Arrernte, Pitkantjatjara, Yolngu, Palawa etc.) that inhabited the land for at least 65,000 were killed, dismissed, and debauched as if their culture was inferior to another because someone said so. Their case seemed similar to the case of South Africa, in the sense, white settlers came to do the same thing and if they could have gotten away with it, they would have with no question. The assumption I would make is that even if it meant killing the South Africans, they would and then that would lead to "kill all the Africans"..."kill all the blacks".

In my travels, I have been struck with the mesmerizing diversity of the many wondrous colors all throughout the world of people that would not be labeled "white". The very notion of labeling people based on color is a witless way to describe groups of people that are neither the color white or the color black. Yet, I am not sure which is worst, labeling people based off a color that is seemingly not accurate or a location as if we are bounded to the place we are born. Calling someone black or white is like calling them purple or the sky yellow, or the trees white as clouds in a summers day- it is absurd. It disheartens me randomly most days on the consciousness of this world. To be created out of such beauty and to walk the Earth with such a limited vantage point. It's sad isn't it? What concerns me most is the masses' inability to do something meaningful about the injustices in this world by our own creation or silence (fear). There's a scripture that I have to remind myself at times when dealing with the so called 'white' race and their institutions:

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."

כי לא נלחמים בשר ודם, כי אם ברוחות, ברשות, בנסיונות העולם הזה,