Pro Black Backlash (Part One) by Proppa Ezrakation

I have been a member of various "pro-black" organizations that I joined out of a desire to help end the violence in the Black Community and in my own life.  I felt that so much information was being withheld from us, especially information that could lead to the solving of the problems affecting us on so many levels.  I remember when I "found out'' about Malcolm X from Hip Hop artists in the mid-80's, what some call the "golden age" of Hip Hop due to all the diversity and creativity of that time period.  It was also a time that "conscious" Hip Hop made itself popular.  We were dressing in "red, black, and green" shirts, wearing medallions with the shape of Africa in the middle, rocking Malcolm X hats and saying, "By any means necessary".  Public Enemy, X Clan, Poor Righteous Teachers, Brand Nubian, Queen Latifah, and many others were expressing facts and history in a way that made it all sound cool to know and share.  You can dance to most of the songs while learning about your culture and the world around you that have been trying to keep this knowledge hidden from us.  In an effort to discipline myself around this knowledge, I joined groups that promoted the uplift and development of our community.  I was taught about Egypt, Nubia, "The Fertile Crescent", "The Nile Valley Civilization", The Metu Neter, The laws of Maat, and much more.  As much as I was impressed with what I was learning, I kept feeling like something was missing.  Something was missing that would allow me to feel that what I was learning would allow me to feel complete as a human being. 

I would have moments of clarity when I would have discussions with someone who didn't share my religious beliefs.  I would have moments of unity when I would have discussions with someone who didn't share my racial heritage.  I would have moments of enlightenment when I would have discussions with someone who didn't share my sexual orientation.  In each of those moments, those differences didn't matter as much as what we had in common.  We had a common desire to experience and share peace.  We had a common desire to see everyone healed of the beliefs that have been separating humans for a long, long time.  We might have different ideas about how to accomplish that, but the differences didn't divide us.  Those moments always remind me of something I read in an interview with Neale Donald Walsch, author of the book series, "Conversations With God". He said, "Differences do not mean divisions, and individuality does not mean superiority. But we've confused the two. In an effort to assert our individuality, we assume it’s necessary to assert our superiority. And that is the grandest mistake made in the human experiment." I feel that some of us have learned about our wonderful history and culture with a hint of "superiority".  I think that makes all the knowledge acquired counterproductive.  We cannot produce peace by creating more beliefs that lead to separation.  We became concerned about learning about ourselves because we began to care about passing down knowledge of our past so that we don't and the next generation after us don't go through experiencing ignorance of our race and our contributions to the world.  We desired to be included in the story of the world, and we desired for that story to be told accurately.  So, yes, we came hard at those who we believed were responsible for lying to us, for deceiving us, for veiling truths that could liberate our minds from "mental slavery".  But, I feel in the midst of it, some vital questions weren't answered.  How do you live with someone who is different than you?  How do you cope with the loss of a loved one?  What do you do if you're molested by a family member?  What if you're raised in a heterosexual household, but your feelings lean towards homosexuality?  What do you do if the one who says he loves you, she cares for you, they desire the truth for you, are also the ones who abuses you and others, mentally and/or physically?  How do you respond to betrayal?  How do we deal with our children who run away from home?  It amazes me that we get so fired up to respond to some of the public problems plaguing us, such as street crime and drugs, but we don't get fired up when responding to domestic violence, rape, molestation, suicides, etc.  Why is that?  I think it's because the stories we tell regarding "our people" leave out so much information pertinent to really understanding who they are.  

We are told that our people were "kings and queens".  I was never impressed with this because I knew that some kings and queens were BAD kings and queens.  What about the people who weren't kings and queens?  What about those who were just a part of the tribe and helped clean the homes, the women who found food in the wilderness while holding their babies?  What about the inner issues some of them had to face?  How did they feel about war between tribes?  How did they deal with rape?  How did they deal with infidelity?  What did they teach about self esteem?  Would we agree with them today?  We don't present the information with the intention of presenting an opportunity for critical thinking.  We present it with ulterior motives.  We present it with the intention of making us "feel good" about who we are, what our ancestors did in response to certain situations, and why that makes us "superior".  Superiority implies that someone is inferior.  It implies that someone is "better" than someone else.  The problem this creates is that "better" is the result of competition, the image of you over here or up there and they are over there or down there.  So, as in Pittsburgh, you'll have a few pro-black organizations competing with each other, some feeling better than others because their knowledge is "superior". 

Proppa Ezrakation 
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