Old Marcus Garvey

Remembering to Re-member

  

1.    The Fall of governments

"The fall of nations and empires has always come about first by the disorganized spirit - the disorganized sentiment of those who make up the nation or empire.The one class opposing, fighting against the other, the other class seeking to deprive them of the essentials of life which are necessary for the good and well-being of all."

– The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey*

It’s been said that South Africans are overly and unnecessarily obsessed with race. Most of the people who vocalize this opinion are liberal or conservative democrats who strongly feel that those who strive to address social inequalities by trying to deal with the racial challenges of the country are being disrespectful to the sacrifices of the Mandela’s and the Tutu’s, architects of our non-racial post 1994 Republic.

While this is not written to spark arguments, I must strongly advise these naïve and innocent souls that as the old dreaded Peter McIntosh sang, ‘there’s no peace without equal rights and justice.’ And before we delve into further thoughts about matters of neo-colonial and global problems of injustice, it would be reasonable to zero in on the specter of inter-racial injustices. 

Although South Africa has to deal with its racial inequalities which are a result of our infamous apartheid past, it must not be forgotten that the biggest challenges facing us are beyond the skin or the colour-line, they are simply matters of justice and until they are sufficiently dealt with, there is no amount of racial argument that will help us reconcile our differences. As Ethiopia’s last emperor Haile Selassie I once said, ‘International Morality is what is at stake’.

We must endeavor to restore Ubuntu to the world, what Steve Biko meant when he said that the gift of modern day Black people will be to bestow a ‘more human face’ upon the human race.

Let us also be reminded that we are not living in a vacuum, we are living in a world that is said to be undergoing rapid integration via a phenomenon called Globalization. Although experts would remind us that globalization is in fact not an innovative concept triggered by modernist industrial monopolization, it is equally true that due to present day technologies it has acquired an unprecedented quickening and an unrelenting pace. But just like its colonial and pro capitalist foundations, globalization can also be said to be losing its grip as Third World societies begin to assert their own self reliance.

It must also be noted that globalization also assumes some of the traits inherited from the preindustrial and post-industrial features of overt and covert racism.

Failure or unwillingness to recognize this is tantamount to amnesia and a deliberate desire to maintain the status quo, but if one is eager to see sustainable changes in our society, this racism has to be tackled head-on or else it will plunge us back to another Scramble for Africa. While the imperial powers of the world no longer openly trade in slaves and other people’s lands, they continue to trade in our resources, skills and various forms of talents. Many of the tactics used to play the political game are still tinged with the distinctive racial biases. While others overcompensate for their own prejudices by playing the race card in every compromising situation, they reduce the serious work that should be done in this field to sensationalism which uncouth media thrives upon.

As much as that is true, it shouldn’t entirely diminish the zeal of those who still seek proper ways to address issues of reparations, repatriations and even proper implementation of economic policies such as Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment. It is unfortunate yet not surprising that in Azania/South Africa there are still a lot of democracy advocates who’d rather not mention the word race, BEE or reparations unless they mentioned them in a negative light.

In order to jolt these ignoramuses, or as Lauren Hill called them ‘Intelligent Fools’ and masters in mass deception, let us review a telling page from recent American and United Kingdom history.

“In 1999, a year before the controversial presidential elections in the USA, Katherine Harris, George Bush’s presidential campaign co-chairperson and Florida secretary of state in charge of elections, called in researchers from Database Technologies to sift through Florida’s electoral rolls. Its brief was to systematically remove anyone ‘suspected’ of being an ex-felon (convict in SA parlance).

Thirty one per cent of all black men in Florida have a felony on their record and they were immediately struck off, as were thousands of other blacks that had had their voting privileges reinstated (after misdemeanors). Black people overwhelmingly vote Democrat – that is, they would have been potential Al Gore supporters. But as Michael Moore points out in his book Stupid White Men, the brief to Database Technologies went further and it was instructed to include not just felons, but those blacks who shared similar names to those of felons or had similar social security numbers.” – Rebel Columns, Danny Morrison (beyond the pale productions, 2004)

Let us not go any further, the intelligent reader will note that what happened there was clear electoral fraud, yes, and the perpetuation of un-free and unfair elections in the so called Land of the Free. Of course one would think that in a civilized world where the US of A is known as the protector of the exploited and the shining beacon of democracy, an incident such as this one would be widely reported and that the votes would be rescinded. But no, this is America, and we must bear in mind that this was a clear war of wills between the Republican Bush and the Democratic Gore.

But this is not to say that the democratic candidate would have been a godsend to the already ailing image of American politics, since there is very little that can convince anyone that Americans would not engage in indecent foreign policies, illegal and internationally condemned wars and the wanton plundering of other countries resources if the vote was swayed otherwise. The point is there is something intrinsically wrong with the type of democracy that is being practiced worldwide, it is a far cry from its basic definition.

What I wish to illustrate here is how the general injustices and political wars even in the USA (especially in the USA) have largely been racially based. Just like everywhere else in the so called civilized territories of our God-forsaking world, the scales are always tipped against the darker peoples whether they are seen as minorities or whatever labels the powers that be choose to bestow upon us.

 It is as if we were truly born to suffer from the consequences of our white sisters and brothers deliberate injustices.

But this is not a metaphysical thing at all, it has nothing to do with the power or the powerlessness of God or gods, it is the direct result of what old Marcus Garvey calls a ‘disorganized spirit’.

But what on earth might this mean and how can we unlearn our prejudices and somehow find ways to re-organize and save our collective spirits?

It is clear in many cases that people of all races can live in perfect harmony with one another. It has been done before, it is being done by some and it certainly can be multiplied in our future. The unfortunate thing about all these instances is that this non-racialism is being enjoyed by people who generally turn a blind eye to the suffering of billions of Black people. This is type of liberal tendency to enjoy the trappings of the Eurocentric world at the expense of true racial justice is part of what made upright figures such as Garvey, Malcolm X, Steve Biko and Thomas Sankara persona non-gratas even among their own race.

Many Black people even without their own awareness crave to live like Europeans, this is the power of white supremacy and its insidious weapon against intelligent dissent and outright revolution. The racists make it difficult to think of them as an enemy that needs to be eliminated in order to achieve true liberty since many Blacks still fear that without the white-man there would be no civilization to speak of, no morality and even no knowledge of God, our parents believe that without the white Jesus we would all descent into hell. This is a serious pathological trauma, and it requires a massive army of Garvey types to induce people to practice New Thoughts and a different attitude towards their own government.

Beginning with Southern Afrikan society, where rampant police brutality, crimes against women and children have increased, corruption is endemic and the ruling government and opposition parties have slid into a seemingly perpetual disorder, how can we re-organize our collective Spirit; what is Garvey’s advice to we the people who still yearn for a better world, a freer and more just society?

“Our modern systems of Government have partly failed and are wholly failing. We have tried various forms, but none has measured up to the Ideal State. Communism was the last attempt, and its most ardent advocates have acknowledged its limitations, shortcomings and impossibility. The reason for all this is not far to seek. The sum total of Governmental collapse is traceable to the growing spirit of selfishness, graft and greed within the individual. Naturally, the state cannot govern itself: it finds expression and executes its edicts through individuals, hence the State is human. Its animation is but the reflex of our human characters.

If we must correct the maladministration of the State and apply the corporate majesty of the people to their own good, then we must reach the source and there reorganize or reform.” – ( Essay by Marcus Garvey, page 29, Governing The Ideal State )

   

If seemingly perpetual social and institutional racism is somehow a form of natural competitiveness gone extremely awry, then surely there is a way to somehow re-channel it through some kind of humanitarian cooperation. If racism, xenophobia and all its nefarious manifestations can be done away with, then there is potential for the justice and rule of conscience that is needed by all of us, but if our fears and selfish tendencies continue to rule us, then we will remain the victims of discord and war that we have been trained to become ever since we gave in to beliefs that told us that we are essentially animals instead of the divine beings that we truly are.

Hutuapo!!!