H Rap Brown drops knowledge

Right on.

"We view each other with a great love and great understanding and that we try to expand this to the general black population and also people, oppressed people all over the world and, I think that we differ from some other groups simply because we understand the system better than most groups understand the system, and with this realization we attempt to form a strong political base based in the community with the only strength that we have and that's the strength of a potentially destructive force if we don't get freedom." -Huey P. Newton

Guillotine Poem

(of Confucian Sino-Vietnamese origin)

The flame [of patriotism] burns in my heart to the very end,
I am now going to shed blood beautifying the Fatherland,
Don't feel sorry that I must go and you remain,
This sacrifice is simply a test, distinguishing cowards from great men,
It is now yours, the sacred duty to liberate our beloved land,
Success or failure will be in your hands,
Your victory in the future is my hope and my dream,
I want to share it in the golden stream (place where the deceased go).




Context: French colonialists often used public executions via guillotine to dissuade villagers from joining revolutionary organizations. This was a poem often recited by people before execution. Said to have originated in Phu-Tho prison where many were held in solitary confinement until execution, which escalated throughout the 1930s.

Fascism in the U.S.A.

Watch that and ponder this:

Fascism, pronounced /ˈfæʃɪzəm/, is a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology.^[1][2][3][4] Fascists seek to organize a nation on corporatist perspectives; values; and systems such as the political system and the economy.

Fascists believe that a nation is an organic community that requires strong leadership, collective identity, and the will and ability to commit violence and wage war in order to keep the nation strong.^[16] Fascists identify violence and war as actions that create national regeneration, spirit and vitality.^[17]



The will and ability to commit violence and wage war in order to keep the nation strong.

This is 2010 and the pigs didn't hesitate to arrest more than 100 peaceful protesters using pretty disproportionate force. When you threaten the functioning of the system, in ways such as shutting down the freeway arteries, you get a real response. The ugly beast fucking rears its head.

Keep in mind that America has the highest incarceration rate and the most prisons in the world. 7 million people are on parole or probation. More than 10% of government employees work in corrections. Recidivism (basically, rate of returning back to jail) is more than 67%.


Not to mention, the military industrial complex has been engaged in warfare non-stop since the end of WWII as if war creates national regeneration, spirit, and vitality...

I think it's very clear that we need revolution. A pig will always be a pig and this shit won't stop and don't stop until we get every single one of them off the block. None of this reformist shit. They all have to go.

It's Time Change Tactics

Recently, with the numerous crises(LGBTRC at UC Davis being vandalized, noose and racist shit at UCSD, soon to be March 4th and budget cuts already in place) that have struck our community, we have been forced to struggle against the blatant animosity placed before us and have been met with quite outrageous resistance.

When people organized to let the campus know that we weren't going to take shit like the Compton Cook-out lightly, what did they do? The Koala called BSU a bunch of ungrateful niggers. We protested against that, and what did they do? They hung a noose. We protested against that and what did they do? Said they were with us, issued a bullshit document with empty rhetoric and promises as well as increase the police presence on campus to 'protect' black students when the police are a RACIST institution of oppression.

My question is, when we escalate, do we really think that there's not going to be reaction from our opponents? They're going to escalate. We shouldn't be surprised when they escalate, instead, we should strive to understand the nature of this capitalist, racist, sexist, and homophobic system and the actions it pushes people to materialize. And what language does this system speak? Violence.

This system violently oppresses us and threatens our very existence. Understanding this, it would be foolish and naive of us not to take necessary measures to protect our communities. What do I mean? I mean that we can't just fucking keep marching around and shouting at the higher authorities, demanding them to do something because they won't. We have to understand that they are invested in the system. They serve the system. Their privilege exists because the current system gives these people privilege (the chancellors, politicians, police).

What is needed? Escalated and renewed tactics that implement direct people power.

I'm talking about for March 4th, because we anticipate heavy police presence, and from what we've seen earlier this year with police brutality against protestors, let's not just bring cameras and make a fuss when we get beat up by the pigs, instead, lets' bring rags with vinegar, solution to deal with tear gas, and train ourselves with black bloc tactics(how to move as a coherent unit to prevent being singled out and arrested, etc) so we can effectively resist and protect our brothers and sisters. Instead of relying on racist police to 'protect' us from racists, when they themselves are racist, to take it on ourselves to look after each other and pick up knowledge and skills regarding self-defense. After all, who is going to protect us when the police brutalize us? Not the legal system - only us.

I'm talking about a call to re-think our tactics. Yes, critical liberation theory - they're going to brutalize us because it's in their best interest because this system GIVES THEM PRIVILEGE. What makes you think they're going to willingly give that up? The more we resist, the more we see that those that hold power won't give up their privilege and if we really want to prevent our brothers and sisters from being hurt, why the fuck are we looking to the power system for answers?! The solution is within us to defend our community the way we see fit.

We've reached a point where going back only means returning to the way it was in the beginning - more shit like the Compton Cook-out or Warren College's 'Night of the Orientals Party' or vandalized LGBT resource centers, etc. Either you free or you not - no such thing as in the middle. This second class, oppressed citizenship shit still means we're not free, so let's get real and down with it and stop fronting. It's time to escalate.

"The people's hearts are like sunflowers
Hundreds of thousands of them all turn toward the sun
Even if everything in nature changes
They pledge to remain steadfast and loyal to the revolution"

Vietnamese folk poem

I Wor Kuen - Serve the People

Original Source: http://apimovement.com/i-wor-kuen/serve-people (emphasis added)

First Issue of Getting Together - February 1970

40,000 people-young and old, women and men, children and babies-live in Chinatown. Most of us work hard and long hours, often in uncomfortable quarters - a sweatshop, a laundry, or a restaurant. We pay extremely high city, state, and federal taxes; in addition, many of us dutifully give money to various organizations such as tongs, family associations as well. In fact, we pay out so much that after all these "taxes" and "dues", hardly any of our hard-earned money is left to take care of our daily living needs.

For all this money that we pay out, our neighborhood in Chinatown remains dirty and unhealthy (because of uncollected garbage), crowded and shabby (what else do you expect when most of the buildings were built not too many years after Lincoln's time?), and our seven elementary and junior high schools are dilapidated and so overcrowded that the schools are fire traps, and the kids there are packed like sardines. TB and other serious diseases are more widespread here than in any other neighborhood in this city. The kids from Hong King who refused to be bossed around in the schools are compelled to drop out, and find it hard to find any meaningful jobs with decent wages. So they join a gang, get into trouble, loaf and run around, or get drafted and sent across the Pacific to fight our fellow Asians (the yellow people) in Vietnam.

Where do all the taxes, dues, and money we pay out go? WHY DO THESE SHAMEFUL THINGS CONTINUE TO EXIST?

In a "democracy", the government is supposed to serve the daily needs of the people. That's what they tell us in social studies, and that's why the officials are called "public SERVANTS". But the conditions in Chinatown and the lack of even the most minimal public services tell us that as far as we Asian-Americans (Chinese, Japanese, etc) are concerned, the government does, not serve us well. (if it did, there would be clean streets without any trash or garbage, there would be up-to-date comfortable apartments with modern facilities for everyone, all the young people would have decent, dignified jobs, etc.) As far as we know from the conditions in our neighborhood, the goverment exists, not to serve us, but to serve the needs of some big-shots living in rich, White Suburbs. And as for the so-called "public SERVANTS", we know from our own experience that the only time they give a damn about the people in Chinatown is during the election period when they want us to vote for them. Public servants? These rich, white politicians? It must be a big joke!

It is not by mistake that these miserable conditions exist, not only in the New York Chinatown, but in Chinatowns across the country. To put it very frankly, these white politicians care only about themselves and their own kind (other well-off whites). They are so "superior" that they can't be bothered with the daily needs of us "Orientals" (or any other non-Whites). We Asian-American people are patient and don't complain too often or too loud. So these selfish politicians and the government take us for granted, and so far they have gotten away with a whole lot.

What is do be done? It's not simply a question of becoming "better informed", writing letters to the crooked or apathetic White politicians, or of getting more Chinese people to register and vote in elections. Those elections are rigged and phoney. anyway, so why bother? It takes a lot more than just becoming "interested" or "involved" to really change things.

The long history of the Asian people, and the experience of the black and brown (Puerto Rican and Mexican) peoples here in this country shows us the Way. The most important lesson of our own history and of these peoples is that nothing good, nothing really important happens unless the common, ordinary people themselves make it happen. We cannot expect basic improvements in our lives and in our community unless we have some POWER and use it to get the government to make the necessary improvements and/or to do what is necessary ourselves. For us- in the Chinatown, it means that what we really need is Chinese or YELLOW POWER!

Now, we don't control the police or fire departments; we have little say over the use of tax-money or the schools; the sanitation department doesn't serve our needs; we pay rent all our lives to mostly non-Chinese real estate companies and landlords; and we, or our brothers, or sons, are forced to fight in a war against Asian people. All these things are controlled and decided mostly by well-off white people who live outside of our community. It's as if we Asians (Chinese) in Chinatown are living in a colony controlled by foreigners (the rich, outside whites). In fact, Chinatown is not only a ghetto, but a colony of sorts. What we have to do is begin to gain power to run our own community. That means, for example, if the city sanitation department is unable or unwilling to do the job that we pay them for (through the taxes), then we say good-by to the largely white city sanitation department, and take back our money from the city and do it ourselves! The same with medical, welfare, educational, anti-poverty and other services that the city is supposed to provide us with the taxes that we pay. We've got to take back what's ours, and serve our own needs by our own efforts. We'll do it much better and cheaper, too. But, in order to achieve this objective of self-determination of Asian-Americans, and the total community control of all the public services in Chinese community, we must get ourselves really together and build our Chinese-YELLOW POWER.

As a first step in this long struggle for Chinese Power, a group of us have begun a series of programs that serve the needs of our people. These include: 1) regular publication of this community paper in which we would exchange ideas and experience to help us achieve Chinese people's power; 2) free health-care program to inform and educate our people about the various health hazards common in our neighborhood, and also to meet some important health needs of the Chinese people (especially in the area of TB prevention and detection, and Vitamin deficiencies); 3) Chinatown Draft Help to inform our brothers about how they could lawfully get out of the draft and the Army so that they wouldn't have to fight or die in this stupid, useless, racist war in Vietnam. Since most of us are young, and none of us rich, we'll have to work really hard and use every bit of our Asian ingenuity to get these programs going. These programs can succeed and expand only if you become actively involved in them.

We are not a bunch of "do-gooders" out to save somebody else; we only know that our own freedom and happiness are tied-in with the freedom and happiness of every Chinese and every Asian person. We are not going to turn ourselves into a bureaucratic agency to hand out charity; our programs will be the beginning blocks of the movement for Chinese, YELLOW POWER. We are not out to demand this phoney reform or that, but to fight for the total self-determination of the Asian people in Chinatown. Our programs are a step on a road of thousand-li that leads to the freedom and power for all non-white (YELLOW, BROWN, BLACK) peoples of this community.

POWER TO THE COURAGEOUS, HARDWORKING, PROUD ASIAN-AMERICAN PEOPLE!

This organization, like so many revolutionary organizations during the time, eventually collapsed due to all-out COINTELPRO repression.

We must provide our predictions of the future with action

"There is so much that could be done, right now... But I won't talk about those things right here. I will say that it should never be easy for them to destroy us. If you start with Malcolm X and count all of the brothers who have died or been captured since, you will find that not even one of them was really prepared for a fight. No imagination or fighting style was evident in any one of the incidents. But each one that died professed to know the nature of our enemies. It should never be so easy for them. Do you understand what I'm saying? Edward V. Hanrahan, Illinois State Attorney General, sent fifteen pigs to raid the Panther headquarters and murder Hampton and Clark. Do you have any idea what would have happened to those fifteen pigs if they had run into as many Viet Cong as there were Panthers in that building. The VC are all little people with less general education than we have. The argument that they have been doing it longer has no validity at all, because they were doing it just as well when they started as they are now. It's very contradictory for a man to teach about the murder in corporate capitalism, to isolate and expose the murderers behind it, to instruct that these madmen are completely without stops, are licentious, totally depraved - and then not make adequate preparations to defend himself from the madman's attack. Either they don't really believe their own spiel or they harbor some sort of subconscious death wish." - George Jackson, Soledad Brothers

Recognizing the racist, sexist, homophobic, imperialist, capitalist nature of this system that we live in is only the first step. After we reach this realization, we must understand that the system, because of its nature, will never give us liberation and will never stop oppressing us.

It is absurd and otherwise foolish to even begin to think that the system would be interested in amending or stopping oppression. So why do we continue to act surprised when pigs brutalize someone in the community and get let off clean, when universities (cough, UC San Diego, cough) fail to take action against racist fraternities but threaten to expel protesters, when the nation's first black president decides to escalate warfare and armed occupation in Afghanistan and poor communities of color in America, when banks get bailed out while welfare gets cut, or when prison systems get more funding than public education? Why wouldn't the system continue want to continue its oppressive policies?

We have to question and understand each and every apparatus of the system. Let's take the legal system for example. Who makes laws? Who gets to participate in the legal process? Who does the law benefit? Who is the law? Who gets to enforce the law? Who is immune from the law?

When we begin to question the system's apparatus in this nature, we begin to see that it is all a farce. Who makes the laws? Politicians - not the people. And for who? Themselves and the corporations/capitalists they serve. Who gets to enforce the law? The racist, facist pigs. Who is immune from the law? The same people who get to make and enforce the law - the pig capitalists,politicians, and police.

The legal is system is not flawed - it operates very efficiently in the manner in which it was designed to operate - to delude the masses with the sorcery of 'justice' while legitimizing means of oppression through enlightenment rationale.

What do I mean by this? It took over a year of strenuous legal battles to legally free Angela Davis from captivity in the 1970s, but since then, California has almost tripled its prisons, sent more black men to prisons than schools, and deported countless people of color (and I ain't just talking about Mexicans - I'm talking about Vietnamese and Cambodian as well). While it's great that Angela Davis is free, we must understand that the nature of such a decadent system, is to give the people an inch, only to take back ten inches.

Understanding this and coming to terms with the absurdity of a politics of liberalism or reformism, we must, as George Jackson says, "make revolution", "we must find out exactly what the people need and organize them around these needs." We must mobilize and create a condition where a politics of rupture and revolution is possible. At the same time, we must recognize that the terrain is different now than in the 60s and 70s. While oppressive systems such as racism or sexism are still stronger than ever, they take different forms. The system is not dogmatic in its oppression of people, but rather, it is very dynamic and constantly changing and we, as revolutionaries, but recognize this and also change tactics with the times. We cannot confine ourselves to strict dogmatism. We must recognize that the people lost the war against the system - the Black Panthers, Brown Beret, Red Guard, American Indian Movement - they no longer exist, not because of peaceful disbanding, but forceful and violent repression. So while it is important to learn and adopt principles and tactics from past revolutionary groups, we must recognize that they ultimately failed and we must adapt their tactics to our situation. Take and adopt principles in order to forge material praxis.

What do I mean? Take the Việt Cộng for example. They were notorious for creating elaborate tunnel systems to fight against American, French, Japanese, Cambodian, and Chinese imperialism. It is absurd to begin to argue that such tunnel systems would be fitting in urban sprawl such as Los Angeles, but instead, principles such as learning and becoming attuned to your environment and using your understanding of the environment that against the oppressor is something that is practical and useful today and applies to any environment. Instead of imagining jungle guerrilla warfare and resistance, we must begin to imagine urban guerrilla warfare and resistance. The Việt Cộng, understanding that the people of South Việt Nam lived in poverty, went into villages and distributed food to the people at no cost - understand the needs of the people and work to meet the needs of the people.

Apply concepts and principles, not word-for-word examples.

So the question is, how do we learn from the successes and failures of the past, while imagining new revolutionary possibilities?

'Compton Cookout'

" OFFICE OF THE VICE CHANCELLOR -
STUDENT AFFAIRS

CHANCELLOR'S DIVERSITY OFFICE

February 17, 2010


ALL STUDENTS AT UCSD

SUBJECT: Campus Response to Racial Incident


Over this past weekend in an off-campus apartment, a racially-themed
party was held that mocked the commemoration of Black History Month.
The party was announced on Facebook, and while the announcement has
since been removed, it was viewed by many UCSD students before being
taken down. The text of the announcement has been widely circulated, and
news of its creation has been posted on community blogs and
prospective-student recruitment sites.

Many members of our campus community who have viewed the website find
the idea of the gathering to be patently offensive. I understand that
students of color, already finding themselves seriously underrepresented
on our campus, see this incident as an example of UC San Diego's
unwelcoming climate. Others who care about strengthening our sense of
community are dismayed at the language and images chosen. My heart goes
out to all who have been affected by this incident.

I have been reminded by many in our academic community that among the
highest of academic values is our right to free expression, and yes,
this right does extend to offensive speech and misguided humor. At the
same time, I am urged by others to utilize the harshest sanctions in
responding to the organizers of this event.

Currently, Student Life staff are conducting a full investigation of the
incident and the role of registered student organizations in it. They
will determine if this violation of our Principles of Community is also
a violation of our code of conduct. They are working with the national
arms of the relevant Greek letter organizations so that those bodies may
also follow disciplinary processes.

Students most directly affected by this insensitivity feel isolated and
vulnerable in addition to angry. They need to know they are not alone
in their response to this incident. We are launching a campaign
entitled, "Not in our Community," which will allow members throughout
the community to show their support. You can join our Facebook page, or
pick up a button at the Cross-cultural Center or any Student Affairs
office soon and wear it in solidarity.

No one action or reaction will heal the hurt caused by this event.
Instead, I'd like for you to think about what you could do to help us
learn from such a thoughtless incident. Critical conversations among
trusted friends, College-based events, vigorous classroom debate-all
these and more will show that the power to build community is stronger
than the power to divide it. I also welcome your suggestion for steps
the university can take. Please feel free to share with me your
suggestions of ways to respond to this incident, or to others like it
that may go unacknowledged or unreported. You can reach me at
prue@ucsd.edu.

As members of an academic community, when stressed by acts of
intolerance and insensitivity, our collective responsibility is to come
together to discuss and learn from each other. The remedy for
dangerous, offensive or extreme speech is more speech, not less. It is
our collective voices that will show the resilience and strength of the
UC San Diego community. It is also our communal responsibility to help
those who don't understand what the big deal is, who see such expression
as satire, to understand its historic roots and its present day impact.
They need the best attention from members of the educational community.

Student Affairs and the Campus Diversity Office are currently engaged in
numerous initiatives to increase the presence of underrepresented
students and improve the campus climate for all members of our
community, and we welcome your involvement. Please join us at a
Teach-in scheduled for Feb. 24 from 12 to 2 p.m. in the Price Center
East Ballroom, where we'll explore how such incidents continue to occur
today and to discuss the importance of mutual respect and civility on
our campus.



Penny Rue
Vice Chancellor -
Student Affairs

Sandra Daley
Associate Chancellor and
Chief Diversity Officer"

Recently, there was a racist fraternity party titled, "Compton Cookout" in which the theme was to come dressed in 'ghetto' attire and perform black stereotypes which include, but isn't limited to, hypersexualized black women as well as acting 'Shanaynay'.

And this was VC Rue's response.

It says a lot about institutions when racism is protected by 'free speech' while activities of people of color are heavily militarized. Why is it that trash such as The Koala is protected under free speech yet students of color can't have a weekend conference without heavy police presence? There is an obvious material difference in the treatment of the two groups.

The point to take home is that we cannot rely on institutions invested in racist, sexist, capitalism to appropriately address the needs of the community. Despite being told by students and faculty that it's rather inappropriate to throw around this incident as a learning opportunity as if people of color are supposed to feel grateful that the privileged get to have an opportunity to learn at the expense of people of color, VC Rue not only fails to take any action against the students responsible but also reiterates this need to make this a 'learning experience'.

I don't think she was paying much attention at the town hall.

The point was to address institutional problems. There is something wrong with the institution and the climate of the institution. It is racist. It's narrow-sighted to focus strictly on what these fraternities did - we need to focus on the institution and this was not addressed by Penny Rue. Why? She is invested in the institution. Why would we appeal to someone so invested in the institution to deconstruct it? Whose interests does she serve?

People at the town hall were right, this isn't the first and won't be the last time this sort of thing happens because people entering the university are already 18ish year old products of a racist society. How do we change that?

Soledad Brothers on Yuppie-isms

"Depression is an economic condition. It is a part of the capitalist business cycle, a necessaryu concomitant of capitalism. Its colonies - secondary markets - will always be depressed areas, because eh steadily decreasing labor force, decreasing and growing more skilled under the advances of automation, casts the unskilled colonial subject into economic roles that preclude economic mobility. Learning the new skills even if we were allowed wouldn't help. It wouldn't help the masses even if they learned them. It wouldn't help because there is a fixed ceiling on the labor force. This ceiling gets lower with every advance in the arts of production. Learning the newer skills would merely put us into a competition with established labor that we could not win. One that we don't want. There are absolutely no vacuums for us to fill in the business world. We don't want to capitalize on people anyway. Capitalism is the enemy. It must be destroyed. There is no other recourse. The System is not workable in view of the modern industrial city-based society. Men are born disenfranchised. The contract between the ruler and ruled perpetuates this disenfranchisement."
- George Jackson (emphasis added).

In this passage, George Jackson touches on the absurdity of what many would call, yuppie-isms. I'm not condemning getting skilled, but condemning forgetting your community and where you come from. Moving up don't mean you gotta move out (in reference to the community). As Fanon says, we need to have revolutionaries who have skills that can aid in the construction of a new society. We need revolutionary doctors, engineers, teachers, etc. While Fanon differs from many Marxists by believing that revolution starts with the lumpen proletariat (in our society - the people completely left out - homeless, unemployed), it cannot end with the lumpen proletariat.

Falling into a yuppie mindset of strict ladder climbing pits us against ourselves. We got brothers and sisters getting educated then going off to make lofty salaries serving the ruling class, thinking that they getting something for themselves, while the communities where they come from are falling apart or being systematically militarized and forcefully repressed. Everytime someone with 'professional skills' picks up and moves out to serve the interests of the rich, the community loses resources and the rich gain another (why is it that you don't see no doctors or professionals living in places like East Long Beach?). Instead, imagine if we re-invested in our communities instead of peacing out and pull some jive ass shit and pretending to integrate into this petty bourgeoisie culture. We know they can build housing fit for human shelter, distribute food fit for human consumption, provide healthcare fit to address the needs of the people - just look at affluent communities. Imagine if our brothers and sisters with those sorts of skills invested in the community. We could actually get some shit instead of begging for scraps. We could actually have some empowerment in the community instead of resentment everytime someone calls where we come from 'ghetto'.

"Why else do men allow other men to govern? To what purpose is a Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, or of Housing and Urban Development, etc? Why do we give these men power over us. Why do we give them taxes? For nothing? So they can say that the world owes our children nothing? This world owers each of us a living the very day we are born." - George Jackson

Decolonizing Decolonialism

I recently attended a seminar focusing on the decolonizing movements and thoughts of Frantz Fanon and Aimé Césaire and something that was addressed that I thought was very crucial was, how do we deconstruct and create a movement dedicated to decolonization without becoming the new colonizer?

The speaker brought up examples of People's Republic of China and Cuba where after successfully ousting colonialists from their respective nations, they proceeded with decolonization, in the case of People's Republic of China, with the Cultural Revolution and thus the subsequent and methodical destruction of all things Confucian and in the case of Cuba, the persecution and targetting of Christianity. We also see this in Việt Nam, where after the revolution, Catholics came under heavy fire from the new government for being ardent pro-colonialists during the war. All these events were described as having 'decolonization' intentions, but reality, resulted in material, reactionary suppression of populations.

Decolonization efforts, as Fanon argued, should center around both self-determinism and the creation of a new society. Are we really creating a new society by reverting back to oppressive techniques shown to us and ingrained in us by our colonial masters?

The revolt against colonialism should really strive to have a critical analysis of systemic oppression, namely a system that prevents self-determinism. In the context of culture, I feel that decolonization movements should strive to ask, what is culture? What is the goal of decolonization? Is it to handcuff ourselves to the past?

I think it is important to note that culture is dynamic, not static. Though it is extremely important to preserve culture and self, especially in the context of Western imperialism and colonization (remembering that colonization is the very real extermination and smothering of 'deviant' people by a dominant, white male supremacist capitalist western society), it is important to realize that we must be open to change and not be stuck on being static. For example, while it is important to realize the narrative between Confucianism and colonial Christianity, which sought to 'civilize' savages, often through force and brutality, and the importance of understanding Confucianism and how it plays into the social structures of a lot of East Asian 'cultures' it does no one any good to stay stuck on Confucianism, which is heavily invested in patriarchy.

The important thing about decolonization is to allow people to make their own decisions within their own contexts. This requires that people be treated as human beings with respect and dignity. As with other aspects of the struggle, decolonization is an issue of human rights, not civil or otherwise - decolonization will never fit into a piece of legislation.

Decolonization is and must be radical and requires a comprehensive, radical revolution that continues even after the colonizer is overthrown. As Frantz Fanon theorized, decolonization is a long term project, not a coup.

Fuck the Law

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/us/politics/22scotus.html

Justices, 5-4, Reject Corporate Spending Limit

"Overruling two important precedents about the First Amendment rights of corporations, a bitterly divided Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the government may not ban political spending by corporations in candidate elections."

If this doesn't shoot the idea of 'checks and balances' to hell, than I don't know what would.

We've always been taught in school that we live in such a just society because we have this thing called checks and balances where the judicial, executive, and legislative branches of government are supposed to keep each other in check. That and we have have this mystical thing called Democracy...

But the Supreme Court especially aren't even elected, but rather, appointed for life. They're politicians dressed in fancy robes mascaraing around with an air of moral authority. They serve the agendas of those who appoint them (after all, the president is going to appoint someone who is going to serve his agenda) and back the agendas of said ruling politicians with an accepted infallible logic (after all, wasn't it the Supreme Court that justified slavery as well as jim crow segregation?).

The president is hardly elected by the people. With this idea of electoral colleges and jerry mandering and re-districting, we have the consolidation of voting power and the systematic disenfranchisement of a strategic population of people. In addition, a horrific portion of people of color have either been to prison or are currently serving time in prison, something which nullifies one's right to vote. So we have to question, who does the president serve/represent and who gets to vote in the president? Certainly not the poor and oppressed black and brown people.

And with this new ruling from the Supreme Court, what little saving grace the legislative or execute branch had is long gone. We'd be fools to believe we lived in a politically free society.

Who do the corporations serve and for what purpose? Who is silenced as a result?

Corporations exist to create profit and serve the interest of the rich. Plain and simple. Giving corporations unlimited access to the political system only means that this government will only be further invested in the welfare of the rich and less concerned with the masses.

What does that mean for us?

With corporations such as Corrections Corporation of America giving millions to politicians, the abolition of the prison industrial complex will never come about through the legal system and countless people of color will continue to be sent to prisons or brutalized by the pigs everyday.

This further solidifies the fact that revolution will never come through the ballot with the insane amount of say that corporations have in the operations and future of this nation. Wars will never stop so long as corporations as Halliburton have a say. Exploitation of the earth will never stop so long as big oil has a say.

I say, fuck the law. Fuck this legal system. Fuck the uniformed pigs that defend it by any means necessary.

Of course this ruling isn't getting media play - the corporations that own the media outlets won't have it. We need to stop playing by their rules (God, has anyone even tried to read legislation? It's near impossible to understand and comprehend the shit they write and who has the luxury and time to fully understand all that legal jaron?) and start making our own community agreements and guidelines by which we adhere to.

Power to the people, not the legal or political system!

Self-determinism! Let's have it.

Thoughts on Solidarity

"Such pledges, however, can be empty. Guevara missed the Tricontinental. He left Cuba for Africa, where he had begun to explore the possibility of joining the revolutionary movements in the Congo. In a letter to the Tricontinental, Che asked the hardest question of all: What is the value of solidarity when the imperialist guns were not challenged? 'The solidarity of the progressive forces of the world towards the people of Vietnam today,' he wrote, 'is similar to the bitter irony of the plebeians coaxing on the gladiators in the Roman arena. It is not a matter of wishing success to the victims of aggression, but of sharing his fate; one must accompany him to his death or to victory.'"
- Excerpt from A People's History of the Third World: The Darker Nations by Vijay Prashad.

In other words, how do we construct solidarity as mutual liberation as opposed to passive and weightless words without critically examining things such as privilege? For example, is it adequate for feminist male allies to claim solidarity without actively being invested and active in deconstructing and challenging the structure of white male patriarchy and thus critically analyzing their own male privilege?

In my opinion, it is not enough for me as a male to say I am against patriarchy but continue to perpetuate patriarchy through my actions. Saying I am against patriarchy and standing with my sisters who are in the struggle to liberate ourselves from such a structure means also being active in deconstructing patriarchy in my own self.

This is essentially what Che Guevara is saying in his letter to the Tricontinental. Solidarity is proactive, not passive. Words of our comrades cannot fall on deaf ears.

But at the same time, how do we make this work within the frame work of from each according to ability and to each according to need? Is it unreasonable to fight all battles? Is it truly liberation if we don't address the unique struggles of different peoples of the world?

Colonialism

Ironically, the General who shot the man fled to America after the unification of Việt Nam and died poor and shunned by his colonial masters, a victim of American capitalism that he fought so hard to defend. Colonialism has a sick and twisted humor.

16 on Deathrow

"Dear mama, they sentenced me to death
Today's my final day, I'm countin every breath
I'm bitter cause I'm dyin, so much I haven't seen
I know you never dreamed, your baby would be dead at 16
I got beef with a sick society that doesn't give a shit
And they too quick to say goodbye to me
They tell me the preacher's there for me
He's a crook with a book, that motherfucker never cared for me
He's only here to be sure
I don't drop a dime to God bout the crimes he's commitin
on the poor, and how can these people judge me?
They ain't my peers and in all these years, they ain't never love me
I never got to be a man, must be part of some big plan
to keep a nigga in the state pen
And to my homies out buryin motherfuckers
Steer clear of these Aryan motherfuckers
Cause once they got you locked up
They got you trapped, you're better off gettin shot up
I'm convinced self-defense is the way
Please, stay strapped, pack a gat every day
I wish I woulda known while I was out there
Now I'm straight headin for the chair"
- 2pac