Thread by @HisWhizdum4U

Couple of growing viewpoints amongst some of us that are not at all ratified by objective truth and history, nor ratified by black struggle:
1. We don't need to understand civics and how to force change, just a loud demand on how things should be will suffice.

2. We can vote 3rd party in anger at both parties. That'll show them!
3. We can be successful with everyone doin their own thing-some stay home, some vote down ballot, some vote dem or repub, some write in mickey mouse.
4. It's all rigged against black folks.
5. Racism is dead.

6.Repubs of 1865 and Dems of 1865 have a strong specific connection to who each of the parties are today.
7.Purity tests on subjects like reparations should be used to disqualify others.
8. Older blacks failed us being docile, today young folks take up the fight!

9. Democrats run urban centers and the urban blight is a clear sign they alone are against black people or have failed black people.
10. Africans are our enemies in 2022 because they actually sold us into slavery back in the day. (white supremacy loves this lie)

11. There is one all encompassing opinion or front to the fight for black progress.
12. Social media activism ranks high on the scale of making you a revolutionary.
13. Democrats are the main architects of mass incarceration.

14. Deep life experience & study mean nothing against a snazzy phrase, youthful energy, and woke theories birthed during last night's smoke session.
15. We should view our sociopolitical/ eco power like a traditional faith context where a savior is needed, hoped for, yet unseen.

Now, there are certainly other examples of erroneous thinking & analysis, but I want to stop with these to offer clarity and answers for the 15 listed.
1. It takes nothing for you to learn how political power is wielded in our multilayers of govt. Do it or waste time & energy.

2. A 3rd party vote in the Gen election is worthless. Sure we need more parties! But first you must raise the money and signatures nationally for a 3rd party to mean anything.
3.Sociopolitics and economics are team sports w/skilled positions! Find out how to score wins together!

4.This is an acceptance of weakness and a perspective of losers. Better sense tells us we are interfacing systems and institutions, many of which have historically been discriminatory, but still dependent like all other systems on people's input and their goodness or badness.

5. Racism is no more dead than the people who wield it at their convenience& against others. Simplfying it down like Kanye to a mindset choice will not only prolong its power, but does nothing for its victims. Rather, stop its harmful powers and along the way deal with mindset.

6.Historians have long studied party evolution. It should be only a moment of surprise that Repubs were founded to verse slavery but now cozy up to white hatred, and Dems were the KKK then & in the 60s but now are the party most clearly working on justice issues related to blacks

7. We should constantly demand repair and grade all candidates by several measures including where they stand on reparations, but there are diff fronts and even diff rates of learning about reparations. You cut off would be supporters with summary judgments and name calling.

8. Alliance between old/young remains necessary for success. To be truthful many young have no idea what older folks endured or accomplished. Further, many young have not raised children, worked careers, interfaced all the institutions to have a balanced idea of what they face.

9. The line is Hella long on who has failed black people. 1st, we have failed our own selves in some respects. Yes both parties have failed to address black progress and the damaging nature of our US institutions. Hangin urban blight on dems when both parties are culprit is dumb.

10. Europeans created the never heard of, dehumanizing chattel slavery systems and extracted extreme wealth from the traffic of humans. Slavery had existed forever across Africa, in a very diff form. There is no thru line here. The whole discussion is bereft of truth.

11. There are many fronts to this fight that targets black with no consideration of our differences. We must learn to move toward certain shared goals, despite our many differences internally. Stop demanding singularity of belief, when focused action is what we need!

12. Let's be real. Social Media is good & bad. It helps when used well. It cuts too when untruths find comfort and spread. A lie will travel around the world before the truth laces its shoes. Many lies parade as revolutionary thinking. Best to ground in reality& in relationships

13. No argument that the war on drugs by Nixon admin/ repubs in 70's started mass incarceration of black people. The point most miss is that most of that time is state time!!! (Think- recent weed pardons only affect around 7K with fed charges, state charges are nearly 7X that!)

Cont. 13. Southern Dems and mostly repubs in states drove mass incarceration of black Folks. Much later the fed Dems fearing their reputation on crime jumped on board too. Net result: both are guilty, but the repubs more so. What we gonna do bout it?

14. Consider we are almost famous for rejecting study or at least equating street knowledge and creativity with real scholarship & analysis. We render hard workers amongst us inept and useless against a Neverending broadside of myth, conspiracy, black pain and memory, slick shit

cont. 14. that plays well with the crowd or makes for great memes, but has no grounding in reality, experience, or hard fought analysis. We must kill that noise for real yah. Knowledge and wisdom is distributed across our people yes, but it isn't equal!

15. Lastly, a core problem with our efforts at self govt. is that we translate our religious experience into politics. Too many of us think there is a far off moral force responsible for making things right for us more than we are responsible to do ourselves. This means

cont. 15. that checking out of the process and being apolitical and prayerful alone is an acceptable service when it is not. Render unto Ceasars what is Ceasars, and unto God what is God's. You must be prayerful AND protective of your homes, children, livelihoods, and rights!!

#ADOSAF with universal truth. No fly by night theories here. Shared in love for a mighty people who have not yet learned to build together and seize their power.

@threadreaderapp unroll pls