From a Pan-African socialist to Pan-African nationalist

31JAN2021; 2155, SUN

Considering that Black History Month officially kicks off in the next couple hours or so, I figure what better time than now to reflect on some of my more radical ideals and such; as well as some arguably legitimate grievances. According to the ancient West African philosophy of Sankofa, looking back into the past is one of the best, and only, ways to shape our futures with posterity (subsequent generations) in mind.

I had my very first act of rebellion, as far as I can remember, way back when I was in the elementary school; somewhere around '99 or so. I don't remember the teacher's name or exactly what point in the school year that it hit me; but I realized that there was no point in doing my Social Studies schoolwork, seeing as how I rarely, if ever, saw people who looked like me being portrayed in a positive light.

Somehow, I still passed on to the next grade and had the same teacher. I instinctively knew that she wouldn't let me pull the same stunt two years in a row; nor would she be able to save me in the following elementary grade(s) nor beyond.

Right around the same time, I fell in love with the novel series Animorphs by K.A. Applegate. With that foundation, and the two strong Black male teachers that I had in middle school (pretty much the only ones in my K-12 timeframe), I was destined to discover my affinity for African American Studies in my high school tenure during the general period that I took my very first course on the matter.

Seeing as that last note put me at right around 249 words (at least on the rough-draft), I just want to take a moment to mention that I'm so glad that I was "voluntold" to try out for the recon platoon in my unit back in '08, given the fact that they were one of the few places in my unit where new guys (as I was back then) didn't have to lug around the extremely cumbersome M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon). While there certainly weren't many short barrels (i.e. lighter ones) in the Army during my early days, there were even fewer sons of politicians (women weren't allowed in my MOS [Military Occupation Specialty]) during my brief enlistment.

As the living legend, and my fav musical artist, Immortal Technique rapped back in '03:

"They vote for us to go to war instantly; but none of their kids serve in the Infantry. The odds are stacked against us, like a casino. Think about it, most of the Army is Black and Latino."

I'm pretty sure that those particular lyrics played a key role in my deciding to get out of the military altogether, despite the contract I signed and the halfway decent bonus that they paid my ugly self for doing some work that I'd have likely committed to regardless of said $30k. Of course, a decent chunk of that 30 racks went to taxes and helping out people who were in my close circle but forgot about me when the papes got low.

Speaking of casinos tho, I sincerely regret not gambling on some stocks and/or other assets back when it was more feasible. Also, there's a casino smack-dab in the middle of my hometown, "The Swamp", now; and I'm wondering if the "corruption liaisons" of the '80s and '90s era could've ever imagined that there would be a way for their successors to blow the lavish checks, that by most accounts hardly any of them actually earned, while barely having to ride for thirty minutes on the pothole laden roads of the nation's capital.

Who am I kidding? Somewhere around half of the legislature's members as of last winter were likely holdovers from when I was born in '89! By and by, random: The 2014 classic debut album by one of J. Cole's right hand men, Bas, titled Last Winter, is still a gem, even after the 89th or so listen.

I digress. After an extremely intense convo, during an unofficially authorized visit home almost exactly some 13 years ago, between myself and a couple of once close family members, I realized that I knew next to nothing about the history, nor the plight of my people. I all but immediately vowed to myself to rectify the matter and get some book recs.

After pouring thru many of those books, documentaries, and albums recommended, it was a natural progression for my growing affinity with all matters African American to lead me to Pan-African nationalism; that is to say, one who's more or less in favor of African Americans having their own nation so as to determine our own destinies.

Long story short: I realized that me and my people were essentially getting played by Obomination and the donkey dems; so, I began learning more about conspiracies along with the theories of man's origin. After spending more time than I care to admit on fbook, virtue signaling and whatnot, I decided to actually do something about all the world's ills that I saw and started attempting to "wake up" my friends and fam via word of mouth.

In doing so, I realized that were us Blacks in America to completely separate from America and strike out on our own, we'd feasibly face the Catch-22 of either "getting ostracized... [and/or] colonized", as per the phenomenal gospel rapper, Sho Baraka, on the outro of his 2016 classic album, The Narrative. With that being said, the only logical conclusion is to vie for the best aspects of socialism and capitalism.

Full blown socialism has never been, to the best of my knowledge, nor will it likely in the near future be a viable option. However, this whole capitalism for the poorest/middle class, socialism for the richest (i.e. GameStop, AMC, and Nokia) is quite frankly for the birds!

In any event, I'm almost exactly 300 words above my normal baseline and I simply cannot afford to get caught lying in bed by the sun anymore. Stay free (and blessed).