politics: a functional definition

Lately, I have been engaging in a lot of conversations that have revolved around the 2008 Presidential elections. A couple of days ago, I had one of those conversations and it went something like this:

T: so J, who are you voting for this upcoming election?

J: well, ummm. I don’t know. (so I give the ‘politically’ correct answer) Obama. (Duh.)

T: yeah?

J: yeah, but I don’t know. I do not think that the national elections will affect the masses. You know, the people have to organize themselves around issues that are directly affecting them at this instant, such as gentrification, police brutality, lack of educational funding,etc. People need to petition their local elected officials and hold them accountable, otherwise they need to develop a political consequence when their desires are not met-By any means necessary. But first, the people have to believe in themselves-

T: But wait, isn’t that what Obama is doing? He’s trying to tell the people to organize for change?

J: sure, but he has not stated what they need to organize for. It takes more than encouragement in this day and age. People have been brainwashed into apathy, believing that they cannot make a difference in society and that politics is not made for them. People need to be aware of their enemy. It’s going to take more than an election and a few words of encouragement. People are going to need to be enlightened ……

The conversation goes back and forth like this until we agree to disagree, but I always feel like something is missing from my argument. I not satisfied with disagreeing. I want to strengthen my argument so that when I do go out into the masses, my point that we need to organize for the betterment of ourselves, will be understood.

So a couple of days after that conversation, I picked up the Huey P. Newton Reader, a collection of his writings, and began the road to enlightenment. Many of his essays have retained their relevance to today’s issues in this society, but two essays in particular stand out to me, “In Defense of Self-Defense II: July 3. 1967″ and “a functional definition of politics: January 17, 1969″, which both address the state of politics in the black community. In the first essay, he defines the true nature of politics: ‘Politics is merely the desire of individuals and groups to satisfy their basic needs first: food, shelter and clothing, and security for themselves and their loved ones.’ while arguing that the power structure has brainwashed black people into thinking that politics is simply ‘holding a political office or being able to move into a $40,000 home.’ Which is why black people and people of color argue that politics is not for them because they lack representation in political office. But this then begs the question: if people of color did have political representation in office, would their basic political needs be satisfied in this society?

In the second essay he attempts to solve this question. He states that there are essentially three representational forms of political power in the political arena: economic, land(feudal), and military. He then uses that statement to argue that ‘black people are not free because they lack political power’, due to the fact that after reconstruction blacks did not receive 40 acres and 2 mules, which would have provided them with the political power to be able to choose a representative to represent their issues, nor did they have economic power because they did not own the means of production. All that is left in the political arena then is military power. Unfortunately, the power structure has made it so that we cannot organize military power, so that then leaves us with the task of figuring out how to build a political base. I do believe that once we have gained an equal amount of political representation in office our needs will be met, but we will have to be able to choose our representatives and make sure that when our needs our not met, the power structure receives a political consequence by making it economically non-profitable for those in power to go on with their oppressive ways

so sure, I’ll vote for Obama, but I will continue to make these valid points until someone really hears me and takes me seriously by helping me to incorporate theory with practice.

Critical Consciousness

Currently, I am digesting bell hooks’s work Rock My Soul: Black People And Self-Esteem and am taking in the nutrients contained in each chapter and using them to feed my desire for information on how to integrate theory with practice in order to liberate the people from the external controls of the small ruling class. In this post, I will attempt to show how I am going about this in my life.

(On a side note, I know that the masses of the blogging world do not care or do not even wish to read writings of my kind- for it forces them to challenge themselves on their own classism, racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, etc. and that is the scariest thing to do- to acknowledge that you yourself have actually contributed to the oppression of certain social groups, based on the premise of social constructs. But I wish to write anyways because technology will be the tool used to transform current social conditions because all things are in a state of transformation due to external contradictions. more on that later)

hooks’ basic premise is that building healthy self-esteem is essential to creating community and movement within the disenfranchised, working class black community.

‘Self-esteem, fully realized, is the experience that we are appropriate

to life and to the requirements of life… Self-esteem is confidence in

our ability to think; confidence in our ability to cope with the basic

challenges of life; confidence in our right to be successful and happy;

the feeling of being worthy, deserving, entitled to assert our needs

and wants, achieve our values, and enjoy the fruits of our efforts.

Without self-esteem people begin to lose their sense of agency.

….When the seventies ended, it was popularly accepted that material

goods and the acquisition of power within the existing power structure

of our society was more attainable than freedom from it. And if one

could not attain power and privilege, one eased the pain with addictions:

drugs, alcohol, food, sex, shopping…..Rather than worry our minds and

hearts about social justice, antiracist struggle, women’s lib, the plight

of the poor, etc, black people were urged to see consumption as the

way to define success and well-being. ‘
From observing my fellow black co-workers, while working as a delivery biker, and taking in their political, economic, and social conditions into account, I have come to the conclusion that a majority of working class and non working class black americans have a damaged sense of self-esteem due to the long lasting traumas of slavery that have yet to be psychologically dealt with. For example, my co-workers constantly create drama amongst themselves by spreading gossip as means to distract themselves from their social, economic and political plights as well as set out on a quest for material goods. I witnessed this in the form of Nike’s, 27’’ rims, play stations, etc. These material goods are used as means to trick ourselves into believing that we posses power, when in reality we possess very little power within the existing power structure of this society. If we cannot attain those material goods, we turn to alternative means of sustainability: jobs or addictions such as drug dealing, alcohol, sex, shopping, or food.

hooks also states that ‘no black person in the US can have any measure of self-esteem if they have not cultivated the capacity to be a critical thinker, to live consciously.’

In order to integrate theory with practice, I began to foster critical thinking amongst my co-workers by having dialogue with them about the current conditions of poor people of color. However, they took on an apathetic standpoint, stating that ‘yes, racism exists, but there is nothing we can do about. so fuck it.’ this is exactly what bell hooks is trying to point out that people, especially black people, with low-self esteem feel powerless and have lost their sense of agency for creating change. if we do not consciously acknowledge that poor people in the US and around the world share a common enemy, the United States Empire, then we cannot begin the path towards liberation and we cannot begin to live consciously without critically thinking. therefore, black people, Latino, Indigenous people have to begin to build healthy self-esteem by acknowledging our painful histories- that we have been traumatized over and over again by the same enemy.

I have also come to conclude that I need to meet people who are critically thinking in the present. I am alone in my quest for liberation where I work and there is power in numbers. I wish for anyone to contact me with information or to continue this dialogue.

Back to the Drawing Board

It has been months since I have been to this website, inspired to write to the people. I suppose I shall give an update as to what I’ve been up to lately. I’ll start where I left off.

1. Looptopia, Chicago. I never entered the art festival sponsored by Around the Coyote . My work was not selected to be shown. From what I gathered volunteering at Around the Coyote (Atc), we have different ideologies about art. My art serves the purpose to create change and challenge the existing power structure. It is for the People Whereas AtC prefers artists who have already made it within the existing power structure. I now no longer volunteer at Around the Coyote and my art is currently on display in my apartment where friends and visitors can challenge themselves when they come to visit.

2. Education. In mid February I applied for the paralegal program at Roosevelt University and got accepted for the fall semester. It is a 5 month program and I will be finished by February 2009. Afterwards, I have the goal of working for a civil rights law firm as a legal assistant where I can hopefully make a difference within the existing power structure. I also hope to meet people who are willing to work outside of the system to create change. ie, build a movement.

3. Relationships. I don’t mean to put my personal business out in public, but I think that it is important for the people to know that a black heterosexual couple’s relationship is thriving in a society that constantly sees black men as pimps and players and black women as objects and whores for the black men and whose relationships are generally dominating and authoritarian as a result from the traumas of slavery. My psrtner an I both strive to live outside the box of ‘blackness’, which is used to describe poor black folks. (remember this is a class war not a race war) and I have found that communication is key to any relationship friend or romantic. It has been 10 months and my partner moved into my apartment in june and things are going beautifully well thanks to our practice of open communication and truthfulness with our selves.

4. Now. I am currently working as a bike delivery driver for a sandwich shop while waiting for summer to pass and school to start. I make enough to sustain myself minimally by working 15-20 hours per week and I spend my free time educating myself about my people’s political history by reading books about the black power movement, the labor struggle, and the women’s liberation movement. I can truly say that I am enjoying my current position in life, but I wish I could be doing more for the people- I want to ‘integrate theory with practice’ as Huey Percy Newton states. I am only 23 and Bobby Seale was 30 when he helped found the BPP, so I guess I have some time yet.

As for blogging, I wish to use this site to post my ideas and critiques that I have a about society. I welcome all posts criticisms and debates.

power to the people!