Cultivating Black Sovereign Awareness

By Ezrah Aharone

On February 18th a conference gathering of diverse Black people will assemble in Pittsburgh to engage a unique issue that is expanding today’s sociopolitical dialogue – That issue centers upon the “Sovereign Rights” of Africans in America. The conference is aptly titled, “Dependency or Sovereignty: Where Do We Go From Here?” The purpose is not to launch a sovereign movement for Black independence, but rather to promote awareness of what sovereignty is all about.

Sovereignty is the pinnacle of all political ideals. Sovereignty is the highest level of accountability and responsibility of a people. Sovereignty concerns Supreme Power and Absoluteness. 1) The Supreme Power of a government to control all people, activities, territory and resources within its borders. 2) The Absolute right of a people to govern themselves without foreign influence or interferences. Sovereignty incubates as a consciousness and a philosophy that forms the basis of a peoples’ political and ideological Self-Identity.

Obviously, neither Black people nor any other minority group has Supreme Power or Absoluteness over America’s government or body politic. All minorities are under the “sovereign jurisdiction” of Euro-Americans … They defied the British to establish this country. They defined America’s political doctrine. They wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. They control all major government institutions and the highest political posts of power. They determine allies and enemies. They declare war and decide terms of peace.

So it’s little wonder why the word “Sovereignty” is not part of Black America’s active political vocabulary, like the word “Integration.” This is no accident because freedom for us has been limited to “Civil Rights, Integration, and Citizenship,” whereas Euro-Americans on the other hand possess “Sovereignty, Independence, and Statehood.” With the supremacy of “Sovereignty, Independence, and Statehood” comes absolute federal authority to either legislate or repeal “Civil Rights, Integration, or Citizenship.”

Yes, Black America is free within the context that freedom is offered in America. But by no means are we a “sovereign people.” Any perceived sense of sovereignty we may have is simulated through our association with Euro-Americans. However, association should not be confused with sovereignty … People are either sovereign, or they are not. To occupy a psychological middle-ground like Black America constitutes the absence of sovereignty.

Over the last century, America has welcomed people of all of races, creeds, and colors to naturalize. America is a melting pot of ethnicities, but not a melting pot of sovereignty. The sovereignty of Euro-Americans is an exclusive, indivisible, non-transferable substance that will not be sliced into ethnic pieces to share with others. Unless defeated in war, they will never allow their sovereignty to be compromised or dissolved by non-Western Europeans – Particularly the descendents of the African people who they once intentionally enslaved.

Even though early Euro-Americans may have preferred a purely Anglo-Saxon nation, the sovereignty of 4 million newly-emancipated slaves would have devastated the economy. Absent our loyalty and labor America would not be the superpower known today. So in weighing their options from an economic standpoint, the prospects of our sovereignty proved just as impractical as America’s Anglo-purity. Their payoff however has been exponential … Euro-America’s greatest asset today is the unquestionable loyalty and labor of near-40 million Blacks now firmly under their sovereign authority.

Apart from wars and coups, the last situation any government would want to face inside its borders is to have 40 million discontented citizens (of another race) flirting with the ideal of sovereignty. This would menace the national and economic interests of any nation, regardless of its power. A government will therefore expend major efforts to avert such a disruptive occurrence. Since Euro-Americans broke away from British-rule, they know this reality from both ends.

Ordinarily, the desire for sovereignty is a natural inborn trait that’s known to become irrepressible. However Black America has oddly become well-adjusted to living under a government that we do not control. The fact that we never wrote a Declaration of Independence or a Constitution, or established a government is insignificant to the rank and file of mainstream Black leadership. The thought of exploring sovereignty presents them with a psychological conflict of interest that’s akin to political blasphemy.

Since our lives are attached to America in every way, it’s understandable that Blacks would be cautious about ideals that could be perceived as radical. But just for the sake of curiosity, suppose for a moment that a segment of Black America did decide to explore the feasibility of sovereignty. First of all, mainstream society would view this pursuit to be equally contentious as ridiculous. But when you objectively think about it, our troubled history and unresolved sociopolitical issues support a legitimate case for self-rule. And in terms of capabilities, we certainly do not lack the requisite intellectual, technical, or financial resources to be a sovereign people. We have more than ample human potential to establish a new and relevant presence in the world, with a political and ideological self-identity of our own – If we ever decided to do so!

There’s great strategic value to our awareness and open discussion of our “Sovereign Rights” because, Euro-Americans know that by depriving us of sovereignty, they in essence contradict the fundamentals of their own political principles. This brings the government face to face with the very constitutional and philosophical ideals of democracy that it claims to espouse and wants to export throughout the world, yet it has selfishly dispossessed us of the same.

Undoubtedly, our sovereignty raises many questions to which there are no agreed answers at the moment. But these questions have less to do with feasibility, and more to do with the reality that the fate of Black America has historically revolved around an orbit that best benefits White America. So naturally, our sovereignty has never been seriously examined – Which is why the Pittsburgh Conference on Dependency or Sovereignty is so important and why similar gatherings are necessary nationwide.

Considering the totality of what Black America has endured historically, the conclusion to our sovereign fate should neither be influenced nor imposed by Euro-American expectations or dictates. All decisions related to our “Sovereign Rights to Exist” must strictly be based solely on our self-determination – Not based on our lack of vision to ponder such decisions or our lack of courage to espouse sovereign aspirations.

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For details on the Pittsburgh Conference on Dependency or Sovereignty contact Dr. Uhuru Hotep at 412.396.5171 or hotep@duq.edu

Ezrah Aharone is a Scholar of Sovereign Studies and the author of “Pawned Sovereignty: Sharpened Black Perspectives on Americanization, Africa, War and Reparations” http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/18126. He can be reached at EzrahAharone@juno.com .

Gaffney Lynching Trial Starts After Weekend; Race Not to be Considered

http://www.fox21.com/Global/story.asp?S=4331154&nav=2KPp

Gaffney, SC
Gaffney Lynching Trial Starts After Weekend; Race Not to be Considered
January 11, 2006 CST

On Monday, lawyers will carefully hand-pick 12-people in the upstate to decide whether a group of white teens lynched a black teen who was walking to his Gaffney home.

FOX Carolina's Jamie Guirola reports, the beating sent chills through the City of Gaffney and all over the upstate. Next week, it'll happen again when proscutors re-live, in detail, exactly what happened last summer.

It is the type of beating you'd hear about during the civil rights movement in the 50's and 60's. Last June a black 16 year old, Isaiah Clyburn, was walking alone to his home on this old country road. Unlike Isaiah's scars, these skid marks in the grass have probably faded by now.

Isaiah's relative: "I was shocked because i know that he doesn't start fights."

Isaiah's family is too emotional to talk to us before Monday's trial. But we did catch up with them soon after the beating. Next week prosecutors will try to convince a jury that 5 teenagers called Isaiah the "n"-word and almost beat him to death while a sixth teenage girl watched. The teens are accused of jumping out of their trucks waiving a confederate flag and then beating Isaiah; leaving him to die-- his face swollen and bloody.

Isaiah's relative: "My son called me and said, 'mom you better get over here isaiah is hurt pretty bad'".

Many believe the beating was racially motivated and should be tried as a hate crime. But, a judge will have to tell a jury it cannot consider racial motivation when deciding the innocence of the group of accused teens. South Carolina is 1 of 9 states in the country that doesnt have stiffer punishments for people who hurt other people because of their race. And if Isaiah's relatives feel now what they believed after the attack-- the teenagers would be lucky to have them on their jury next week.

Isaiah's relative: "I told Isaiah 'don't hate them, that was a spirit of the devil that led them to turn around call you that name and then came back to get you'".

Legally, lynching is when 2 or more people attack another person. If found guilty, each teen could spend anywhere from 3 to 20 years in jail. If it were a hate crime the minimum punishment would likely be stiffer with jail time starting at the minimum with10 or 15 years in jail.

Thousands of Katrina victims evicted from hotels across U.S.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

NEW ORLEANS -- Hauling everything he owned in a plastic garbage bag, Darryl Travis walked out of the chandeliered lobby of the Crowne Plaza, joining the exodus of hurricane Katrina refugees evicted from hotel rooms across the the United States on Tuesday.

The occupants of more than 4,500 government-paid hotel rooms were ordered to turn in their keys Tuesday, as the Federal Emergency Management Agency began cutting off money to pay for their stays.

Far more people -- the occupants of at least 20,000 hotel rooms, many of which housed entire families -- were given extensions by FEMA until at least next week and possibly until March 1, said FEMA spokesman Butch Kinerney.

FEMA said it gave people every possible opportunity to request an extension.

"We've bent over backward to reach out. We've gone door-to-door to all of the 25,000 hotel rooms no fewer than six times.''

"And there are individuals who have refused to come to the door, refused to answer. There are people who have run when they saw us coming -- those are the ones that are now moving on,'' Kinerney said.

FEMA maintains as many as 80 per cent of those being forced to check out this week have made other living arrangements, ranging from trailers, to receiving U.S. government rent assistance, to living with relatives.

While many of the evacuees leaving the Crowne Plaza said they had found other housing, several said they were now homeless.

Travis, 24, and his five childhood friends -- all in their 20s -- had been living on the floor of another evacuee's hotel room, never having registered.

"All I got is a couple pairs of pants and some shirts. The pressure is on,'' said Jonathan Gautier, 26, one of the six, who was also carrying a single plastic bag filled with clothes.

Wheeling out her boxes of belongings, 20-year-old Katie Kinkella and sister, Jennifer, were heading back to their ruined house in heavily flooded St. Bernard Parish. The sisters had stayed first at the Marriott and later at the Crowne Plaza as they waited for FEMA to deliver a trailer. Then they waited for FEMA to hook up the electricity at the trailer.

"They just connected it yesterday,'' Kinkella said as she loaded bags, boxes and suitcases into the back of a pickup on the curb outside the hotel.

In Houston, where 4,000 evacuees were staying in hotels, about 80 per cent had received permission to extend their stays until at least Monday. The remaining 20 per cent either failed to contact FEMA or made other housing arrangements, said Frank Michel, a spokesman for Mayor Bill White.

"People need to begin to take responsibility for themselves,'' Michel said.

In New York City, about 50 protesters, including both evacuees and activists, gathered at the steps of City Hall to protest the evictions.

In Oakland, Calif., demonstrators carrying signs and chanting: "Evict FEMA'' tried to present an eviction notice to employees at a FEMA branch office.

When the more than 50 protesters were turned away, they posted large eviction signs in the front and back of the building. The demonstrators left the property when threatened with arrest.

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco complained FEMA was pulling the plug on the hotel program before securing other housing.

Outside the Crowne Plaza, protesters held up signs that read: "No trailers. No eviction.''

Brittany Brown, 21, wept as she explained although she had been given an extension, eviction is now looming next week. She applied for a trailer in October and, although she keeps calling, her trailer has yet to show up.

© Associated Press 2006