The Revolution is Coming...

cuntymint:africanabibliophile: 1890s Blacks were tortured in German concentration camps in Southwest Africa (now called Namibia) when Adolph Hitler was only a child. Colonial German doctors conducted unspeakable medical experiments on these emaciated helpless Africans decades before such atrocities were ever visited upon the Jews. Thousands of Africans were massacred. Regrettably, historians neglected to properly register the slaughter—that is, to lift it from the footnote in history that it had been relegated to—until now. In an attempt to give the incidents their rightful recognition in the historical context of the Holocaust, Dr. Firpo W. Carr has authored a new book entitled, Germany’s Black Holocaust: 1890–1945. In it, he reveals the startling hidden history of Black victims of the Holocaust. The mayhem and carnage date back to the turn of the 20th century, many years before there were ever any other unfortunate victims—Jew or Gentile—of the Holocaust. Carr conducted three incredibly revealing interviews with: (1) a Black female Holocaust victim; (2) the Black commanding officer who liberated 8,000 Black men from a concentration camp; and (3) an African American medic from the all-Black medical unit that was responsible for retrieving thousands of dead bodies from Dachau. (White medical units were spared the gruesome task.) “Kay,” the Black female Holocaust survivor, laments: “You cannot possibly comprehend the anger I have in me because of being experimented on in Dachau, and being called ‘nigger girl’ and ‘blacky’ while growing up.” Testimonials from the Black commanding officer and African American medic are memorialized, for the first time ever, in Carr’s book. The research is based on voluminous documentation, and more. If you are like most people, you simply have never heard the unbelievable story of Black victims of the Holocaust. You are invited to read about the human spirit’s triump over events that occurred during this horrible piece of hidden history. This reminds me that there were black anarchists in Spain during the revolutionary war because they saw the rise of Fascism linked with the KKK and Jim Crow terrorism in the US. How many untold stories are there?

cuntymint:africanabibliophile:

1890s Blacks were tortured in German concentration camps in Southwest Africa (now called Namibia) when Adolph Hitler was only a child. Colonial German doctors conducted unspeakable medical experiments on these emaciated helpless Africans decades before such atrocities were ever visited upon the Jews.

Thousands of Africans were massacred. Regrettably, historians neglected to properly register the slaughter—that is, to lift it from the footnote in history that it had been relegated to—until now.

In an attempt to give the incidents their rightful recognition in the historical context of the Holocaust, Dr. Firpo W. Carr has authored a new book entitled, Germany’s Black Holocaust: 1890–1945. In it, he reveals the startling hidden history of Black victims of the Holocaust. The mayhem and carnage date back to the turn of the 20th century, many years before there were ever any other unfortunate victims—Jew or Gentile—of the Holocaust.

Carr conducted three incredibly revealing interviews with: (1) a Black female Holocaust victim; (2) the Black commanding officer who liberated 8,000 Black men from a concentration camp; and (3) an African American medic from the all-Black medical unit that was responsible for retrieving thousands of dead bodies from Dachau. (White medical units were spared the gruesome task.)

“Kay,” the Black female Holocaust survivor, laments: “You cannot possibly comprehend the anger I have in me because of being experimented on in Dachau, and being called ‘nigger girl’ and ‘blacky’ while growing up.”

Testimonials from the Black commanding officer and African American medic are memorialized, for the first time ever, in Carr’s book. The research is based on voluminous documentation, and more.

If you are like most people, you simply have never heard the unbelievable story of Black victims of the Holocaust. You are invited to read about the human spirit’s triump over events that occurred during this horrible piece of hidden history.

This reminds me that there were black anarchists in Spain during the revolutionary war because they saw the rise of Fascism linked with the KKK and Jim Crow terrorism in the US. How many untold stories are there?

(via queerencia-deactivated20130103)

We black men have a hard enough time in our own struggle for justice, and already have enough enemies as it is, to make the drastic mistake of attacking each other and adding more weight to an already unbearable load.

The Revolution is Coming…

I have maintained for several years, and continue to maintain, that the black population is our own biggest obstacle. We kill our brother, send him to prison, demean him, exploit him, and ultimately, keep him in the prisons of American ghettos that continuously hold him back. Prisons in which our children have no hope for a sufficient education, or opportunity to escape the system of gang and drug life that enslaves our black brothers and sisters at what seems like a younger age with each new generation. The question is continuously posed by many onlookers, “Why don’t they get themselves out of the ghetto?” I have also maintained that this is the doing of the government, the institution that is supposed to protect our “inalienable rights.” Though many of the people responsible for the oppression of the black population claim to be extremely opposed to welfare programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free child care, these are the handouts that, given in such portions, keep our people shackled. 

There was a day that our people could depend on the government for nothing except the guarantee of blatant racism and the denial of any chance to escape their hell of reality. These people weren’t too far removed from slavery, and though they were free to live, this was about the only freedom granted to them. Children graduated from high school without knowing how to read, or even write their own names. This was occurring into the 40’s and 50’s, barely half a century ago. This generation of people saw their brothers and sisters killed in cold blood on a regular basis. When there was an option of using a public facility, it was not only separate from white’s facilities, but were far below standards, even those set for public usage. Harassment was a daily occurrence, and for many, death lurked on the horizon. For the people of this generation, change was not an option. It could not wait any longer. They had to choose to continue to endure the spiritual and cultural death that was happening to them en masse on a daily basis, or face a physical death in hopes of a change for the future.

As you know, thanks to the lives and deaths of many brave souls who died so that we as a people may live, we have seen change. We have acquired much that so many couldn’t even imagine to dream about. The steps that we have made are undeniable, are in no way menial, and should absolutely not be taken for granted. However, we have become complacent in a society in which a vast number of our Black brothers and sisters are predisposed to being imprisoned, living below the poverty line, losing an immediate family member to gangs and/or drugs, and are struggling to maintain even their inalienable rights that the puritans once upon a time fought their controlling power to maintain. We see this on a daily basis, from our elders to our youth. Our grandparents don’t have health insurance and cannot afford the prescriptions that keep them alive. Our parents are struggling to pay rent in a home too small for their family. While our parents are at work, our children are being told that the family that will care for them are in the streets, carrying guns for protection, and that they too, should be protected. We have made so many strides, but there is no question about it: our current society is in a nose dive, rapidly approaching the ground, which holds for them a painful and agonizing death. So why aren’t we as a people attempting to reverse our fate? Because so many of us don’t recognize it.

The government gives our Black sisters just enough food stamps to ensure that her family will always have a cheap and nutritionally void meal on the table. The police forces know just enough to take major drug dealers and gang organizers in prisons, but little enough to let so many killers go free. Our children go missing never to be found, and we’re lucky if notice of their kidnapping ever goes public. We are handed enough as a people to feel like we’ve made some major step, but little enough to remain oppressed. Those of us who do make it out sit in university classrooms, talking about the problems that face our brothers and sisters, but upon receiving our diploma go into the world that we’ve always dreamed of entering, with the dream of being an equal in the American work force and society. But even if we do achieve equality in whatever community we reside in, how could ever accept it rejoicingly knowing that just down the street our brother is suffering at the hand of the system that we’re hoping to advance in? So many of us “make it” and blame our poor brothers and sisters for their own doing, saying that they were offered the same choices that we were. This may be true. As a matter of fact, for so many left behind in the ghettos it is true. Several of my classmates, from the time I entered kindergarten from the time I graduated from high school were just as bright as I was, and were extremely capable of critical thinking not only about concrete objects and situations, but also of not so concrete ideas. For them, it is only their personal choices responsible for the major lifestyle difference we share. However, the only reason I was ever allowed to sit in a college classroom is because people came before me, and they did not make ensure that they fought for the responsible and socially aware Black citizen. They fought for the poor Black brothers and sisters that could not fight for themselves. For the brothers and sisters who could not read or write, and that would never see the inside of a middle school classroom, certainly not a college campus. They lived to die for those that were taking the most force of the beating of injustice, and until we are totally ready to do the same, I cannot say that I see hope for a brighter future for the African American. Because we have not seen a burning cross in our front yard, we do not feel that we are in imminent danger, but I assure you all, this is a lie. Our people as we know it are in grave danger, and I am convinced that the future of Black America rests on the guarantee of one of two equally frightening threats: Continual abuse that will lead to our eventual death, or a revolution. I pray for the latter.

When referring to our death, I do not mean that the Black race in America will become extinct. This would be foolish to think. When I say death, I mean the Black population of America will face a cultural death. Their spirits will be shackled they day they are born, not to be set free again until the day they leave their physical barrier. Our children will learn nothing of their history, and will grow up thinking that the white man brought their ancestors here, and for this they should be thankful. They will never get to experience the pride of knowing that their ancestors fought hard against slavery and oppression, escaping the chains that enslaved them against all odds. They will not have an appreciation for being Black, or what that entails. With no knowledge of the strength, the pride, the love that their ancestors built to pass on, tearing down our Black children will be no more difficult that kicking over a pile of blocks. They will grow accepting the social constructs given to them. They will know that they are faced with prison, the streets, poverty, or death, and they will accept one of these as what is supposed to happen to them, because they are Black. In this way, our people will die. 

The same way our ancestors saw death for their people and fought it, we must fight. We must recognize the continuous abuse and inevitable demise of our people, and fight it. A revolution is on the horizon, and we must be prepared for it. To turn our backs on our brothers and sisters who need us most is to turn our backs on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Huey P. Newton, and the rest of the people who led us out of earlier oppression to what they prayed would be the promised land. To refuse to be our brother’s and sister’s keeper is to refuse to save their lives. To allow them to continue to be destroyed is to destroy our own culture and lives. It is time we stepped up. Revolution is coming. The time is here. 

Because our ancestors saw concrete death, they did not hesitate to fight. Death was coming for them either way, and they fought it with bravery in order to die with dignity. Will we be brave to keep their legacy alive? Will we keep the dignity in our rich heritage? Or are we doomed to watch the demise of ourselves as a people?

The choice we are faced with is not an easy one, and both of the options will present major change. This change is up to us. Either we will die, avoiding the fight, or we will fight, avoiding the death. Once again, I pray for the latter.