TALK TO THE DADDY

Hello. Come on in. The daddy writes about current events, literature, music and, once in a while, drops something on you from back in the day to make you pause and ponder, stop and stare, and begin to wonder. Who knows? You may start to pace the floor, shake your head from side to side, then fall down on bended knees in a praying position and cry, "Lawd, have mercy! What is this world coming to?" Check yourself! But this blog is NOT about the daddy. It's about you: your boos, your fam, your hood, your country...our hopes and dreams of a better tomorrow. So let's make a pact: the daddy will put it on the track if you'll chase it down and hit him back. Together, we can definitely take it to another level. Shall we?"

Saturday, December 5, 2009

"I AIN'T GON STUDY WAR NO MO'"

Listen up. In keeping with some of my
reader's wishes, who say they're suffering from "post-election fatigue," I'm not writing about the election or the sorry state of the American economy. But I'm writing about American society, especially about the unnecessary and painful violence in our communities.

So the daddy is thinking...I'm just thinking... just thinking... about Malcolm x, who said that on this day, from this day forward, on this earth, we declare that we have a right to fight for our freedom "by any means necessary." Minister Malcolm died from a hail of bullets from members of the Nation of Islam, the organization he helped create, leaving behind a wife and two children and the hopes of millions of African Americans.

I'm just thinking...just thinking...about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who died from a violent gunshot as he stood out on the balcony of a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. King said we must meet the power of violence as an organized people of love, as a nonviolent people, as a non-violent nation. He said we must have "the strength to love." And though the corporate media won't acknowledge it, he spent the last year of his life not talking about little white girls and little black boys holding hands and singing we shall overcome but focusing on war and poverty, reminding us that our government's preoccupation with war not only killed people abroad; it diverted much-needed resources to end poverty at home.

Dr. King, an activist/intellectual, perhaps the most eloquent orator of any generation, a minister who could quote Shakespeare as easily as a passage from the bible, made it plain when he paraphrased an old religious hymn and said, "I don't know about you, but I ain't gon study war no mo."

I'm just thinking...just thinking... about the millions of lesser-known Americans
in cities like Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Memphis and Atlanta who die every day from a hail of gunfire from gangbangers who are famous for missing their targets and killing innocent citizens, including children.

Okay, African Americans, I want to ask you something:

As a people who were enslaved and brutalized for centuries by others, shouldn't you be peaceful toward each other? Whether inside the home or out on the street, shouldn't another brother or sister be the last person you raise a hand or squeeze a trigger finger to harm? And if you must raise a hand or pull a trigger, shouldn't the only possible justification for doing so be to defend yourself as an individual or to defend your country against attacks?

Okay, Americans of all ethnic, political or religious persuasions, I want to ask you something: As members of a nation that took this country by committing genocide against nations of Indians (the first Americans), as members of a nation that enslaved an entire group of people (Africans), as members of nation that spends much of its budget on either fighting wars or preparing for wars, as members of a nation with 47 million people without healthcare, with infrastructure so bad that you're afraid to drive across some bridges, shouldn't you be so angry, so... obsessed with forcing your elected officials to turn away from bloody wars and turn to the righteous quest of supporting you that you're willing to organize other Americans to march on Washington D.C. this summer and camp out there until your elected officials-- yes, Barack Obama-- pass laws to bail out working people, to insure them, to employ them, to rebuild America?

I'm just thinking...just thinking...about rising each morning with the sun, sipping a cup of java, paraphrasing an old spiritual and saying like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I don't know about you, but I ain't gon study war no mo."

Can you say "I ain't gon study VIOLENCE no mo." Can you live it?

7 comments:

Vigilante said...

Can't live it, Daddy. I respect it, but I can't live it. I went through my conversion from nonviolence to violence in the summer of 1965, as I think I related in these pages...-

Kentucky Rain said...

Daddy help me with something please......

I picture a country with a strong western influence, obtained and fought for by the western allies. Here is that picture:

Everyone is allowed to go to school, men, and WOMEN. Gasp! Women are allowed to get an education. Women are entitled to medical care and their husbands are no longer entitled to beat them. Women are now allowed to hold public office and raise their children with their best interests at heart. It is now possible for women to be doctors, lawyers, writers and etc. Women are no longer beaten and executed for the slightest transgression. All people are allowed to think and act independent of the religious oppression. Terrorism and poppy fields are no longer allowed. Farmers now grow crops and tend to their animals without fear of warlords and al Qaeda.

I now a picture a country that had none of that. I now picture a country that tortures and murders its most precious legacy, its children, because the mother, also murdered, was suspected of a religious transgression. I now picture a country that only allows religious zealots to hold office, an office that was selected not by the people but by the the religious leaders. I now picture blood and death on the landscape. Everywhere I look there is persecution and prosecution. I see a government that provides succor to those who would cause great harm to us and our allies, as they did on September 11, 2001.

So please tell me again why we should leave this country? It could be any country. Please, tell me again why we should leave?

Kit (Keep It Trill) said...

...shouldn't another brother or sister be the last person you raise a hand or squeeze a trigger finger to harm?

You would think so, but the ones doing this the most are between 16 and 26, and usually know little about their history, haven't formed a strong personal identity and values, and combined with those high levels of testosterone used for bluffing, fronting, and violence as an outlet.

This is why the military likes to get them (regardless of race) when they're young and dying to prove their manhood. Gang violence is the poor boy's option.

Mac Daddy Tribute Blog said...

Vigilante: Above all else, the thing I like you is your honesty.

Madmike: When there are so many countries wit problems (e.g. Darfur, where they are raping women every night) please tell me: why did we have to go to this country in the first place?

Kit: Welcome. And, yes, this is why I put these two pictures together to show the connection between violence abroad and violence at home. And you're right about the kids too. They don't know what's going on, but they know they are bored, want to get into something in a hurry. Thanks.

Mac Daddy Tribute Blog said...

Vigilante: Above all else, the thing I like you is your honesty.

Madmike: When there are so many countries wit problems (e.g. Darfur, where they are raping women every night) please tell me: why did we have to go to this country in the first place?

Kentucky Rain said...

We went there because it was the home base for al Qaeda, those responsible for the 9/11 attacks. A better question might be: Why did we stay there after we routed the enemy?

I thought you might enjoy one of my favorite MLK quotes:

"Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love...".

That is by memory so I hope it is accurate.

SagaciousHillbilly said...

I've had to learn to accept the "frailites of human nature." I study and note them when I see them. If I do that and move on, it saves me a lot of inner pain.