Jump to content

Umar Johnson, White Supremacy, Seattle, 2013


Recommended Posts

 

I've never heard this Brother speak live before, but he is certainly in the tradition of John Clark.  I visited a store a book store in Virgina Beach, Positive Vibes, a couple of years ago and asked them was what was selling very well.  I purchased one, &do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>

 

&do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What Umar Johnson has to say is very provocative which is to say that it is also controversial, mainly because it's all over the place. In effect, he is couching his eloquence in a lot of subtefuge, and using it to paint a picture that he insists can be hung on the wall in a white house. But, in the process, he is condemning the survival tactic of coping with reality. He is also assuming that life is fair. I try not to be the perennial skeptic but over the years, I’ve learned that talk is cheap. 

 

What Johnson is preaching, although a fine showcase for his impressive resume, will not wash in America. He should just sum up his argument by saying that Blacks should all go back to Africa where they can be their true selves without being negatively affected by European influences.

 

Slavery was bad enough but the end of slavery was equally dire because Blacks were cut loose and set adrift in a hostile environment. With passage of time, there didn’t have to be a grand structured conspiracy to keep them down. The pieces were already in place for things to just take a natural course. Among Blacks, those who could, did. Those who couldn’t, fell along the wayside. Black culture gradually stratified into the old slavery denominations. The field hands were relegated to the ghetto plantations, and the slovenly aspects of their lifestyle produced a population that played right into the hands of the white power structure. But contrary to Johnson's claims, these latter day serfs are not interested in slave labor. To say that illegal aliens are stealing jobs from Blacks is not exactly true. They are taking the menial, low paying positions that Blacks are not interested in because they’d rather settle for street hustles or for milking the welfare system. 

 

His rant further ignores how we became what we are, and he overlooks how it was not to our advantage to preserve what is rejected by the dominant culture. Presenting yourself as an authetic African in America is not going to benefit you economically. Just giving your child a strange name can stigmatize him in the work place. If you don't modify your appearance and conform to the standards that EVERYBODY in this country adheres to, you will be excluded from the mainstream. Arab American women are constantly discriminated against for wearing their burka headdress. In this racist, superficial society you have to learn how to swim parallel to the shore or you will be a victim of the rip tide. Resiliancy is the trait that, dating back to slavery times, has been what got Blacks through. And Blacks with their double-consciousness have not relinquished their soul; their conventional avatars are just a way of getting over on white people. Not to mention that a lot of what we are, is what we have become from our 400 years in America. We are not solely African, we are a new hybrid tribe, and one that originated much of the style and trends that today Whites imitate. Unfortunately, Blacks also originated things like gangsta rap that has been so detrimental to their cause.

 

I agree that mis-education is one of the main things victimizing Blacks. Schools are structured and designed to fail any child who cannot conform to a disciplined class room environment. But aggrandizing Frederick Douglass and Marcus Garvey is not a substitute for teaching a child to read. (And, incidentally, Michael Jordan didn’t marry a white woman; his new wife is Hispanic. And to call a conservative lacky like the Clarence Thomas a constitutional scholar when most of his colleagues agreed that he was not supreme court material, is a joke. )

 

Yes, the prison industry and how it is maintained is a major problem. Plus, the breakdown of the black family and the conflict between brothas and sistas all contribute to the ongoing black dilemma. These are monumental obstacles, so I can’t exactly condemn a well-meaning spokesman for wanting to surmount them by spouting these re-cycled arguments that have been floating around for years. What he suggests can do no harm but if he believes that giving up hair extensions and wigs and perms is going to work miracles, maybe special education classes can identify a child’s problem and help the cream rise to the top.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

After listening to the entire video (I'd only listened to a few minutes before posting it), my assessment is more inline with what you posted Cynique.  My putting Johnson in the same tradition with Dr. Clarke was premature.

 

Raising one's voice elicits an emotional reaction with conflicts with the reasoning f the listening. When people have to scream their message it starts making me nervous, because I know they are no longer trying to reason with me and are working on my emotions, like some televangelist trying to get my money or HItler trying to get germans to hate Jews.

 

When Johnson started screaming, for example, about what he will not allow girls to do with their hair.  He started to lose me.  Sure their are women and men who want to look white -- but that is not usually the case.  One of my daughters used to get hair braided every summer and would usually use extensions.  It was style thing not an attempt to look white, unless you count Bo Derek, who was mimicking a Black style ;-)  I guess Johnson would have an issue with my daughter in his school.

 

Anyway, I do appreciate the spirit of his message, and completely agree if you allow your kid to be labeled as "special ed" you have set that kid on a path where he will not be educated -- period.

 

I also believe the people in charge of the schools really don't care about the people subjected to it.  Any system where the majority of people running it will not send their own kids makes that very plain.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My family is very often non-plussed by me, Troy.  One of my sons even "unfriended" me on FaceBook. My grandchildren talk to me like I'm one of their peers, allowing me to pick their brains. Their friends just stare at me curiously. The cat seems bounded with me, and daily seeks out my company. 

 

I lead a rather strange existence. What I am discovering, is that when a subject comes up on this site, as I sit in front of the monitor, reading a post, my brain goes into retro mode, and things that just seem to be stored in my mind are transmitted to my fingers and I begin to type. Some of the topics trigger memories, things I've forgotten I knew. When I have exchanges with Delano, conundrums pop into my head. Others, like Pioneer, bring out the polemicist in me. Religious zealots invoke the devilishness in me. Is it any wonder that I admire your civility?   

 

What I've also noticed is that syncronicity is a phenomenon that regularly occurs in my waking hours: So often when I'm typing a word or am reading it in the newspaper, somebody on TV says that word, - or the other way around.  When I begin working the blank patternless crossword puzzle that appears in the Chicago Sun-times every day, all I have to do is say to myself, this is too hard and I won't complete it and, suddenly, things all come together and I finish it. The same with playing solitaire on the computer. As soon as I  concede the loss, voila! Very frequently the card I need is turned over next and I'm able to beat ol Sol. I find this all very quirky  And I am now hoping that my verbalizing these occurrences will not dispel my Muse.

 

With the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination coming up this month, all these TV specials and news items reporting what they think is fresh, are stale to me.  It's all familiar because I was alive when it and so many other historical events happened. When I listen to the particular Music Channel that plays ballads from the 40s, 50s and 60s, I  know the lyrics to every song. I try to not to be jaded, but the old ennui is taking over. I've outgrown my life. How bad can death be? zzzzzzzzz <_<

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well your family is still fortunate.

 

I have 5,000 friends on Facebook.  But I'm not friends with either of my children.  Why on Earth would I want to be all up in their friend space with a bunch of other children.  I would not worry about a son unfriending you.  I'm not friends with my mother either :-)

 

On synchronicity, my theory on that is that it is just heightened awareness about a subject at a given time.  In other words then seem to be happening in concern much, simply because you are aware of it more.  For example I can learn a new word that I seemingly never heard before, then next thing I know -- I'm hearing the words everywhere. I was always exposed to the word, but now I'm just tuned into it.

 

I saw a program investigating the conspiracy theories on the JFK killing.  I'd never seen the entire Zapurder (sp?) film before.  This was the first time saw I saw the top of JFK's head's being blown off in full color -- my God; It was terrible!  What happened to the warning; "The images you are about to see my be disturbing"?

 

Perhaps your life means more to others than it does to you, as you age.  Perhaps that has always been the case.  Your family is not the only ones who are fortunate.  We are too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am quite amused that my son "unfriended" me after we butted heads during the course of a lively FaceBook discussion. We laugh about it all the time, but he has yet to re-friend me. 

 

I understand your take on syncronicity.  It's like when you buy a car, you start noticing how many other cars of that model are out there driving around. But to me that seems more like the law of averages.

 

But my syncronicity has to do with  how when  I am keying and listening to the TV and I type a word that at the same time is being said by the person speaking on TV.  Or when I'm reading a newspaper how a word I am reading is simultaneously being said by a person speaking on TV.  I find this interesting especially since it happens quite frequently and the words are not really frequently used words.   It's like the same word from a different source is drawn to its match.  :blink:   The intrigue comes from whether or not this is random or if it has something to do with my brain waves.      

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah a friend of mine kept trying to get me to check this brutha out but I hadn't got around to it until just now....and I like what I'm hearing.

He doesn't seem to speak not quite as charismatic as Malcolm X but he hits on some good points.

He said what I've been saying for years, that too many non-Blacks are benefiting off of what Black folks fought for. I said for years that the Civil Rights bill should have been race specific to make sure those who fought for it be the main beneficiaries.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...