By way of introduction, my name is Mwalimu Wesley Kabaila (Mwalimu is Swahili for Priest/Teacher). My credentials for writing this includes being founding member of the Kwanzaa Movement, Former Vice Chair, Us Organization, which founded Kwanzaa, am currently Chair of the Congress of African People, and Chief of Staff, Friends of the African Union's Congresses. Recently, I have also initiated a Call for a National Black/African Council of Elders, for which we have been having Conference Call Meetings, every Friday for two months. I share this brief background to validate, that I am one who is fully engaged with my African American Community, and am immersed in its continued growth, development and prosperity.
I write this open letter because my heart is heavy for the current situation of my people who have no credible leadership to speak out and to provide direction on some of the critical issues of the day. We, in the Congress of African People and the Friends of the African Union seek to built and fill that leadership vacuum and produce a Cadre of Leaders, fully conscious, capable and committed to providing identity, purpose and direction for the forward progress of our people and community. With that in mind, please allow me to come directly to the point of this letter.
The situation in Flint, Michigan, USA is not only abominable and appalling, but also is unforgivable in the richest country on the planet. The actions by the Governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder, are not only Racist by nature, but are also an unmitigated, intentional, negligible and blatant Act of Domestic Terrorism meant to inflict death, pain and suffering on the mostly Black/African population of Flint. The Institutional Racism is obviated by the fact that this Governor has taken over most cities in Michigan which had mostly elected Black officials running the city, including the largest, Detroit. Most of the people the Governor has appointed to undermine the democratic process, have been mostly incompetent lackeys of the State Government offices. There is no democracy where one man can overturn, by the stroke of a pen, the duly elected representatives of the citizenry, without due process or just cause. Rick Snyder and those who conspired with him in his administration should be investigated for ties to White Supremacy organizations, as their actions
are nothing less than what Hitler did to exterminate Jews in Nazi Germany. In the US Constitution, American citizens are afforded the "unalienable rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness". Government at all levels, the local, State and Federal have failed the people of Flint and has caused them unbearable suffering, not only for the moment, but for generations to come. The EPA failed and should be sued for negligence and institutional disregard. The Governor and the incompetent official he put in Charge of Flint should be tried for high crimes of conspiracy to commit genocide.
However, it is not just our purpose to come here to accuse, judge or indict, for in a Racist society, these kinds of brutal acts are expected and predictable. The main question, and the reason for writing this open letter, is, What shall our response be? In the Congress of African People we have what we call the Harambee Plan, which is a comprehensive approach to social injustice inflicted by American society on its citizens of Color, but is also, and more importantly, a formula for the realization of Black/African aspirations for a Higher Level of Life, allowing our Community to make the kind of Contribution to Human Progress of which it is capable. We are a Proud African People with dignity and the knowledge that our Ancestors were the Fathers and Mothers of Human Civilization.
Many of the Racist policies imposed on our Community come directly from the impositions of Racist Institutions which are controlled by the dominant race/class in this society. The first imposition is ideological with the suggestion that we live in a Democratic Society. Michigan has erased that illusion. Thus, as an Elder in my Community, I would submit, as we have done in the CAP Harambee Plan, that we look for Sovereign Solutions to correct the many maladies imposed on our people and community by the racist and unjust institutions administered by the ruling race/class. The US Constitution, itself, gives the people the right, that when government does not perform to protect and promote the interests of its citizenry, then the people have the right to alter that government in their own image and interests.
Though their was an Emancipation Proclamation, the Holacost of African Enslavement (Maafa), has never ended. The forty acres and a mule offered as Reparations, was never paid.
There was never any negotiated settlement of slavery, in which we as a Self Determined people negotiated the conditions under which we would integrate into the social fabric of America.
Sharecropping became another form of exploitation and toil.
Reconstruction was undermined, and blacks lost whatever powers they had to integrate fully into the American society.
Lynching Blacks became a Saturday Night Live activity where little white children would also come and eat popcorn, while the local Negro was hung.
Blacks were systematically locked out of industries and unions which would have allowed them to gain a stake in the growth of the country.
Jim Crow laws seriously restricted Blacks Movement around the country, in spite of the fact that Blacks paid keys roles in the winning of two World Wars and the Korean Conflict.
Redlining further limited blacks ability to become a part of the Middle Class, by restricting how they got loans for housing and other niceties.
The police in many Black Communities became armies of occupation where residents were brutalized and in many cases were charged with crimes they didn't even commit.
Today we see too many of our children gunned down by the police, sometimes in the back, with little or no probable cause, with impunity, where the cops are not held accountable for the criminal and murderous behavior.
The list could go on, but suffice it to say, that all of these rationales support a position and policy by the formation of a National Black/African Council of Elders which will become the Leadership Cadre of the National Black Community. Our strategy shall no longer be to accept some charismatic leader which the media and establishment have appointed to oversee the Black Community. The Black Community will select leaders who have their community's interest in heart and mind, and who have demonstrated proven leadership skills in directing the community towards achieving its intended aspirations, goals and objectives. We propose that our policy and programs become positive oriented and pro-active and not reactionary to every incident which our enemies inflict. We look towards harnessing our resources in such a manner that they provide for maximum development and unification of our people. For example, in Flint , we are encouraging our healers to educate that community on natural processes to eliminate metals and toxins from the body. We also request an open investigation to make sure that those who caused this travesty in Flint, are in no way in collusion with those who are working on a vaccine to attempt to remedy they situation. Many in our community are suspect of Malthusian and Nazi theories of population control, and we will take steps to ensure our people do not fall victim of such governmental policies. The National Black Council of Elders has adopted Health, Food Sovereignty and Wellness as its theme for its organizing campaign. In doing so, we will be looking at a top to bottom alternative Health Care Delivery System for the Black/African Community which takes account of a methodology which focuses on the real needs of people, and opposed to profits. in this regard, we will take serious looks at natural products which serve as a preventative for disease, such as the degree to which African Moringa is a Natural Water purifier. We will research how Cilantro and Chlorella can possibly rid the body of dangerous metals and toxins before they can do serious damage. We encourage Flint residents to look up on the internet natural remedies which can rid the body of poisonous metals, before having to go thru a process of vaccinations which only line the pockets of drug companies.
We end this Open Letter by putting out a call for serious minded persons of all ages, each generation to join with us in building a National Black Elders Council, which can and will serve as a Leadership Cadre, formulate policy and programs, build a substantive Rites of Passage Program which educates and trains future leaders in tandem with current Elders, and which serves as guardians of our cultural heritage and history as a people. Today, we are the most Global people on the planet. We are in the Decade for People of African Descent as designated by the UN General Assembly. The African Union has recognized African descendant people in the Diaspora as the 6th Region of Africa. African people around the Globe have designated the next Seven years as the period of African Re-Birth (Renaissance), We say Re-Birth because we are the Fathers and Mothers of Civilization, and we have not come to be taught by the world, but to teach the world. We have come to step back on the stage of Human History as Free, Proud and Productive People who are Conscious of our Role and Relevancy to Human Progress. We Accept the Challenge which history has afforded us!!!!
We demand Justice for the People of Flint!!
We demand the Right to exercise our Sovereign Rights to determine our own Destiny in our own Image and Interests!
We demand Proper Redress for the Transgressions imposed on our people historically, and submit to the President of the United States that this can be achieved via Quantitative Easing, for which a proposal has already been properly submitted.
We Request the Support of the National Black/African Community to support the Nation Building process of establishing a National Black/African Council of Elders which will provide the Leadership Cadre for the Black Community!!!
We demand support for the total revamping of the Health Care Delivery System in the Black/African Community, one which focuses on peoples needs, not profit.
We demand that the Government use its Quantitative Easing authority to rebuild the national infra-structure in America, providing for tens of thousands of jobs for men, women and youth like those in Flint, Ferguson, Cleveland, Watts, New Orleans, Rochester, Oakland, Chicago, Houston, and San Diego.
WE demand Justice be re-instituted in cities where black children suffer abuse at the hands of the police, with impunity, and that a Federal Investigation be opened to investigate the missing 64,000 Black Women nationally which receives no news coverage.
Those wishing information on the formation of the National Black Council of Elders, please email us at capcouncilofelders@gmail.com.
I remain Yours,
In Unity and Struggle,
Mwalimu Wesley Kabaila
Friends of African Union, Chief of Staff, Congresses
Congress of African People, Chair
6709 La Tijera Blvd. 337posal has been properly submitted.
Los Angeles, California
Website - www.simbamaat.blogspot.com
Skype - Simbamaat
Hotep,Blessings
ReplyDeleteI just want to take this time out to say thank you for all that you have done and that our ancestors are happy with your works.
Asante sana, thank you for allowing us to represent Our Beautiful People. "Toward our Radiant Future"
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