The Hard Truth – Assata- Darkening the complexion of terror

3rd June 2013   ·   0 Comments

“The first time I met Assata Shakur we talked for a long time. We were in Havana, where I had gone with a delegation to offer humanitarian aid during Cuba’s “special period” of hunger and despair, and I’d wanted to hear her side of the story from her. She described the incident with the New Jersey Highway Patrol, and assured me she was shot up so badly that even if she’d wanted to, she would not have been able to fire a gun. Though shot in the back (with her arms raised), she managed to live through two years of solitary confinement, in a men’s prison, chained to her bed. Then, in what must surely have been a miraculous coming together of people of courageous compassion, she was helped to escape and to find refuge in Cuba.”
– Alice Walker,
“Sister Assata: This Is What
American History Looks Like”
May 2013.

By Min. J. Kojo Livingston
Contributing Writer

When I heard the announcement I got mad. You should too.

Even if you believe the police version of what happened on that New Jersey Turnpike 40 years ago (and you should not), the declaration that Assata Shakur was placed at the top of the most wanted terrorist list should bother you. With all the active folks running around blowing up stuff and blowing people away, how does one justify placing a 65-year-old grandmother who has been trying to avoid the USA for 40 years on any active terrorist list?

Even if you absolutely accept the governments allegations how does this person, dubiously accused of a single murder, qualify as a terrorist? Does that mean every person accused of a single murder can now be labeled a terrorist? What about assault and battery? What about petty theft? How far does this go? And how much will the public accept as acts designed to prevent or respond to terror

Every crime should be addressed, but any rational person knows that every crime is not an act of terror and should not be treated as such. So why the irrational behavior toward Assata Shakur? And why now?

After the Boston bombing, New Town and other recent mass murders a clear picture of what a domestic terrorist looks like has been coming into focus. Most people have come to see the quiet, white “guy next door” as terrorist material. That won’t do in a nation that deifies both whiteness and maleness. So you need a diversion at the very least, an “image adjustment” at the very best.

Now, in the midst of this furor bringing attention (and your fear) away from Boston and other threats, the Obama administration decides to declare a Black person the first woman to make it to the top of the most wanted terrorist list, not because of any current threat, but to shift attention, shift perception and feign bravado, “We bad. We can’t stop mass shootings and bombings, but we be going after the little Black woman with everything we’ve got.” Yeah, they are really on the case. Even racist conservatives ought to be insulted at such a paltry offering and obvious tack. It certainly wasn’t done to impress the left.

In this time of political smoke and mirrors, no one should fall for this con. Black Nationalist Revolu­tionaries are the least threat to anyone in this nation. The people who have been accumulating firearms and chemical weapons for the past 60 years are not Black. The people calling for 25,000 armed, angry citizens to storm Washington D.C. and every state capitol in July of 2014 are white.

If there were a real Black guerrilla threat inside the U.S., there would probably be fewer negro sellout politicians. Cops and rent-a-cops would not be killing one innocent Black person every 28 hours. They would at least hesitate before killing 300 unarmed, uncharged Black women, children and men every year. This does not include beatings, molestations and other abuses at the hands of police. We already know what a domestic terrorist looks like.

The motives for New Jersey officials are fairly local. They want revenge because one of their own was killed, even if possibly by one of their own. They also know that treating Sis. Assata as a terrorist eliminates her civil rights and creates a scenario wherein she could be legally assassinated by a drone or kidnapped and tortured by humans. Her side of the story would never make a witness stand and the probability of the real truth being exposed…again would be decreased.

The federal government’s motives reflect a bigger picture:
a. To focus the fear of terrorism on darker-skinned targets and away from the white nutcases that are responsible for the vast majority of mass murders (and all other crimes) that happen in the USA. This is the politics of appeasement.
b. To justify putting more heat and surveillance on Black and other domestic dissidents than they already do. They already have a lot of latitude, all they have to do is cry “terrorism” and anything goes.
c. To see if the public will go for it. The insult (to your intellect) of putting this woman at the top of the terrorist list is beyond belief…or it should be. The Obama administration has stooped to playing on the combination of fear and racism to get folks to accept outright tyranny. The government and corporations are using fear to gain control of every aspect of our lives. They keep making outlandish policies and ridiculous laws to see how much we will take.
d. The big prize could be setting a precedent for military incursions into Cuba, leading to a possible takeover. If they send drones or more assassins to Cuba after Sister Assata, it could set the stage for a bloody, unjust invasion, and maybe a world conflict. Cuba’s only crime is having a different political system and not submitting to the rule of the U.S. This makes it a “dangerous enemy,” The entire nation is smaller than Florida.

The bottom line is that Black people and everyone else must stop being so damned gullible. This government should not be able to easily manipulate or control your opinions, emotions and actions by dropping a few code words or giving you a slanted piece of a story. Finding and spreading the truth is a more imperative and dangerous practice than it has ever been. Everybody needs to get off the bench. The mainstream media has already sold us out. Use every resource you have now to find and share the truth, while it’s still barely legal.

You already know this government will lie and do despicable things to maintain and increase their power. As their efforts to manipulate, deceive and control the population become more blatant the only question that remains is…
…Whatchagonna Do?

This article originally published in the June 3, 2013 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.