Reparations Now, Mr. President

Newark NJ

27 January, 2021

4:00 PM

Description

"The Holocaust of Nazi Germany is certainly no less of a historic crime than the Holocaust that went on for centuries against African-Americans. That process of reparations, and a truth and reconciliation discussion, was extremely helpful in the country of Germany, and we need to have that here." -Jill Stein "We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there "is" such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action." -Martin Luther King Jr. Dear President Joe Biden, Please keep in mind that this nation's obsession with white supremacy and systematic racism did not stop on January 20, 2021, with the swearing-in of your position as the 46th DemocratIc President of the Unites States and Kamala Harris as country's first woman of color Vice President. We are still in a fight on many fronts against racial discrimination. Our struggle for Black liberation continues. One battle plan that can be implemented to destroy the system of American inequality (which is perpetuated in the Afrikan American community) in the US involves behooving the Biden-Harris administration to push Congress to draft, approve, and finalize legislation on reparations now. Not tomorrow but NOW!! The world owes Afrika reparations. Millions of Black lives were destroyed by the American, European, and Arab slave-trading of Black people on the continent of Afrika. Robbing Afrika of its most vital resource-human beings. Eventually, a world policy on reparations must be put in place to help redeem mother Afrika from 500 years of racism's chattle slavery and colonialism. And America must take the lead to helped heal Afrika. As Vice President, Harris is now the chief executive branch member whose official responsibility entails presiding over the US Senate - a chamber of Congress she was just a member of; as a junior US Senator representing her district in the state of California. Not only have Democrats won the White House, they have also gained control of both chambers of the US Congress - the legislative branch of our national government that sends bills to the White House so that they can be signed into law by the US President. When it comes to the reparations issue, the Biden-Harris Administration must firmly instruct Congress to do one thing: "Send the bill!" Our people have suffered for centuries under anti-Black Americanism. This US-style of bigoted imposition, which causes Afrikan oppression, has taken on many forms throughout history. The time for justice is right now. It is good for the government to include all representatives from various cultures and the LBGTQ community in its leadership, especially Black people. The concept of representation is important. However, it was the Black vote that propelled you to victories in the Democratic primaries of 2020 and the national US Presidential election against Donald Trump. I am glad some of us are leading presidential cabinet posts in America's executive branch now. But we have seen this movie before. We have had a "Black" president. The optics made many of us feel good about being Black. Nonetheless, during Barack Obama's two-term presidency, were not exclusively prioritized in any specific government policies, which called for pulling back years of socioeconomic disparities in the Afrikan American community. However, for these reasons, many of us are skeptical of the power structure. The mainstream establishment has a tendency to coat White supremacy with Black and Brown faces to make it seem like progressive change has come to America. Swearing in Kamala Harris to the office of US Vice President makes the same scenario play all over again - in the minds of fighters for Black liberation who remember being short-changed during the Obama era. Unfortunately, some of us are falling for this trick White hegemony plays called the illusion of inclusion. Positioning Black faces in high places to make it seem like we have equality and Black political power. When in reality, we don't have real equality or real Black power at all. Dr. John Henrick Clarke, the late and great Pan-Afrikan nationalist and Afrikana Studies professor, taught us for many years this wisdom, "Be careful of ceremonies over substance." In 2021, the struggle for Black reparations continues. But under your administration, Afrikan people in America can finally receive justice from racial socioeconomic disparities stemming from centuries of slavery and segregation in the United States. Hotep (An ancient Afrikan word for peace)! Respectfully, -Bashir Muhammad Akinyele Bashir Muhammad Akinyele is a History and Afrikana Studies teacher at Weequahic High School in Newark, NJ. He is also the co-coordinator for ASCAC's (the Association for Study of Classical African Civilizations) Study Group Chapter in Newark, NJ. (https://ascac.org/). Big props to the great journalist Victor Trammel for his wisdom, contributions, and editing. This is the third collaboration project from brother Trammel and I. Note: Spelling Afrika with a k is not a typo. Using the k in Afrika is the Kiswahili way of writing Africa. Kiswahili is a Pan -Afrikan language. It is spoken in many countries in Africa. Kiswahili is the language used in Kwanzaa. The holiday of Kwanzaa is celebrated from December 26 to January 1.