|
Amin
Sharif's Response
to Project 21's Attack on Jesse
Peace!
Yes, I have heard about Project 21 and their
bag of tricks. They are trying to find some traction by
attacking traditional black leadership. Going after old war
horses like Jesse is the first in a series of bigger steps. If
Bush is re-elected then they will be in a perfect position to
become the conservatives' black-faced attack dog. Because they
are black, Project 21's attacks will be more palatable to the
black masses.
The real problem is that in one sense they
are right. Black middle-class leadership has rested too long on
its laurels. We are in a time of economic crisis and if liberal
black leadership is to be respected then it must look to the
future and not dwell on the past. The real question is can these
black conservatives deliver on any kind of program. Rhetoric is
fine. But organizations like Project 21 have no understanding of
how deep the crisis in the black community is.
Jesse was a part of an agenda of progress and
change. What agenda does Project 21 have for progress and change
at this juncture in our history? What gains have black
conservatives made on behalf of the Black Community? I dare them
to present one single, tangible gain that these lackeys of
Bush and Chaney have gained for the average black man or woman.
That is, besides getting other black conservatives in positions
where they can kiss Bush's ass every day of the week and twice
on Ronald Regan's birthday!
I recently heard a spokesman for Project 21
on WEAA's morning show. He was decrying the fact that the NAACP
had given an Image Award to R. Kelly. And, while the spokesman
for Project 21 had a perfect issue to push, he lacked the
coherency and charisma to make this issue relevant to me and
probably many other listeners.
But, here again, we have the problem of black
liberal leadership making plunder after plunder. How do you give
an award to an "alleged" rapist of young black women?
It is these kinds of tactical mistakes that make folk scratch
their heads and wonder about black liberal leadership. There is
no way in the world that any clear headed leader of the black
community would endorse giving such an award to some one who has
R. Kelly's apparent background. It would have been more prudent
to wait until Kelly's trial was completed. Now, if Kelly is
found guilty the NAACP will look like, at the most, naïve
opportunists and, at the least, an organization of fools.
While Project 21 lacks the experience and
charisma to be a threat to the liberal wing of the Black
leadership now, they loom as a rising storm that threatens not
just folk like Jesse but all progressive types within the Black
Community. They will get their act together somewhere down the
line. The question is only a matter of when this will occur.
Right now, they are making a tactical error
by going after Jesse. Nothing is to be gained by such attacks. A
better tactic for them would be to appeal directly to the
conservative base within the Black community—churches, etc.
But, again, they will have to come up with some kind of agenda
that will appeal to this conservative base. And by conservative,
I speak of the black church's opposition to abortions and other
social issues.
As for your
defense of Jesse, it is most admirable and necessary. It
lets Project 21 know that we on the center and far left are
still alive and kicking. CBAJ is fulfilling its historic role as
the educator of the masses and repository of the truth about the
Civil Rights Movement when it comes to the aid of Jesse and
others who have proven their value to our community.
Let all conservative house niggers beware—the spirit of Nat
Turner lives!!!
Well, done!
amin sharif posted 17
January 2004
* * *
* *
*
* * * *
 |
Blacks in Hispanic Literature: Critical Essays
Edited by
Miriam DeCosta-Willis
Blacks in Hispanic Literature is a
collection of fourteen essays by scholars and
creative writers from Africa and the Americas.
Called one of two significant critical works on
Afro-Hispanic literature to appear in the late
1970s, it includes the pioneering studies of
Carter G. Woodson and
Valaurez B. Spratlin, published in the 1930s, as
well as the essays of scholars whose interpretations
were shaped by the Black aesthetic. The early
essays, primarily of the Black-as-subject in Spanish
medieval and Golden Age literature, provide an
historical context for understanding 20th-century
creative works by African-descended, Hispanophone
writers, such as Cuban
Nicolás Guillén and Ecuadorean poet, novelist,
and scholar
Adalberto Ortiz, whose essay analyzes the
significance of Negritude in Latin America. This
collaborative text set the tone for later
conferences in which writers and scholars worked
together to promote, disseminate, and critique the
literature of Spanish-speaking people of African
descent. . . .
Cited by a
literary critic in 2004 as "the seminal study in the
field of Afro-Hispanic Literature . . . on which
most scholars in the field 'cut their teeth'."
|
* *
* * *
|
Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in
America
By Melissa V.
Harris-Perry
According to the
author, this society has historically exerted
considerable pressure on black females to fit into one
of a handful of stereotypes, primarily, the Mammy, the
Matriarch or the Jezebel. The selfless
Mammy’s behavior is marked by a slavish devotion to
white folks’ domestic concerns, often at the expense of
those of her own family’s needs. By contrast, the
relatively-hedonistic Jezebel is a sexually-insatiable
temptress. And the Matriarch is generally thought of as
an emasculating figure who denigrates black men, ala the
characters Sapphire and Aunt Esther on the television
shows Amos and Andy and Sanford and Son, respectively.
Professor Perry
points out how the propagation of these harmful myths
have served the mainstream culture well. For instance,
the Mammy suggests that it is almost second nature for
black females to feel a maternal instinct towards
Caucasian babies.
As for the source
of the Jezebel, black women had no control over their
own bodies during slavery given that they were being
auctioned off and bred to maximize profits. Nonetheless,
it was in the interest of plantation owners to propagate
the lie that sisters were sluts inclined to mate
indiscriminately.
|
 |
* *
* * *
The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
* *
* * *
Ancient African Nations
* * * * *
If you like this page consider making a donation
* * * * *
Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
1950
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
____ 2005
Enjoy!
* * * * *
The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
/
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
/
Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery
* *
* * *
The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
* * * * *
* *
* * *
update 2 July 2008
|
