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Clint Smith
@ClintSmithIII
, 10 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
Today I'm thinking about the "Double V" campaign during World War II & how black Americans were fighting both fascism abroad & racism at home. A letter written by James G. Thompson, published in the Pittsburgh Courier on January 31, 1942 is what started it all. Here's an excerpt:
"...Being an American of dark complexion and some 26 years, these questions flash through my mind: "Should I sacrifice my life to live half American?" "Will things be better for the next generation in the peace to follow?" Would it be demanding too much to demand..."
"...full citizenship rights in exchange for the sacrificing of my life. Is the kind of America I know worth defending? Will America be a true & pure democracy after this war? Will colored Americans suffer still the indignities that have been heaped upon them in the past?..."
"...These & other questions need answering...I believe every colored American, who is thinking, wants to know. This may be the wrong time to broach such subjects, but haven't all good things obtained by men been secured through sacrifice during just such times of strife?..."
"...I suggest that while we keep defense and victory in the forefront that we don't loose sight of our fight for true democracy at home..."
"The V for Victory sign is being displayed prominently in all so-called democratic countries which are fighting for victory over aggression, slavery & tyranny. If this V sign means that to those now engaged in this great conflict then let colored Americans adopt the double VV.."
"...for a double victory. The first V for victory over our enemies from without, the second V for victory over our enemies within. For surely those who perpetrate these ugly prejudices here are seeing to destroy our democratic form of government just as surely as the Axis forces"
"...This should not and would not lessen our efforts to bring this conflict to a successful conclusion; but should and would make us stronger to resist these evil forces which threaten us. America could become united as never before and become truly the home of democracy."
You can read the full letter here:

learner.org/courses/amerhi…
"Ultimately, remembering the Double V campaign means remembering when African-American activists saw their struggle at home as part of a broader, internationalist struggle for self-determination among many different peoples of color."

jacobinmag.com/2018/05/double…
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Clint Smith
@ClintSmithIII
Spent the day at a juvenile detention center & I just kept thinking about how often these boys have been told things like "pull up your pants" & "stop listening to that music" & how little they've been told that structural racism & public policy have targeted them for generations
So many black children are constantly scolded for things that aren't their fault. Like, the reason one part of DC looks one way & another part of DC looks different isn't bc of the people in those communities, it's what been done to those communities for decades, for centuries.
We all have personal responsibility. We all have some measure of agency. But those have to be understood in the context of all the structural impediments shaping a person's experiences. It's not to absolve ppl of what they do, but to understand how they might have ended up there.
Read 9 tweets
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Clint Smith
@ClintSmithIII
There are colleges closing their dining halls during breaks so low-income students have to find food pantries to eat. There are elementary school children who can’t afford hot lunches being shamed in front of their peers w/ cold sandwiches. All of it is a profound moral failure.
People living in poverty are always being told that they need to make better decisions, but we have a system in place—in both the public & private sector—that punishes ppl in poverty every single day, a system that makes an intentional choice to make their lives more difficult.
We’re constantly inundated with the message that poverty is a choice. It is a choice. But it’s not a choice made by the people living in it, it’s a choice made by the people who keep them there.
Read 5 tweets
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Clint Smith
@ClintSmithIII
There are so many people who believe that they would have been these radical abolitionists during the era of slavery who regularly demonstrate an inability to imagine the society they actually live in right now as anything other than what it is.

It’s revealing.
Folks are out here walking around thinking they would have spoken out against slavery, the only economic model this country had ever known, but as soon as you bring up the idea that prisons shouldn’t operate as they currently do those same people think you’re being preposterous.
If you accept how contemporary systems of oppression operate as a given, simply because you’ve never seen something different, you would have very likely done the same in any other era.
Read 3 tweets

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Ella Cruz♦️👜👠#StopCPSChildKidnappers
@EllaaaCruzzz
"Chairman of NATO Military Committee Was Chief of The General Staff of The Nazi Army"

We Have Been Lied To...

Click on the article below 👇👇
ellacruz.org/2018/12/15/chi…

Photo sent to me by @dh_wil
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2-Lieutenant-General Adolf Heusinger (left) & Lieutenant-General Hans Speidel, Chief of Army Group B, later provided 4 the smooth integration of the Bundeswehr into NATO, with Federal Minister of Defense Theodor Blank on presentation of the certificates of appointment (pic below)
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