Y’all know I collect things, right?

Today, I went to an estate sale in Chatham, Chicago.

I bought this book.

Published in 1969, it won the Book of the Year Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews in 1971.

For every like, I’ll tweet a page in the thread.

I'm reading about boycotts in Mississippi during the 1960's.

There are cases where Black folks betrayed a boycott and patronized the targeted white business, only to be met by their community — Black boycotters — delivering a punishment. “Folks go shop, break the boycott, they didn’t get home with the damn groceries ... cause somebody was waiting for them when they got there.”

Chicago actually has more Ukrainian refugees than Venezuelan refugees. But the United States’ geopolitical relationship with Ukraine is vastly different than the one with Venezuela.

And you know…there’s you know…that thing. “…Ukrainian refugees arrived with a status granted by the federal government that made their path easier, including programs that opened the door to obtaining work permits immediately.”

abc7chicago.com/amp/venezuelan…

I thought this was timely for Chicago.
Pictured is a white power rally flyer from the 1960s in response to MLK's End Slums campaign.

What caught my attention about this flyer is that they were using the fact that Black people were moving into Chicago's white neighborhoods as a means to organize.

"...FIGHTING THE BLACK SLUM INVASION OF OUR NEIGHBORHOODS." Hmm... are there any groups in Chicago that aren't wanted in neighborhoods today that people are willing to organize around...just like the white power people? 🤔🤔🤔

Hmmm...

There have always been Black men in Chicago that mobilized in response to violence. There are so many historical examples of this.

In my opinion, their mobilization is an indictment of a corporate political class that refuses to eradicate the root causes of violence.

https://twitter.com/JakeSheridan_/status/1649916613842313216

See Pastor Robin Hood helping to organize mothers who've lost their children, or Pastor Donovan Price that arrives at the scene of many shootings, or New Era Chicago patrolling the Red Line Station...

And these are just recent examples.
We can go back decades!

Whenever "cancel culture" is brought up amongst celebrities, no one ever mentions Paul Robeson.

During the height of his career, the United States government revoked his passport for eight years for being a communist, advocating for Black Americans and independence in Africa. The NAACP wouldn't touch him.
Jackie Robinson and Roy Wilkins denounced him.
Paul Robeson was blacklisted from performing.
Paul Robeson's yearly income dropped from more than $150,000 to less than $3,000.
Paul Robeson's All-American Athlete status was scrubbed by Rutgers Univ.

The non-profit industrial complex exists. Non-profits can deradicalize work and be an engine for philanthropists, foundations, and government to derail revolutionary momentum.

However, some non-profits have the potential to foster and expand a radical project — like abolition. Tell me how cash bail was eliminated in Illinois and what organizations were responsible.

Pretty wild how the Black Panthers constantly confronted celebrities. They sued Ike and Tina Turner. They boycotted James Brown and pretty much forced his hand to make "Say It Loud". They confronted Norman Lear, in his office, about his portrayal of Black people in "Good Times". So in addition to survival programs, armed self-defense, and institution building... they were pushing mainstream celebs to get on the program. Cultural Agitators. Their critique came with direct action.

Saw a Black venture capitalist speak last night in LA. He mentioned there was “diversity theatre” in 2020 after George Floyd, meaning there were a lot of white investors promising Black founders of companies money. Some paid, some didn’t.

Many people made $ off of protest. We only hear about the BLMs and Shaun Kings of the moment. But there are just as many businesses, startups, and individuals who quietly positioned themselves to get their bread off of the heels of protest. Interestingly enough, the VC said that this moment is pretty much over.

We were called lazy when we “fell short” on plantations.

However, this stereotype took off during Reconstruction when white capitalist politicians, and organizations, wanted to demonize social welfare programs that aimed to help the former enslaved population.

https://twitter.com/sashathumper_/status/1562977162465923074

They signaled to poor white people that Blacks were basically chillin and receiving government aid at the expense of the working white men.

It has been used since the end of the Civil War. You can see it in Reconstruction, during The New Deal, and in many Presidential campaigns

The military has cyborgs coming anyway.

https://twitter.com/RepJimBanks/status/1562820837140742144

2016:
newsweek.com/us-military-pl…

My mentor would tell me that Black people don’t feel entitled enough when you look at the history. We’re paying for college after our grandparents endured Jim Crow, redlining. We’re paying after slavery and during mass incarceration. We’re the most burdened with debt. Do you know how much beautiful Black thought has been exploited by US Academia…and we’re still paying for education?

The contributions to these educational institutions built by Black labor? Black Studies? Afropessmism? Black Feminism?

And we’re still paying? It’s sick.

Here for any conversation about how US college and universities keep the wheels of capitalism turning, capture and coopt domestic radical grassroots movements, and are a threat to global liberation movements.

https://twitter.com/chifilmmaker/status/1562427867686125568

There are colleges and universities older than the country itself, some of the first institutions built by white supremacists on indigenous land.

I liked Killmonger more than T'Challa because Killmonger is the idea that liberators of the oppressed will be far from purity, even deemed mad by their oppressors. Imperfect. Wakanda reeks of respectability and elitism. Decolonization takes violence and Killmonger understood that. Shuri can call a white man "colonizer" and proceed to work with him because Wakanda has capital, making her comfortable. Wakandans don't have to fight colonizers because their capital keeps them safe. Rich folks.

I've been up hours reading about the stock market and it led down a rabbit hole that ends with me reading about Brazil's dark history of cosmetic surgery. Basically, there's a stock for investing in Brazilian Butt Lifts—"InMode". They went public Aug 2019 at $13 a share. It's now over $60 a share. Aesthetics surgery is a growing market globally and nets about $10 bn a year. There are several top stocks but InMode is doing the best.

It is a disservice when we only measure violence or catastrophe only in death tolls. Take war for example.
People are killed, and I don't say that lightly, but there are other living survivors with wounds that will never scab over. Think amputees and people coping with PTSD. People suffering hearing loss from explosions. Impaired or loss of vision from flying debris. Heightened paranoia. Infections. There is a variety of shit that is short of death that goes unaccounted for by mainstream media.

Update y'all:
- I've had two city inspectors who have gotten on my landlord's bumper! I believe one called him a "cocksucker" under his breath. Don't quote me.
- A member of DSA slid into the DMs pointing me to resources.
- Strangers #onhere gave me law advice.
- Heat is on.

https://twitter.com/_CharlesPreston/status/1357098377469714435

With that said, look at the responses to that tweet. If people have trouble with heat, there may be local groups that could help or even people who have legal experience #onhere.

What's the difference between being cheap and being frugal? I legitimately thought they were synonymous, but cheap has a more negative connotation.

10 minutes in #MalcolmAndMarie and...nah. None of this is believable and I can tell a white man wrote it.

I had a great 11 am phone conversation with Keith Lamar (@FREEKeithLaMar). He sounds well and tells me that he is grateful for all the new support he has received. He's currently reading Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Are Watching God" with juvenile youth via zoom. November 16, 2023 is Keith's execution date.
He's been in solitary confinement for over 27 years.

Radical histories must be protected. You can't talk about the Panther's breakfast program as just mutual aid. They called it survival programs for survival pending revolution. The goal of all their programs was to be amongst the people and build towards the overthrow of the US. If they were just feeding people for free, they'd be a food pantry.

All of their programs were intentionally designed to show Black people what socialism looked like. Huey P. even said Black people weren't a reading population, so you have to demonstrate what socialism is.