Emmett Till Revisited

America has ignored sexual harassment for years but, with the gates now open, it has become topic of conversation. The race side of sexual harassment has as punishment included every extreme from beating to burning, castration and lynching because of “accusations” of improper sexual advance. The media /press, however, continue to avoid conjoining sex and race. When race was/is involved, “accusations” were/are taken seriously  and completely ignored otherwise. Emmett Till was brutally murdered, more than 60 years ago, because he allegedly whistled at a white woman. Simply looking at a white woman was cause for murder in America. The Emmett Till accusation we know now, from the accuser, was a lie. We find sex fiends around every corner and their secrets being kept, like in Emmett Till’s murder, long after the fact. How do we get justice? Americans won’t even talk about sex and race.

The reports of shameless conduct are staggering and we stand by talking about how much is too much. Companies that were and are aware of perpetrators hope to distance themselves by quickly firing white offenders without admitting that they knew all along and did nothing. African Americans men have died for less, much, much less. We look forward to the justice that must be afforded to women in America, but we also look forward to the dialog that condemns the atrocities that were committed by sex-mongers who falsely ascribed their behaviors to African Americans.

Read: Emmett Till Revisited in Art

Consider Kwanzaa

Hanukkah and Christmas and have come and gone. They have fulfilled their traditional missions for many of us. Consider Kwanzaa. Create your own traditions to accompany the Holiday/New Year period and light a candle to it!

  • Umoja (Unity): To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
  • Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): To define and name ourselves, as well as to create and speak for ourselves.
  • Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems and to solve them together.
  • Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.
  • Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
  • Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
  • Imani (Faith): To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

We Need Voices

We need voices large as the ocean
to whisper into the piled tinder
the spark will come
flame leaping from prophetic lips
stolen from self-proclaimed gods.

We need prayers righteous as half babies
alters without sacrifice
hands that help hands
regardless of regard
love as everyone.

We need a supreme seppuku
to circumcise human nature
disembowel its apex predator
leaving an Eden gardener
believing all trees have knowledge.