It is repugnant yet simultaneously sad and
horribly fascinating to observe so many black political
pundits either minimizing or outright ignoring
the egregious impact of U.S. President Barack Obama's
bloody military intervention in Libya, North Africa,
etc. and� subsequently his recent signing into
law the so-called National� Defense Authorization Act
(NDAA) which, among other things, provides for the indefinite
detention of U.S. citizens inside the United States
without even the due process of being charged
with an offense, having a trial, a jury, or even the
right to a legal defense, etc.
Apparently one needs only to a be part of
the proportionally small black elite in this nation
to be granted immunity from being held accountable for
collective outrages against the ordinary everyday
Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people of his country
and the world at large. The horribly fascinating thing
about this is the utter hypocrisy on the part
of so many black 'intellectuals' and political pundits
of the U.S. black elite.� Where is their actualized
concern and legitimate outrage at this president's demonstrated
disregard for the U.S. Constitution and the ordinary
people of this land?� Where is their concern about the
de facto police-state that Barack Obama's presidential
signature of the NDAA has now legalized in the
United States? What happened to their ability to critically
think and analyze, or did novocaine-Obama
simply dull their senses and sensibilities and replace
them with hypocrisy?
This president has not once demonstrated the
least bit of concern for the political prisoners confined
in the prison gulags of this nation, or for that
matter, for the burgeoning U.S. prison population in
general, and the inhumane and deplorable
conditions thereto. This president�� sang Al Green to
his audience at a recent fund raiser even as the masses
of Black and other poor people of all colors
sing the daily blues over the ongoing
and increasing systemic economic, social, and
political� injustices which they/we endure. This president
is pimping the emotions and pain of the people
- not serving them!� And this is truly no joke.
While this president is overwhelmingly
shielded (by the corporate elite whom he serves
and by their corporate-stream media) for his
actions, reality awaits him and his systemically
symbiotic Democrat and Republican cohorts. It is
a reality, emboldened by and embodied in,�� the growing
pain of everyday people.� No amount of lies, omissions,
or distractions can forever thwart the dreams of everyday
people for genuine systemic change. As the late
great Langston Hughes wrote, 'What happens to a dream
deferred?' Barack Obama or no Barack Obama, the will
and needs of the people collectively cannot forever
be deferred. Ultimately, they will, in the words of
Langston Hughes, 'explode.' Think about it. Where
do you stand?� With the everyday people or with
those, in the further words of Malcolm X, "who
want to continue the system of exploitation?"
Those, irrespective of color, who support
Barack Obama or anyone else, predicated
upon color do a horrendous disservice
to themselves, this nation, and the world. Moreover,
such actions are in direct contravention of the paraphrased
words of� Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., when he spoke
of his vision that humans be judged on "the content
of their character not the color of their
skin." Sadly, in the case of Barack Obama, much
of Black America has done and is doing precisely
the opposite.� It is also noteworthy that Dr. King
opposed war mongering and wars,�� and unequivocally
referred to the U.S. government as the "greatest
purveyor of violence in the world," which it
remains today under the 'leadership'
and direction of Barack Obama. History will ultimately
hold the final accounting as to what we did or did
not do in these perilous and extremely challenging
times today. Will it be infamy, or shall we fulfill
our destinies as politically conscious human beings?
It's time to get rid of the terrible
political novocaine injection under which many
persons in this nation still lethargically function,
thanks to the machinations of the corporate elite and
the corporate-stream media.� It is time for fundamental
and total systemic change.� This��� change can
and will be brought about only by the collective
actions of everyday ordinary����� Black, White, Brown,
Red, and Yellow people.
The rallying cry remains: 'All Power To The
People!' Not the corporations. Not the
corporate elite. Not the politicians of the Democrat
and Republican [Republicrat] parties. The everyday
people! This is a long and protracted struggle
but an absolutely necessary one.
Onward, then, my sisters and brothers! Onward!
BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board Member, Larry Pinkney,
is a veteran of the Black Panther Party, the former
Minister of Interior of the Republic of New Africa,
a former political prisoner and the only American to
have successfully self-authored his civil / political
rights case to the United Nations under the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In connection
with his political organizing activities in opposition
to voter suppression, etc., Pinkney was interviewed
in 1988 on the nationally televised PBS News Hour,
formerly known as The MacNeil / Lehrer News
Hour. For more about Larry Pinkney see the book,
Saying No to Power: Autobiography of a 20th Century Activist and
Thinker,
by William Mandel [Introduction by Howard Zinn]. (Click
here
to read excerpts from the book.) Click here to contact Mr. Pinkney.
