Thread by @mrhick01

It can't happen with the Pan-Africanists' sclerotic inflexibility. LONG THREAD FORTHCOMING.

A number from among us have demanded it for generations. Dr. Claud Anderson (& others) argued for it 25 years ago. Norris Shelton formed a lineage-based org over 40 yrs ago. (1/x)

https://twitter.com/ActifyPress/status/1659465563960164353

The aftermath of the disappointment & material loss of wealth of the masses of Black Americans combined w/the election of Donald Trump primed a new political environment that allowed Black Americans to more willingly hear the voices of new media creators... (cont'd 2/x)

...particularly the emerging YouTube platforms with Yvette Carnell & Irami Osei-Frimpong, & later the concentration & collaboration with Antonio Moore, arguing for a re-invention of Black American political thinking & action that had not been seen for at least 50 years. (3/x)

The key was, & is, that while there have been people who have previously made the argument & created content w/the goal to educate, for whatever reason(s) did not create a critical mass of Black Americans who would *act* on such political objectives. (4/x)

The time, chance, & circumstance triangulated after 2016 into what is now a modern grassroots Black American reparations movement.

One that's developed & evolved to be lineage-based & focused, due to the evolution of what "Black in America" has become post-1965. (5/x)

One that has segmented & disaggregated, w/disagreements over leadership & form & strategy & tactics of political engagement into multiple sects of organizations in varying stages of development & political action & tactics. (6/x)

With this thread, I refuse to argue or speculate about organizational/program success or effectiveness—this is a dynamic political process, a work in progress.

Any announcements of failure are opinions rooted in the political interests of those supporting individuals.(7/x)

The Nat'l Assembly of American Slavery Descendants (NAASD) & the Coalition for a Just & Equitable California (CJEC), & affiliated allied #Freedmen organizations, have pursued a federal reparations strategy through leveraging one of America's most... (8/x)

...economically productive states into pursuing a Black American #Reparations initiative to gain the attention & audience of legislators in Washington, DC for a national, federal plan for the masses of Black American #Freedmen descendants can be achieved & extracted. (9/x)

Some organizations seek to focus more on "Blk Am. new political education." Some organizations &/or influencers seek to focus on the development of Black Political Action Committees (PACs), a desire severely complicated by the relative lack of Blk Am collective wealth. (10/x)

Some organizations &/or influencers work to focus on developing more candidates who can effectively & uncompromisingly support Black American reparations. (11/x)

I can't emphasize this more, this point is critical & fundamental to the understanding of the modern grassroots Reparations movement.

One critical improvement between then, from the arguments & cases made by Callie House & (Queen Mother) Audley Moore, is that... (12/x)

...we, as self-interested (as a peoplehood), politically oriented Black American citizens, have a much greater access to the quantitative & qualitative data that exposes us to the truths of how profound the generational oppression(s) have been, ... (13/x)

...and how devastating slavery, *along w/its ongoing, generational, systemic & structural exclusion & socioeconomic & psychic plunder* on the masses of Black American #Freedmen descendants. (14/x)

Having the ability to take this generational socioeconomic data & pair it with the economic work of @SandyDarity & @DarrickHamilton & Thomas Piketty & Thomas Shapiro & @MehrsaBaradaran, & connect these data points w/the sordid history & treatment... (15/x)

...of Black Americans since our ancestors were dragged here in chains? (16/x)

The ability to compile & map & collectively organize to engage in political education, coupled with the emergence of the internet/WWW & subsequent social media apps & platforms that instantly expanded audiences w/video & streaming & real-time interaction is a game-changer. (17/.)

ADDENDUM: for all that I've written here, there's much more detail between the lines & many more opportunities to further explain some statements & unpack what that means for a collectively self-interested Black American politics beyond parties. (1/)

ADDENDUM: That excites me for the ongoing development of this righteous political project.

Cause over Course. #Reparations (2/x)