the hard truth Disband the ‘Conscious Community’ now!

27th August 2012   ·   0 Comments

By Min. J. Kojo Livingston
Contributing Columnist

Sometime in loans brownsville texas the past 20 years or so some Black activist or group of Black activists came up with a rotten idea: “Let’s call ourselves the Conscious Community.”

The idea sucks on several levels. First of all, most activists talk about the “Willie Lynch Syn­drome” or the “Willie Chip”—the tendency of Blacks to find ways to divide ourselves and work against each other. The Willie Chip refers to the allegorical slave owner, Willie Lynch and his famous “Letter” which most activists uncritically as historical fact. (Interestingly many of the same activists vehemently challenge the historicity of Christ, although there is more evidence of a real Christ and even a Tooth Fairy than there is of a real Willie Lynch.) So if you believe that we have been programmed to separate, why create another reason to do this?

Secondly, the term “Conscious Community” is a direct insult to anyone who is not a member, citizen, resident or renter there. What is the opposite of conscious? So immediately, there is an assumed superiority to the masses of Black people.

That mental/intellectual/emotional separation is the most dangerous aspect of this concept. It is also a lie.

No one walking around is totally unconscious politically, spiritually, culturally or otherwise. Even if their consciousness in not perceptible to you or me, or if their consciousness happens to be different from ours, they are conscious. That’s why when I was a pup cash advance in rochester mn in the Movement, back in the 70s and 80s, we sometimes referred to ourselves as the Nationalist community or sector to distinguish a group of people with the same general goals. We knew there were folks within the community/nation that had different ideas about what direction we should move in but we did not consider them unconscious, they just had a different approach and opinion.

The flavor of the time was that we were a faction of the Black Nation, engaging in legitimate internal struggle to win our people to our views on how to move us all forward. We knew that there were Black integrationists, accommodationist, straight-up socialists who only saw class, and Black Capitalists who figured we could buy our way out of this, we disagreed, sometimes violently, but we never dismissed our people.

The “Conscious Community” notion does exactly that. It separates Black activists, or more often, Black big-mouths from everyone else, as if we could win this thing without the masses of our people…or as if there were some safe place we could run to and watch the rest of our people face annihilation and re-enslavement.

I understand that as social beings we need opportunities to associate with like-minded people who affirm and support what we stand for. It’s tough always being surrounded by people who don’t see what you see, read what you read or agree with what you understand. But we have a job, a personal loan with zero interest duty, a mandate to grow beyond a small circle of whining malcontents, always pointing out the conspiracy-of-the-week, with no solutions. We have to become a beacon, a light that effectively shows people a way forward.

In the conscious community, I don’t sense or see evidence of a true imperative to reach out to and unite our people. What I do see is a lot of frustration at the people who don’t come to our events, or don’t support our business ventures, or don’t agree with what we tell them. I hear activists talk about our people the same way white racists do. This must change.

If most of the students in a school don’t learn, the problem is not likely to be the students. If a salesman does not sell, it’s not the customer’s fault. We just have to up our game.

Come on folks, we know what we are up against: a 500-year-old propaganda machine that uses a broad variety of methods and institutions to continually pump lies, fear, self-hatred and self-doubt into our people. We see the results everyday and, like it or not, we have all been affected by it to some degree.

The question is are we going to let history record that these people came out of the caves a few minutes ago on the sundial of history and defeated us so soundly that we cannot pick ourselves back up? Are we saying cash loans online.ie that white people are so much smarter than us that they have done something to our minds and souls that our own genius and determination can’t find a way to cure? If so why don’t we just “tap out” and admit defeat right now? Or is that what the CC has already done?

We can win this. Regardless of our collective mental condition, Black People are worth whatever it takes find ourselves and seize our Freedom. We owe more to our people than to make of ourselves another clique that looks down on everyone else.

Activists need to find something better to call ourselves than the “Conscious Community.” But the problem is deeper than a label. We’ve got to change our mindsets and re-open our hearts to unleash that love for our people that brings us pain so often. We can handle it. We must.

Let’s make ourselves wiser than we’ve been before. Let’s get better at teaching, more creative at reaching those who have not heard. Let’s tune up or marketing skills to win over those that don’t want to hear. Let’s demand results of ourselves. Let’s hit ‘em with everything we’ve got…

…LET’S GO GET OUR PEOPLE!!! We are without excuse.

So, Whatchagonna DO?

This article originally published in the August 27, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.