Why Black History Month?

The question is asked time-and-time again, by whites who could care less, and blacks who want to forget, "Is Black History Month necessary?  I always respond with a resounding “Yes!!”   The thought that this has to even be asked and answered makes me sick!  I can’t on any level understand how anyone could dare ask the question.  Consider the level of “historical understanding” that far too many of our Black Youth have today about their own history.  It is, to say the least, a disgrace and a sad reality that does not speak-well for the future success of our people.   Studies have shown that the current generation of young African Americans may less-educated, and more economically challenged than their elders.   The prospect of returning to enslavement is a possibility for our people if we are not mindful and on-guard.  This time our enslavement will look like the “prison industrial complex”; economic debt, lack of technical knowledge, and lack of spiritual development.  I am a hard-and-fast believer that the African American Church, National Black Organizations, Black Colleges and Universities, and the Black Press made it possible for the Black race to advance and rise above Slavery and Jim Crow Laws.  If we allow ourselves to forget how we “got-over” I fear we are doomed to return to the “dark-past” of our history.   Consider This: “Segregation was a contemptible way of life that institutionalized humiliation at every level of day-to-day commerce.  A Black-owned railroad project was launched, for example, but could not long sustain itself against increasingly insurmountable roadblocks to its operation.  But no matter the obstacle, Black entrepreneurs and investment groups continued to mount major efforts to turn a lemon of a situation into the lemonade of business advantage…..”   “When questions are raised on the quality of Black business leadership, the answer is that regardless of the odds against us, African-American business has been and remains a major source of achievement and innovation.”   (Glory Days: 365 Inspired Moments in African-American History – by Janus Adams; Harper Collins Publishers).
 
We must never forget the struggle, the sacrifice, and the progress that we have made as a people.  Black History is not to be remembered only during the month of February, but every day of the year.  We must celebrate our history in such a way that our youth will learn, be inspired, and try to up-hold the forward progress of our people.   We can’t afford to allow anyone or anything to deter us from knowing and growing further away from all forms of slavery and ignorance.  Should we celebrate Black History?  Yes we should!   We must celebrate Black History every day and in every way!   By the way, I believe in learning about all races, cultures and ethnic groups.  In celebrating world  history it makes us stronger as ONE!      

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Human Rights Have No Borders

As a member of the Board of Directors of “Solidarity Uganda”, I was angry to hear of the arrest and eventual release of Phil & Susan Wilmot, the founders of “Solidarity Uganda.  Phil is a graduate of Messiah College.  His wife Susan is a native Ugandan.  Phil and Susan met while they both were students in Uganda.   The two married and formed “Solidarity Uganda” in response to the unjust treatment of many poor citizens of Uganda.   Phil and Susan were arrested for speaking out on human rights violations and the mistreatment of Ugandan citizens.  Neither, Susan or Phil were ever charged with a crime, but they still face legal proceedings in the near future.  I want to use this space to share a message from Phil after his arrest:

Not Yet Free:  A Statement from Phi After Arrest

December 13, 2014,

There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court, and detest the one who tells the truth.

You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain.  Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine.  For I know many are your offenses and how great your sins.

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.  Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times, for the times are evil.

My friends, the times are evil indeed, but among you I have found an exception to this rule.  We had no idea we had enough clout for so many allies (local and international) to come to our aid like this, which really helped ensure our well-being.

I say “our” – not “my” – because I have spent six days in cells with three concerned citizens of Uganda who are now among my closest friends: Okullu Tonny Fred (student), Orach Vincent (neighbor), and Ocen Ambrose (District Council V, Dokolo).  My beautiful and fearless wife Susan was also held in a cell for about 24 hours with us.

So although there has been much concern as to why an American citizen has been detained for more than the legally-alloted 48 hours, we should be more actively questioning why anybody-man, woman, or youth (yes, youth) – is being held in inhumane conditions, especially before being convicted of any crime.  Let us shift our focus to the situation at large, rather than focusing on my personal arrest.

We Are Not Yet Free

While there has been much cause for celebration over our release on police bond yesterday morning, to begin using terms life “free” would distort our situation for several reasons:

1)    We are expected to return to Central Police Station Lira (one of the two places where we were held and interrogated) on December 18^th at 10:00 a.m. local time.  At this time, we will be receiving more information about our case regarding whether we will be taken to court.

2)    Plain-clothes government authorities are still following us, especially those attendees of our informal dialogue on peace-building, human right, public service delivery, and advocacy who were not present in the meeting at the time of the arrest.  Those who have been spending the past week in cells are actually physically safer than those who have not.

3)    Members of our community have been threatened with arrest simply for trying to visit us.

How You Can Help

Therefore, we ask all of you to continue monitoring our situation and help us achieve justice in the following ways:

Support the organization Solidarity Uganda financially at http://solidarityuganda.org/monthly-giving-initiative/.    Many resources have been used up during this time, including large sums for transportation, communication, and mobilizing various forms of support.  We have had some tremendous support via our friends through GOFUNDME initiative (http://www.gofundme.com/Phil-amp-Susan).   This short-term support will help defray many of the incurred expenses, but the long-term support of monthly donors is now becoming even more crucial.  This is not something which happened yesterday and will be over tomorrow.

Stay tuned on any possible progress of our case through the Solidarity Uganda Facebook page to see how you can help.   I am hereby appointing a team of Megan Clapp, Brett Foote, Nathan Richard Sooy, and Oyaka Makmot to streamline communication with the social media public so that those of us trying to reorganize our lives after our arrest are not bombarded with messages asking for basic information which can be received through these individuals.

Share this statement broadly.  If you are concerned about who to write to this point, ask Ambassadoe DeLisi (US Embassy Kampala) to publicly as President Museveni to uphold Article 29 of Uganda’s consititution, which protects the rights to Freedom of Assembly, Freedom of Speech and Conscience, Freedom to Protest Unarmed and Peacefully, and Freedom to Form/Join Associations and Organizations.  Let’s use my “American citizenship privilege” to advocate for justice here, since we know that much government funding and support in Uganda comes from the US.

In Conclusion

There are many people to thank, but we must not yet formalize this gratitude.  Although our bodies are not in cells today, the trials we face are far from over.   The public support must continue – even grow – if we are to achieve justice here in Uganda.  While there is still much more to say about all of these matters (which will indeed be said), it is crucial for many reasons that we return to our families and reorganize our lives, trying to rest and heal from physical and psychological troubles we have faced this week.   Don’t worry; our stories will be told.  Until then, stay engaged.   Penetrate the conscience of evildoers.  Part from oppression.  Protest injustice.  Proclaim the truth.

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FIX THIS MESS: It's OUR Responsibility!

I was driving down Derry Street in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, October 21, 2014, when I witnessed more than 20 Police Officers, leap out of their cars and take off running after a young African American male, who appeared to be no more than 16 years old.   I don’t know what he did to generate this kind of response, but whatever it was I am sure that he is in a heap of trouble.   This is the kind of scene that I have witnessed all of my life, a young African American male being pursued, tackled and then shackled, in full view of the community that love, hopes and cries for him.  This is a double-edge sword for everyone involved.   On one hand we have a young African American male, usually from a financially poor family, living in a single parent home, who is trying to fit-in to his tough, crime-ridden environment and survive the daily grind without the benefit of fully engaging in educational opportunities or social interactions offered in the schools or community centers.  He appears to be conflicted about his identity.  He is disrespectful to most adults and anyone in authority.  He is hard, cold and distant from his emotional feelings, because he is “representing” a lifestyle that he can’t define, but feels that he must embrace to survive.   On the inside he feels that he is a “good person” who is just misunderstood by people who don’t like his kind. 

On the other hand, we have the men and women who represent the “blue wall” of protection, commonly known as the police.   They have become a military style force and very aggressive against street criminals.   They feel justified, citing the type of weapons that many violent criminals are using to terrorize and control the communities they target.  The average American citizen has had enough of the violent criminals that prey upon them.  There has been a loud out cry for greater police protection and harsher mandatory sentences for criminals who use weapons or traffic drugs.   The police response has been devastating to young African American males.  The prison system has been called the new system of slavery in America.   The image of Willie Horton, the convicted criminal who was released from prison, only to commit another major crime, and become the face of fear in America, continues to fuel the “fire this time.”

Far too often the person in the blue uniform is white and the person in the shackles is brown.  Far too often the crime that has been committed is by a brown person against another brown person.  The arresting officer, District Attorney, Judge, Jury, Prison Guard, and Probation Officer, that has control of the brown person’s life, are usually white.   The dirty little unspoken truth, by too many of the controlling authorities, even when they are also brown, is that the brown person in their care is the reason for America’s problems and a drain on the society.  Those who represent “the hood” and those who protect the community are at war.   Travon Martin, Michael Brown, and all of the other brown persons, too many to mention, who were killed in the midst of this war, are mourned by a community that wants this war to end now!   The police, who are winning the war, refuse to negotiate because they too point to their fallen comrades who wore the blue uniform to serve and protect, only to be killed in the line of duty.   This is an American Tragedy with no end in sight!

I was particularly distributed by a recent episode of “Blue Bloods”, a television show that comes on CBS on Friday evenings.  In this particular episode, a young black male is committing armed robbery at a grocery store, when two white police officers happen to come into the store.  The black male throws hot coffee on the female officer and has a shootout with the male officer.   The black male runs out of the store, with the male police officer in hot pursuit.   The chase ends with the black male being cornered in a second floor hallway, and the male police officer, holding a gun on him.  A young Hispanic boy looks out of his apartment door.  The police officer tells the boy to go back inside his apartment.  The boy appears to shut his door, but he continues to look at the standoff.  The black male decides to jump through a closed window to the concrete pavement below.  Her badly breaks his leg, and begins to scream that the white police officer pushed him.  The rest of the show has the police officer trying to defend himself, while an “Al Sharpton” type character calls the police racist, and tries to bribe the Hispanic boy and his family to lie about what he saw.  The particular program seems to have a lot of this type of storyline.   Bad black criminals, corrupt black leadership (even the Mayor) and police officers who are only trying to do their job, and war against black criminals and corrupt black leadership gets prime time treatment.   This is a real tragedy! 

We have to speak to the whole issue.  No longer can we wait for the next big scene to play itself out on the streets of America.  No longer can we watch the next television show that validates justification of the new system of slavery for brown people.  We are all responsible to fix this mess!  We must fix this mess!   If we don’t, the Fire Next Time just may consume us all!                     

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Peace Builders Needed!

Peace Builders Needed: Apply Within!!

If there ever was a time for Peace Builders to step forward, now is the time.  With so much anger and turmoil going on in the world, we need people of good will to step forward with tools such as integrity, cultural competency, love, insight, trust and courage.  These qualities can’t be bought or sold.  Either you have them or you don’t.  These qualities can be developed, but it has to be an inside job.   The person in search of developing peach building skills must have the will, and determination to do so.  It’s not an easy task.

Being a peace maker or builder of peace is dangerous work.  The forces of anger and evil are always present, pursuing avenues to retard or destroy the progress of peace.  Often, religion, racial identification, organizational membership, class and economic status are tools used to disturb the peace.  Once a person is seduced to believe that their cause is righteous beyond further examination, it becomes easier for them to “drink the Kool-Aid” and by any means necessary, confront the opposition.  Fighting for ones cause is noble and necessary in many instances, but the “emotional insanity” that many people blindly adopt during times of philosophical disagreement is frightening.  People, who would describe themselves as good or God-fearing, can, in an instance, become a raging, out of control, screaming, weapon carrying, vessel of hate, in the name of a righteous cause.  We have all witnessed this.

What should we do to maintain the peace while fighting for justice?   Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ghandi, and Cesare Chavez, had an answer that worked for them.   They used non-violent confrontation to change the world.   The three of them always fought with the end result being equality, justice and love of self and others.  There was something within each of them that allowed peace to be their motivating factor.   They changed the world with love and determination.

We need more Peace Builders who have the right stuff on the inside.  The mob will form and the fires of hate will burn with intensity with the next senseless shooting of an unarmed suspect, country invasion, mind-bending court ruling, or act of shocking violence.  We can always count on the mob!  The question is, can we count on the peaceful warriors, who will stand in the gap, with righteous indignation in their hearts, fierce determination in their souls, and the love of God as their primary weapon, who will fight the good fight to the bitter end.  What the world needs now are Peace Builders, before it’s too late!!  

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Celebrating Black History Month

CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH

A Word From Nate: The Founder of Black History Month

In honor of Black History Month I want to share this article with you, from Dr. Maulana Karenga, founder of Kwanzaa.    Dr. Karenga is an outstanding scholar who is dedicated to the empowerment and uplifting of African People world-wide.    I want to thank my friend, Paul Carey, a Teacher, and Social Activist, for providing me with Dr. Karenga’s article.   Celebrate Black History Month by digging deeper, extending wider and loving more passionately.   True peace will come when we give up all hope of a brighter past!    Forward ever!   Backward never!

Blessings!
Nate Gadsden
Author, Motivational Speaker, Poet

WALKING WITH WOODSON IN HISTORY:
SEEKING TRUTH, JUSTICE AND TRANSFORMATION 
Los Angeles Sentinel, 02-06-14, p.A-6

We owe this month of meditation, celebration and recommitment to increased study of our history to Dr. Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950), the founder of Black History Month, who rose up from the evil and debilitating depths of post-Holocaust segregation and suppression to point to a new way to understand and assert ourselves in history and the world. An activist-scholar, he embraced the African concept that possessing knowledge carries with it an ethical obligation to share it and use it in the advancement of good in the world. Thus, he spent his life teaching and institution-building to share his knowledge, empower his people and contribute to the reconception and reconstruction of history and society in the interest of truth, justice and social transformation.

Woodson wanted us to understand our-selves in expansive ways, to conceive of African history as central to U.S. history and the history of the world, a window and way to understand and assert ourselves from a unique and fruitful vantage point. Furthermore, Woodson, like DuBois, Bethune and other ed-ucators and leaders of that era, believed that White folks were essentially racist because of ignorance about Black people and illusions of superiority about themselves. He believed that exposing them to a massive dose of the mind-opening evidence of history could free them from such unawareness and inanities and make us and the world safer and freer in the process.

Woodson, who earned his Ph.D. in histo-ry from Harvard University (1912), was...click here to download and read full article.

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Your Best Year Ever

Jan 2014: Nate Speaks!

Lighting Candles for Kwanzaa 2013 A Word From Nate: Your Best Year Ever It is 2014!   May this year be your best year ever!  Have you set your priorities for the rest of the year?  Have you thought about your goals and the action steps that you need to take in order to make your goals a reality?  Have you considered the road blocks and potential naysayers that await you as you pursue your goals?  These are all good questions if you are serious about making this year your best year ever.  You have to set priorities, or you will find yourself running from activity to activity, crisis to crisis, and nothing will be accomplished to your satisfaction.  It is possible that at the end of 2014 you will be making the same promises to yourself that you made every year for the past ten years, with little progress to show yourself.   I know, because I have been that person. Don’t get me wrong, I feel like I have accomplished a great deal in the past ten years, but my inner goals, things like writing the great International Novel, the award winning poetry book, saving enough money to be debt free, taking my trip to South Africa, having a large building to house Imani African Christian Church, the Writers Wordshop, and Life Esteem, Inc. all under one roof, and my list goes on; these things are still on my list and I have every intention to accomplish them in 2014.  Keeping it real, I know for certain that the only way I will reach my goal is to make these things a priority in my life, and asking God to be my guide and foundation in all that I pursue. You can do it!   I can do it!  We can make this the best year of our life by setting priorities, taking a realistic look at our strengths, weaknesses, use of time, attitudes, and beliefs.   We have to make our life a spiritual journey and not an endless dance of narcissistic pleasures.  There is nothing more fulfilling than knowing that you had a goal in mind, you worked hard to achieve it, and you accomplished it without cheating yourself or stealing from someone to do it.  “To Thy Own Self Be True” is a popular quote that I have heard all of my life.   It usually finds space in my reflections at the beginning of each year, as I consider what I want to accomplish in this new-year. If you are willing to make this year the best year of your life, and you know that you have to do some serious reflection about who you are, and what has been holding you back, then I have a deal for you.   The first ten people that contact me by email, at pgadsden@aol.com, with the words “I want to make this the best year of my life” in the “subject area of the email” will receive a free copy of my book, “Learning Self Therapy Through Writing” (the revised edition 2013).   Anyone who contacts me with those words in the subject area of the email, beyond the first ten people, will be able to purchase the book for just $8.00 a copy.   The book retails for $19.95.   “Learning Self Therapy Through Writing” is a guided journal that will assist you in setting goals, self-reflection, and making daily assignments for yourself.   The book is great for teens as well as adults.

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Honoring the Life and Legacy of MANDELA

The outpouring for Nelson Mandela is well deserved and uplifting to millions.  I have always admired the courage, dignity, humanity, and African pride that he demonstrated throughout his struggle for freedom in South Africa.  In the mid-eighties and throughout the nineties, I was host of a weekly radio program on WMSP-FM.  From the beginning I started playing a song entitled “Free Nelson Mandela” by the band “The Special AKA.”  The song became an international anthem for the fight to free Nelson Mandela and end Apartheid, the official policy of racial segregation in the Republic of South Africa.  By playing that song every week, I felt like I was a part of the revolution to bring freedom to South Africa and oppressed people the world over.  I remember a friend of mine asking me, “Who is Nelson Mandela?”  She was a fan of my radio program who tuned in every week.  She noticed that I played the song each week, but she confessed to me later, that she didn’t know the first thing about this great man.  I took time during my next show, to explain to all of my listening audience, exactly who Nelson Mandela was and why he was important to us all.

Recently, a co-worker asked me how did this man Nelson Mandela, become an international hero.  I tried my best to explain the character and charisma of this great man.  I did my best to explain his role as a leader in the African National Congress, which fought against apartheid in South Africa.  I did my best to explain the 27 years that he spent in prison, only because he fought for freedom for Black and Brown South Africans.  And finally, I did my very best to explain the role that Nelson Mandela played to avoid a blood-bath in South Africa when he became the countries President.  I don’t think my best explanation was good enough.   How do you explain the greatness of the man?  I must confess, I really don’t know.

South Africa today is not a perfect country.  There is much to be said about the living conditions of millions of Black South Africans, who still live in utter poverty, have a difficult time finding work, and are poorly educated.  Still, South Africa is a far better country today for Black and Brown South Africans then it was 20 years ago.   The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, established under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, is credited with bringing healing and peace to the country.  President Nelson Mandela once said, “We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.”  He also said, “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”  From the beginning of his struggle for freedom, Nelson Mandela publicly stated that he did not want white domination, and he did not want black domination.  He simply wanted freedom and equality for all.  That is a principle that he lived and died for.  Maybe that is the best way to describe this great man.  South Africa calls him “Madiba.”  I call him “an authentic hero.”   May his presence be felt forever.      

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