Upstream
A school of herring fish swims purposefully through the open ocean, looking for food. Their coordinated attacks to find food or procreate are a thing of beauty. Instinctively the herring knows that their coordinated movements enhance their defenses and chances of survival. Furthermore, they accept that some perish in the battle, and they continue to push toward the continuation of their collective legacy. Does the fact that no one fish lead the others factor into the reason they’re so successful? Are there any lessons in that for the black political position? American blacks have overcome treacherous conditions to achieve greatness. So the question is what keeps them from solving the current conditions which plague their communities?
Political Pension
In the cloak of night, men plot their daily conquest. Beneath the stars, they envision conquered feats of grand proportions. The division of labor usually creates a hierarchy among the contributors. The ladder of leadership also creates space for dissension between unequally yoked comrades. Many may believe in the direction that the collective is embarking on, while others resentfully follow orders. It’s widely accepted that the house and the field slave were bitterly entrenched in the same struggle.
As the field slave developed their ways to survive so did the house slave. Distinctly, the narrative of one being more favored increased the opportunity to divide the group. While the field slave didn’t like his position on the plantation, survival required that his heart have no place on the fields. Meanwhile, the house slave indulged daily in matters of the heart, loving their master and his underhanded grace. Or did the house slave develop the understanding that his survival also depended on swallowing such a bitter pill? The illusion of politics is to know what is needed, who can perform those tasks, and how to get them to do it.
Many political speeches like John. F. Kennedy reverb through the walls of time. Many people still hold his words close to the principles of their lives. The slaves too had developed a form of political discourse. Crafting hidden messages through song or actions, to keep their perceived adversary the house slave unaware.
The speeches given in those slave quarters to inspire the slaves to escape to freedom were filled with the most essential elements of political strategy. Reach the hearts of the people first, then captivate their imagination with the guidance and desire to live a more fulfilling life. The American constitution is filled with advice and desire. Illiterate slaves learned quickly to read body language. Their eyes and ears quickly became hip to the wool over their heads.
Words are the most fierce weapon in the arsenal of any politician. Many abolitionists such as the famous Fredrick Douglass penned letters that touched the hearts of men. Those very same letters forced the imagination of the American nation to face its inevitable implosion by denying the liberty of any man or woman.
The fight for the voice of the enslaved began as a whisper amongst a few. Those embers of freedom slowly grew into a roaring fire. Many blacks today struggle to believe in a system which lied about their humanity.
Destroyed beyond recognition, a new psyche formed amidst the crowds of newly freed blacks. Some sought after the fulfillment that life brings. Others fought to ensure their freedom would never be denied again. Collectively, the black culture began to seek the success needed to have power over their neighborhoods. Many great orators expressed the experience of the black American. Can the imagination of modern politics envision the debt owed to the rebellions of the enslaved? A nation birthed from the political discourse of a man’s natural, unalienable rights eventually forced them to reconsider their dark actions.
Rising from the ranks of slaves to prominence became a common occurrence. In modern-day society, this still rings true. Many influential blacks have lifted themselves from the gutters of America.
“But, says the gentleman from North Carolina, some ambitious colored man will, when this law is passed, enter a hotel or railroad car, and thus create a disturbance. If it be his right, then there is no vaulting ambition in his enjoying that right. And if he can pay for his seat in a first-class car or his room in a hotel, I see no objection to his enjoying it.”- Richard Harvey Cain.
Appropriate Application
Standing at the ballot box, many black Americans are searching for the right speech to follow. The political landscape is just as divided today as it was during the days of slavery. Black experiences range across the spectrum of the globe. Many American blacks still struggle to settle into their political alignment as the traditions which kept their ancestors alive also kept them docile.
The polarized nature of black identity has kept the community of black Americans divided. A Battle fueled by the ammunition from the divisive designation of house or field negro.
Freedom fighters once focused on releasing the metal shackles from around the ankles of the population. Conversely, the chains entangle the minds of millions.
Political prowess is essential for protecting the community’s interest. Divided and disinformed, the black inhabitants of America face similar obstacles as their ancestors.
New identities and ideals saturate the fields of hope. Will people likely find one that everyone can agree to? I see the waves of history crashing against the shore of the present. Eventually, the ship has to set sail. There are just a few questions you must ask first.
Who will build this ship, steer it, better yet who believes it will float?
I think the most important one is, who can swim should the ship begin to sink?
Intricate problems need more than one way to solve the issue.
Being willing to accept your wrongs will increase the opportunities you’ll find what’s right.
Will we all arrive at the same conclusion, maybe, maybe not?
But we should try together!
