The Intellectualist Profile picture
Jun 20, 2023 11 tweets 6 min read Read on X
1/10: This #Juneteenth, we confront a horrific but essential part of American history:

The brutal exploitation of enslaved Africans, whose unpaid labor fueled the rise of the United States as an economic powerhouse. #BlackHistoryIsAmericanHistory Image
2/10: From the early 1600s, millions of African people were forcibly brought to the U.S. and exploited for their labor.

They were the engine that powered America’s rise as an agrarian economy, particularly in the South. #slavery Image
3/10: Enslaved Africans were integral to lucrative industries such as tobacco, indigo, and rice in the 17th & 18th centuries.

However, it was the cotton industry in the 19th century that turned the U.S. into an economic colossus. #EconomicHistory Image
4/10: Cotton, “King Cotton,” was at the center of the booming textile industry, powering industrial growth not only in the South, but in the North and even across the Atlantic. Image
5/10: This brutal system of slavery created wealth for plantation owners, industry magnates, and financial institutions.

Much of America’s early economic growth and industrial power can be traced back to the labor of the enslaved.
#BlackHistoryIsAmericanHistory Image
6/10: Despite the profound contributions of enslaved Africans, the narrative is often excluded or diminished in our history education. ImageImage
7/10: Recognizing this truth is more than a nod to historical accuracy.

It’s about acknowledging a historical debt owed to the enslaved and their descendants. Image
8/10: This #Juneteenth, as we celebrate the end of slavery, we must also remember its economic legacy.

news.asu.edu/thought-huddle… Image
9/10: This recognition is not just about honoring the past, but about informing the present.

To build a just and equitable future, we must understand and confront the historical injustices that have shaped our society and economy. #TruthTelling Image
10/10: As we honor Juneteenth, let’s not just celebrate freedom, but also commit to enlightening ourselves and others about the full, unvarnished history of our nation.

Together, we can work towards a future that truly acknowledges and values all of its past. #HappyJuneteenthtwitter.com/i/web/status/1… Image
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More from @highbrow_nobrow

Jul 17
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Jul 15
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Jul 3
1/12: 🚨 The Supreme Court's decision in Trump v. United States poses an existential threat to American liberty. This ruling extends presidential powers beyond what the Founders intended, turning the presidency into an elected kingship. theintellectualist.com/trump-v-us-pre…
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Jul 2
🚨Vanity Fair’s recent article about RFK Jr. paints a picture of a man who lacks compassion, empathy, and a moral compass.

1. RFK took a photo with the barbecued remains of a dog and shared it with a friend. Kennedy reportedly implored a friend traveling to South Korea to try dog. (1/6)
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Jun 18
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May 25
IN MEMORIAM: Tomas Young, An Iraq War Veteran Who Sacrificed It All

As we near Memorial Day, the Intellectualist is posting the last letter of Tomas Young (November 30, 1979 – November 10, 2014), an Iraq War veteran.

Tomas addressed his last letter to former President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Tomas was close to death, and wanted to speak out forcefully before he passed on: (@RollingStone)

"TOMAS YOUNG JOINED the Army two days after September 11, 2001 and was shot and paralyzed after serving only five days in Iraq in 2004. He was the subject of the powerful 2007 documentary Body of War – with a soundtrack that included Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine and Bruce Springsteen – and since then, his health has worsened and he is currently under hospice care."Image
The Last Letter

To: George W. Bush and Dick Cheney
From: Tomas Young

I write this letter on the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War on behalf of my fellow Iraq War veterans.

I write this letter on behalf of the 4,488 soldiers and Marines who died in Iraq. I write this letter on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of veterans who have been wounded and on behalf of those whose wounds, physical and psychological, have destroyed their lives. I am one of those gravely wounded.

I was paralyzed in an insurgent ambush in 2004 in Sadr City. My life is coming to an end. I am living under hospice care. I write this letter on behalf of husbands and wives who have lost spouses, on behalf of children who have lost a parent, on behalf of the fathers and mothers who have lost sons and daughters and on behalf of those who care for the many thousands of my fellow veterans who have brain injuries.

I write this letter on behalf of those veterans whose trauma and self-revulsion for what they have witnessed, endured and done in Iraq have led to suicide and on behalf of the active-duty soldiers and Marines who commit, on average, a suicide a day.

I write this letter on behalf of the some one million Iraqi dead and on behalf of the countless Iraqi wounded. I write this letter on behalf of us all – the human detritus your war has left behind, those who will spend their lives in unending pain and grief.

I write this letter, my last letter, to you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. I write not because I think you grasp the terrible human and moral consequences of your lies, manipulation and thirst for wealth and power.

I write this letter because, before my own death, I want to make it clear that I, and hundreds of thousands of my fellow veterans, along with millions of my fellow citizens, along with hundreds of millions more in Iraq and the Middle East, know fully who you are and what you have done.

You may evade justice but in our eyes you are each guilty of egregious war crimes, of plunder and, finally, of murder, including the murder of thousands of young Americans – my fellow veterans – whose future you stole.

Your positions of authority, your millions of dollars of personal wealth, your public relations consultants, your privilege and your power cannot mask the hollowness of your character.

You sent us to fight and die in Iraq after you, Mr. Cheney, dodged the draft in Vietnam, and you, Mr. Bush, went AWOL from your National Guard unit.

Your cowardice and selfishness were established decades ago. You were not willing to risk yourselves for our nation but you sent hundreds of thousands of young men and women to be sacrificed in a senseless war with no more thought than it takes to put out the garbage.

Your positions of authority, your millions of dollars of personal wealth, your public relations consultants, your privilege and your power cannot mask the hollowness of your character.

You sent us to fight and die in Iraq after you, Mr. Cheney, dodged the draft in Vietnam, and you, Mr. Bush, went AWOL from your National Guard unit. Your cowardice and selfishness were established decades ago.

You were not willing to risk yourselves for our nation but you sent hundreds of thousands of young men and women to be sacrificed in a senseless war with no more thought than it takes to put out the garbage.Image
I joined the Army two days after the 9/11 attacks. I joined the Army because our country had been attacked.

I wanted to strike back at those who had killed some 3,000 of my fellow citizens. I did not join the Army to go to Iraq, a country that had no part in the September 2001 attacks and did not pose a threat to its neighbors, much less to the United States.

I did not join the Army to “liberate” Iraqis or to shut down mythical weapons-of-mass-destruction facilities or to implant what you cynically called “democracy” in Baghdad and the Middle East.

I did not join the Army to rebuild Iraq, which at the time you told us could be paid for by Iraq’s oil revenues. Instead, this war has cost the United States over $3 trillion. I especially did not join the Army to carry out pre-emptive war.

Pre-emptive war is illegal under international law. And as a soldier in Iraq I was, I now know, abetting your idiocy and your crimes.

The Iraq War is the largest strategic blunder in U.S. history. It obliterated the balance of power in the Middle East.

It installed a corrupt and brutal pro-Iranian government in Baghdad, one cemented in power through the use of torture, death squads and terror. And it has left Iran as the dominant force in the region. On every level – moral, strategic, military and economic – Iraq was a failure. And it was you, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, who started this war.

It is you who should pay the consequencesImage
Read 8 tweets

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