Thoughts of a Lioness: Hush Money, Reward, and Progress

Thoughts of a Lioness: Hush Money, Reward, and Progress: Peace to all of you. As I write this, my mind is all over the place. I sat in a brief meditation this morning, reflecting on the murders of...

Hush Money, Reward, and Progress

Peace to all of you. As I write this, my mind is all over the place. I sat in a brief meditation this morning, reflecting on the murders of our people by police and the cycle of repeated events and the results sickened me. In the majority of high profile deaths of Afrikan people in Amerikkka at the hands of law enforcement, the cycle is :

1. Outrage by the community 

2. An investigation of the events

3. The vilification of the victim by mainstream media, conversations  on police and community relationships

4. Either the police officer is charged or found to be innocent by way of lack of substantial evidence or assumed guilt by the victim  (He went for my gun and so on), but never any conviction or even admission of guilt by them

5. The family of the victim receives huge amounts of money from the city the victim lived in, often before the criminal case is tried, but certainly after. The latest settlement is in the case of Walter Scott who was murdered by an officer in North Charleston.

6. The officer often is paid by either their own departments , as in the case of Kerrick or by GoFundMe accounts established by their supporters.

7. Rinse and repeat.

In the latest case of Randall Kerrick, he is being rewarded, in my opinion, for shooting an unarmed Jonathan Ferrell in 2013. I watched as a representative of the Fraternal Order of Police Officers express his feeling that Kerrick deserved "more" than his settlement of over $100,000. More of what? Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department "negotiated" with him for a resignation and paid him. It makes zero sense at all but this is white supremacy at its finest. What has he suffered that he deserves to have his resignation negotiated in the first place and then paid severance as if he actually served  in any capacity for those who are the hunted. In the KRS-One song "Black Cop", he calls the officer -- overseer and that is exactly what they are. Overseers were paid to inflict pain, power, and dominance over our ancestors and to keep the “nigras” in line and these "officers" are doing the same; they injure, they intimidate, they abuse their power, and if they kill, they are smiled upon, paid for the collection of black bodies. In our communities, the sight of a police car is a constant reminder that we could be the next hashtag on Twitter, the next one with our name in lights, one of the ones whose life could be stolen, with justice never to be had, our families paid hush money, and our names added to the seemingly neverending list of people murdered unarmed by the police. The actions of these men and women in blue is at best atrocious and has caused for the community to view them as a constant threat and a menace. There has not been any reform for these police departments, no true action taken against any who have unjustly murdered our people, and no true blueprint for what should be done when it happens again.

Our communities are in dire need for transformation. At this time, we find ourselves at the bottom of the totem pole in most areas—economically, educationally, and otherwise. The remedy is not to be found in Washington or any other legislative or judicial body within the stolen nation named Amerikkka. The movement should be to establish independence and unification amongst ourselves. We need to police our own neighborhoods. Our people are dying at the hands of each other and it is high time that we seize our circumstances from those who devalue their own people. We need to establish economic initiatives from every state within this nation in which we shop with our own, create our own, and only support our own. I know some may feel the things I speak about may be a bit lofty but our very existence depends on our unity and collective action. No one is coming to save us. We all we got!

Hetepu!

Andre’a 

Thoughts of a Lioness: Continued Atrocities and What Is To Come

Thoughts of a Lioness: Continued Atrocities and What Is To Come: Peace to you all I recently ran across an article about the infamous George Zimmerman retweeting a photo of Trayvon Martin's lifeless...

Continued Atrocities and What Is To Come

Peace to you all

I recently ran across an article about the infamous George Zimmerman retweeting a photo of Trayvon Martin's lifeless body lying on the grass after the murder. Soon after, a social media storm occurred with people expressing their anger and disgust over his actions. As I sat on my couch on Monday evening, I meditated on how I would feel if I was Trayvon's mother as well as how I feel as the mother of four Afrikan sons. The continued downplaying of the murders of our sons and daughters, the lack of empathy and compassion for our losses, the insensitivity of mainstream AmeriKKKa, and the onslaught of continued violence against our people, coupled with the mass media criminalizing the victims is overwhelming. We live in a country that was built upon the backs of our ancestors and yet has a short memory as to what was truly done. Our people were stolen from their homelands, forced to change their names, forget their religion, and treated as animals. We, as a people , have survived through slavery, wars, Jim Crow, and terroristic acts all of these years. And to have our murders placed on social media sites for white inferiority , which is illogically named white supremacy, cuts to the core of my soul. For George Zimmerman, Daniel Pantaleo, Darren Wilson, and so many other murderers to walk free, to gain riches off their barbaric and murderous acts, is a slap in the face of our warrior ancestors. These acts are less than humane. They feed into the machine of oppression because the images are a constant reminder that death can occur by their hand at any given time. The messages are clear and constant. Our lives matter , but not to them. We are simply tools to keep their pockets fat, their country flourishing--it is all tied to economics. We have secured the lifestyles of the rich and famous and we continue to do so. We work for pennies on the dollar in the prisons, which at this time are plantations, cloaked as correctional facilities. We attend their schools and are trained to work for them in their corporations, again to profit them. We are widely segregated into ghettos and slums, where we die in squalor. We run into religious buildings to worship a god that has neither loved us or protected us and looks just like the men who came on the ships over 400 years ago.

I realize that this message is heavy, but I also realize these words are necessary. This is the age of information. We have access to more information than we ever have before and now is the time to harness the information and free ourselves from slavery once and for all. There is a revolution going on right now. More and more of our people are waking from the comatose state and realizing that we have been in a war for 4 centuries. Now is the time for us to unite and take the head off of the beast once and for all!! As our vibrations rise and align, more and more of us are creating lives outside the matrix. They are hearing the rallying cry . It is my sincerest desire to see all of Afrika unite-- to live amongst each other, to raise free thinking children, to do business together, and to be truly liberated. And it will happen! We will never forget what has been done however, we are not looking back! As our dear ancestor Marcus Garvey once said "What do I care about death in the cause of the redemption of Africa?...I could die anywhere in the cause of liberty: A real man dies but once; a coward dies a thousand times before his real death. So we want you to realize that life is not worth its salt except you can live it for some purpose. And the noblest purpose for which to live is the emancipation of a race and the emancipation of posterity."

Hetepu,

Andre'a The Tru Lioness

Thoughts of a Lioness: James Baldwin once said "To be a Negro in this cou...

Thoughts of a Lioness: James Baldwin once said "To be a Negro in this cou...: James Baldwin once said "To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time. ” No word...

James Baldwin once said "To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time. ” No words ring truer at this particular point in our history. We live under the constant threat of attack and possible death, if not by our own people then by those who wear and badge and drive cars emblazoned with the phrase "To protect and to serve". These tools of "white supremacy", coupled with the continual reporting of worldwide injustices against our people, the lies of the media, the systems of control, and the silence of those who should be working towards change, are at times overwhelming and too much to bear.


Each day we rise to yet another story , another murder, another loss. It is so disheartening. We are at war and have been in this war for so many years, the majority of us think that our lives are "normal" . I myself dream of liberation for all Afrikans. I dream of a time where we can educate our children, have our own systems of commerce, education, and healthcare, our own self-sustained communities, and are no longer subjected to the whims of oppression and those who support it. But, I realize that idealism has no place in the life of a revolutionary. I am a dreamer but I had to wake up from the dream because my people are living in a nightmare. From the shores of Amerikka , to the islands of West Papua, to the terrain of Australia, to the cities of Europe, my people are all suffering.


It is the duty of each of us of the Afrikan diaspora to do what we can where we are . If each of us in our respective communities would do the needed work in those communities, we would see systemic change. But, we need to start. I am inspired by some of the actions and initiatives of some of my comrades throughout the US. Many are purchasing land (or aspiring to), some have youth groups, some have homeschooling programs,teaching on economics, outreach programs, some are fighting their local governments regarding human rights violations , and so on and so on. These are the every day heroes that the world doesn't recognize. I see you!


I could go on and on but I won't . Instead, I will get back to work. No one is coming to save us and we have to deal with the fact that those who should care do not and the ones who should have our best interests at heart do not. We are the solution. Every day , more and more and facing the harsh reality of life as an Afrikan. We come from greatness. We will return!

Hetepu,

Andre'a The Tru Lioness

Remembering Garvey

Today marks the 128th birthday of one of our most beloved  ancestors,  Marcus Mosiah Garvey. He has left an indelible mark upon the lives of every Afrikan living , as well as the world at large. I wanted to take this time today to reflect upon his life and to share some interesting facts about the man.
Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. was born August 17th, 1887 in St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica to Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr., a stone mason, and Sarah Jane Richards, a domestic worker. He was the last of 11 children and only he and one of his sisters lived to adulthood. Garvey was largely self-educated.  He became a printer’s apprentice at age 14. He traveled throughout Central America working as a newspaper editor and writing about the exploitation of migrant workers before traveling to London and attending Birkbeck College (now the University of London). He worked for the African Times and Orient Review.
In 1914, Garvey along with 5 other associates, created the Universal Negro Improvement Association.  One month after the first UNIA division was established in New York in 1917, the organization reached 2 million members in the U.S.  By 1914, the UNIA had 4 million members. He also created the Negro World newspaper, which at its peak had over 200,000 subscribers.  Garvey held meetings and rallies as well as conventions, the largest being held at Madison Square Garden with over 25,000 attendees.
Garvey also launched the Black Star Line, a shipping company that would establish trade and commerce between Afrikans in America, the Caribbean, South and Central America, Canada, and Afrika.  In addition to the Black Star Line, Garvey also established the Negro Factories Corporation in 1920. They opened a chain of grocery stores, restaurants, steam laundry shop, publishing house, doll factory, and millinery store. He was a staunch believer in us “doing for self”.
Garvey died in 1940 in London after suffering several strokes. Garvey was exhumed and taken to Jamaica, where the government of Jamaica proclaimed him national hero and re-interred him at a shrine in National Heroes Park.  The accolades for Garvey could go on and on as he influenced so many of our leaders such as the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, Patrice Lumumba, and many others.
Let us do as Garvey spoke, “We are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery, for though others may free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind. Mind is our only ruler; sovereign.”


Hetepu,
Andre’a the Tru Lioness