Violence, both physical and emotional, is
an integral part of the United States. It is deliberately
propagated and perpetuated by the U.S. government, the
corporate-stream media, Hollywood movies, television
programs, and Internet games. It is a major symptom
of� this corporate controlled society and hypocritical
political system.
The violent and cold-blooded publicized murders
of people of all ages and colors in this nation,
including those of Amadou Diallo, Oscar Grant, and most
recently Trayvon Martin are but the tip of the insane
iceberg of violence nationwide. The violence that permeates
this nation is akin to this government's violence in
Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Libya, etc.� These
aforementioned organized acts of U.S. government
violence in other lands are conveniently and hypocritically
referred to as "police actions" abroad. Yet,
there is a direct link between the violence that
U.S. citizens carry out against one another within this
nation and the violence that citizens of this nation
are directed to carry out against citizens of
other nations. This violence is also akin to the daily
so-called "justifiable" police brutality and
violence perpetrated against everyday Black, White,
Brown, Red, and Yellow people throughout this nation.
Part of the terrible tragedy of Trayvon Martin's
case is another indication of how people have been so
thoroughly brainwashed to act as judge, jury, and executioner
for whatever demented rationale that can be manufactured
to supposedly make it "justifiable." The root
cause of this is systemic, and goes far
beyond color or ethnic considerations.
Some of the most despicable displays of hypocrisy
and disingenuousness are being made by the ever eager
systemic gate-keepers and opportunists who invariably
turn up in front of news cameras, etc. for photo-ops
to decry such horrible instances of violence, but who
refuse to decry the systemic violence practiced
by the corporate politicians whom they support. These
politicians and their supporters must not be allowed
to have it both ways. Their objective is to confuse
everyday people and play upon their legitimate pain
to further their own systemic political objectives.
Then of course there are those political pimps,
hustlers, and parasites who use the terrible pain of
cases such as that of Trayvon Martin to incite color
and ethnic hatred, and grab their despicable moment
in the limelight. This also serves the cyclical perpetuation
of this violent system itself, in that it
keeps everyday people in fear of one another and divided
on the basis of color and ethnicity.�����
Now, more than ever, is the time to understand how this
violent system perpetuates itself at the expense
and terrible pain of everyday people. It is time to
collectively change the system, not reform it.
Systemic reform perpetuates this hypocritical,
violent system. How does one reform a rotten and putrid
pie? One doesn't. One gets rid of the putrid pie, and
creates a different one!
The everyday people of this nation and world
need and deserve so much better. But it is only
the everyday people themselves/ourselves who can
and will bring about this much-needed systemic change.
Let's get busy and stay busy, collectively
pushing for real systemic change!
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.