You've witnessed it. You may even be guilty of it yourself. Many fellow blacks here in the United States have accepted Barack Obama as president and are in full support of his presidency and regime, all while turning a blind eye to his actions and policies. Why have they done this? Because he is the "first black president." But is that all that matters? Clearly not, but it seems to be for some. Would our old black leaders think it mattered? Would they give blind support to him? I don't think they would...
Let's start with the most obvious one first, Malcolm X. From the beginning when Malcolm X was part of the Nation of Islam, he preached Black Nationalism. Under this ideology, Malcolm X pushed for black unity and black self-determination. While originally he thought blacks should reject integration and cooperation with whites, which in itself is a reason he wouldn't support Obama, this view changed after his Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) and conversion to Sunni Islam. He threw away his commitment to racial separatism, but remained with his beliefs that blacks should be self-reliant, independent. Also with his conversion to Sunni Islam came the idea that the
civil rights movement should become known as the
human rights movement. As long as the movement remained a fight for civil rights, its struggle would remain a domestic issue, but by framing the struggle as a fight for human rights, it would become an international issue, and the movement could bring its complaint before the United Nations. Malcolm X stressed the global perspective he gained from his international travels. He emphasized the "direct connection" between the domestic struggle of African Americans for equal rights with the liberation struggles of Third World nations. While special attention was indeed given to the black community for civil rights, Malcolm X had become an advocate for human rights everywhere in the world. In today's society, he would have supported the independence and sovereignty of "Third World" nations and would be completely against the United States occupation of Islamic countries in the East. He would also be against the establishment of the State of Israel, which stripped the Palestinians of their own land, making them impoverished and not being able to be self-reliant. He would have strongly been against the health care reform and big government which people would have to rely on, and against the re-enacting of the Patriot Act. Malcolm X fought and died for equal human rights for all people everywhere. He would not have supported Barack Obama and his regime who take human rights away from people around the world each and everyday, and he would not have sat around, watched and did nothing to stop and change the governments wrong actions. Malcolm X stated that he and everyone should be determined to defend themselves against aggressors, and secure freedom, justice, and equality "by any means necessary." This is the attitude we should have today.
And then there's Martin Luther King Jr. A quote he had written from his
Letter from Birmingham Jail, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," sums up his beliefs and the reason he would not support Obama in just a few words. It is clear that King was more than a civil rights leader from the beginning, being a human rights advocate for all people everywhere in the world. Equality for all was the core of his teachings and speeches, along with justice. King was a man of peaceful protest, but he was also a man of action, having said before "justice too long delayed is justice denied" and "one who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty." King dreamed of a world where racism was overcome and whites, blacks, and everyone could be integrated and live in harmony. In that sense, King would indeed be happy to see a black President of the United States, but only if that man were true to the cause of human rights and equality, in which Obama fails. King would be against the immigration laws Obama and his regime have brought to the table (like the Arizona law where, if you look like an immigrant and you don't happen to have your I.D. on you that day, you can be locked up, that's called
racial profiling). King would be against the so called "War on Terrorism" (really the War on Human Rights), the War in Iraq, the War in Afghanistan, and the Preemptive War in Iran, just like he was against the War in Vietnam, all which violate human rights and take innocent lives, both American and non American. Like Malcolm X, Dr. King, the orchestrator of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, would not have sat around and did nothing to change the injustice of our system.
Everyone back on Election Day 2008 wanted change, where has that drive gone? Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. along with many other human rights leaders advocated
true change, and died for their cause. How have we repaid them? By blindly giving allegiance to the "first black president" who unlike our true black leaders before him, is not an advocate for change at all, but an advocate for lies, deceit, injustice, and war. How else have we repaid our true black leaders? By noticing the wrongs and injustice of our government and not doing anything to change it. Again, everyone wanted change Election Day 2008, where has that drive gone? It almost leaves you with the uncomfortable feeling of "what did these brothers die for"? They died for you and I, so that we could live in a world of equality and justice. Each and every one of us has a responsibility to contribute change and we owe it to the ones who came before us to do so. Stop blindly supporting the injustices and wrong doings of our system just because it has a black face on it now, and start doing what you need to do to bring about true change.
R.I.P. Malcolm X & Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
