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Who is Greater, W.E.B. Dubois or Marcus Garvey?


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I visit the Dr. John Henrik Clarke House from time to time.  I would have attended this debate but I went to a Super Bowl Party last Sunday.  I will probably make the debate tomorrow (2/8/15, Sunday,  February 8th 3:P.M.) which will be on, Who is the Greater, Malcolm X or Dr. Martin Luther King,  If you are in the area, 286 Convent Ave, Harlem New York, it should be very educational.

 

Chris, the Brother that open this video, James McIntosh, was the one who compiled the data in my Bill Cosby Hoax post.

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A Super Bowl party? Whattttttt???? And here I thought you were all work, lol. Great info to share. These type of debates/discussions are non-existent in Memphis. We used to have them at the Malcolm X Library in Southeast San Diego which is interesting. We also had a greater connection to the African Diaspora in Southeast Dago than in Memphis. As far as the question of who was greater... that's a difficult question. 

 

In regard to literature it would be WEB. In regard to promoting a stronger Black nation it would be Marcus Garvey. I guess overall, as far as I'm concerned they both hold an equality important place in the legacy and history of Black America so the discussion of greater is kind of flawed. It's a good question. Since I brought it up earlier in a different post, Ellison's Invisible Man attached a negative connotation to Garvey by creating the Ras character in his image. He avoided WEB but I guess an amalgamation of Booker T and WEB can be seen in the president of the college who kept that boy running by writing those letters of recommendation. Good discussion topic though.

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Yeah if you get a chance check out the video.  You don't have to watch it.  I listened to it like I do the radio.  If you wanna get to the meat of the debate you can skip the first 15 minutes or so.  Also, these are not really debates, these are presentations on each man to explaining their relative greatness in context. 

 

The question and answer portion that followed was just as good. But that was in a 2nd video which they posted on Facebook  I have to tell you I hated having to watch the video on Facebook (won't do it again).  

 

I respectfully suggested that they post their video on their own website.  My comment was ignored.  When even the most conscious Black folks don't get this simple thing, and why it is mandatory for Black empowerment, it tells me we really have a long way to go...

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Firstly you are alive. You are a combination of the talented tenth yet you are a real brother. You have single handed created a space or site for books and specifically about AA. You created an enveionment for the discussion of events ideas history sociology pathology . You also have large sections to your editors to run as the see fit.

And you have no competition. Most people can see history when they are in the middle of it. You are historic and either you don't know or you don't care because it is meaningless to you. You are both feeding people intellectually spiritually and emotionally

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Thanks Del. I truly appreciate the supportive and kind words.

 

You are right; for all practical purposes I have no competition. This was not always the case and there are many reasons we have come to this point.  

 

It is not so much that it is meaningless to me, it is meaningless to society as a whole. This too was not always true..  

 

Did you see the article I shared from Ebony from just 15 years ago? It perfectly illustrates the shift in what Black people view as important.  No one that I'm aware of publishes articles like that anymore.  Apparently reporting on the activities of entrepreneurs on the web, does not generate any interest.

 

In reality this type of content does generate interest, it simply does not generate as much interest as another story on some celebrity, ideally a scandalous story.  Black platforms are largely controlled by corporations who only care about revenue, and therefore focus on what is most popular.  The few remaining large Black-owned platforms, in an effort to remain competitive, mirror the behavior of corporations, as this is viewed as the best, indeed only strategy to succeed.  This also explain the competitive behavior I've encountered from these entities.

 

Over time readers come to see what these so called Black media companies cover as being what IS MOST important.  

 

The only people who might look beyond and question what dominated the mainstream Black media are those old enough to know what we had and lost, or those inquisitive enough to look deeper. These readers are my audience and supporters.

 

Finally, and this is the most disheartening thing of all, consider the following:

 

White media will cover an author like Attica Locke when they are targeting a white audience, but white media platforms designed for Black audiences do not.  Black-owned media follows the script White media uses when targeting their Black audiences.

 

Do you see what I'm saying here?  In other words, an Attica Locke will get more coverage by white owned media targeted to white audiences and will get much less coverage in media targeted to Black audiences--whether it is Black or white owned.

 

So I'll also talk about writers like Attica Locke who is a brilliant novelist and who also happens to write for the TV series Empire.  The white-owned Black sites will focus on Terrance, Taraji and Lee Daniels, but AALBC.com will ensure Attica is recognized.  

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John Lennon once said the Beatles were more influencial than Jesus Christ because their music and its message reached milions of more people. To me, posing this question is like asking which was a better means of transportaion; a Model-T Ford or a Cadillac sedan.  Marcus Garveyand W.E.B Dubois were men of their times, as is Troy.

 

As we have been currently discussing, Troy, winning is the name of the game.  To the Victor go the spoils!  Black people are where they are, because the white race was and is better at doing the things that create power, control, longevity and triumph.They are more efficient at being ruthless, unscrupulous, cruel, and foresighted. Africa and its diaspora were and are outdone. This is about the big picture, not the snapshots, the overview, not the episodes. You are a soothsayer, a voice in the wilderness.  In time, it is possible that things will come full circle, and the last will be first.  But time is the operative word because it answers to no man.  IMO.     

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Every age has an engine. It use to be man power, then machine power, now it's intellectual power. I believe the next is the power of intuition. And it will become again about the idea. And I believe People of color will find the wheel is turning in their favor.

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