Fear of an Intelligent Black Man

Fear of an Intelligent Black Man

Paul Scott


"If I'm not who you say I am then you are not who you think you are."
James Baldwin




I want to extend my sincerest apology to the Right Wing Republicans; the Tea Party people , the Birthers, etc. For the last year, I have been calling you "narrow minded bigots who are just hatin' on the president because he's black!" However, based on the events of the last few weeks between the hecklers, the protesters, and the media lynching of former Obama green czar, Van Jones, I stand corrected. You guys don't hate him because he's black. You hate him because he's smart...and black.

Back in the early 90's there was a short lived fashion trend when black youth like the ones wearing Scarface T shirts, today, were proudly sportin' shirts with slogans such as "Knowledge is Power," "The Blacker the College the Sweeter the Knowledge" and my all time favorite, "Warning: Educated Black Man."

The latter was the expression of a sentiment that has existed in this country for centuries. White America is scared to death of a black man who can read and articulate a position.

On the plantation "Simple Jim" and "Big Buck" were never threats to the status quo . Nor are Krazy K and T-Bone who walk around with guns in their waste bands shouting obscenities at anyone who passes by. However, "uppity Negro" Frederick who would hide behind the barn and read a book and Marcus who walks around with "48 Laws of Power" instead of a 40 oz of Old English have always been public enemy #1.

Historically, it must be noted that up until the later part of the 19th century, black people were not ,legally, allowed to read as the plantation owner didn't want the people on whom he counted to pick his cotton to have delusions of grandeur that they could one day be running the joint and make his little rotten kids pick the cotton, themselves.

During the period following slavery it was necessary to give the newly emancipated slaves just enough training to make them productive parts of an economic system that was changing from agricultural to industrial. The idea was never to give the masses of black folks enough education to achieve equality with white Americans.

While an education indeed, was hard to obtain during the 1800's,some were able to break the color barrier. In 1826, John B. Russwurm became the first black college graduate. It must be noted that many of these early intellectuals used their education to write and speak out against slavery and later, with the coming of the WEB Dubois' and the William Trotters', speak out against racial inequality.

The continuing education of the masses of black folks has always been a controversial issue.

According to Harold Cruse in his book, "Plural but Equal," during the 1880's there was an attempt to pass a bill by Senator Henry Blair that would have required the government to provide $77 million dollars to be spent "equally for the education of all children, without distinction of race or color." This was followed by the investment of white philanthropists in the movement of Booker T. Washington that favored an industrial education for black folks instead of the challenging white folks intellectually and politically as advocated by Du Bois.

During the mid 1900's, many African Americans thought that public school desegregation (Brown vs the Board of Education, 1954) was going to be the key to social and economic equity that we have yet to achieve.

In regards to the Black Power Era of the 60's, while white washed history paints the protesters as "angry black militant thugs," it must be noted that the most vocal members of the leadership were intelligent and college educated such as Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) and H. Rap Brown. And while the powers that be may have feared Black Panther, Huey P. Newton's gun, they were more afraid of the bullets that came out of his mouth.

It must also be noted that while Malcolm X went to prison as a street cat he came out of prison as one of the greatest debaters this country has ever known, often debating his philosophies on the campuses of major white universities.

During the "conscious" Hip Hop era (1988-92) it must be noted that those rappers who promoted intellectualism and academic development were demonized by those in power but the rappers who glorified gangsta-ism are still making CD's, endorsing products and even making kiddie movies twenty years after the fact.

I am sure that many of the parents who yanked their kids out of school, last week ,so they would not hear Obama's "stay in school" speech, have no problem with their children listening to Lil Wayne.

So, the problem of white intimidation by black male intelligence still exists to this day. Just ask any black student who was directed to the gym or the wood shop class by his advisor while his white counterpart was guided to the chemistry lab or advanced physics. Or the black man with a Master's degree who gets passed over for a promotion that is given to Jim Bob, who barely has a GED.

Maybe the attacks on black men like Van Jones and Barack Obama will serve a greater purpose.

We must use these intances as "teachable moments" to tell our young people that racists don't hate strong black men because of the color of their skin but they fear the genius that lies within.


Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. He can be reached at info@nowarningshotsfired.com or (919) 451-8283
For more information on the "Intelligence Over Ignorance" Campaign go to http://www.ioimovement.com/

Mis-Education of Black Children

The Mis-education of Black Children

Paul Scott



In 1933, the great educator and founder of Negro History Week (now Black History Month), Dr. Carter G. Woodson wrote, "If you control a man's thinking, you do not have to worry about his actions. Although, "The Mis-education of the Negro" was written 75 years ago, the issues raised then are just as relevent today not only for African American youth but also for those who strive to teach them.

Every year, we are confronted with the age old question of why black youth are not achieving at the same rate as other racial groups. The reason that we continually raise the same questions is that very few have the courage to give the correct answer. While many would write the under achievement of African American children off as some sort of genetic deficiency, the truth is that the reasons are economic, social and political.

First, the depth of the destruction of African culture over a 400 year period via the TransAtlantic slave Trade is rarely discussed in the context of its impact on future generations. Although this is well researched in Walter Rodney's book "How Europe Under Developed Africa, how many people have heard of this outstanding work?

Also, it cannot be overstated that 140 years ago, teaching black people to read was a crime punishable by death. Why this fact is not highlighted as a probable cause for the current educational dilemma of black children has more to do with historical amnesia than historical accuracy.

While segregated schools may have had their good points ,as far as the attention given to the needs of black children, the schools were separate and unequal, lacking the resources to give black children an equal education.

Even as late as early as 20 years ago, members of my generation walked out of college graduation ceremonies to face the heartbreaking reality that we would earn considerably less than our white counterparts. This did not exactly serve as motivation for future generations to strive for academic excellence. Also, while grandma's sage advice that we had to be "twice as good as white folks" was well intentioned, this was an unfair burden to place on the shoulders of young African Americans.

This is why the Hip Hop generation has developed such slang terms such as "Street Knowledge" and "Thug Motivation" in order to compensate for the economic/educational disparity that they cannot understand nor properly articulate.

The media have never shown much interest in making the so called black "Hip Hop Generation" more culturally and politically conscious. Despite the large population of African Americans in the Triangle area, there are hardly any talk shows that supply African centered information to the community. However, there is no shortage of outlets that glamorize anti intellectualism. Even in the world of print media, since young black Americans are not the target audience, there is little effort to hire columnists to speak to their issues

As many Americans are using "change" as a buzz word this political season, we must understand that not only must there be change in politics but education and economics, as well.
We must come up with new and innovative ways to close the information/education gap.

The black community must produce a list of books that all black children should read and present that information to the Board of Education, as well as the community, at large. This list must include the works of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Dr. Amos Wilson and a host of others. Secondly, we must realize that "cleaning up Hip Hop" means more than just deleting dirty words but using the music to educate as much as entertain. Contrary to popular belief, there are Hip Hop artists that struggle to use their art to educate the masses.

Lastly, we must pressure the local media to develop outlets that will discuss the black experience in its totality, not just crime rates and other negative statistics.

Although the entire community will benefit from a truly enlightened populace, the burden of the responsibility to counter mis-education lies within the black community, itself.

As Bob Marley once sang, "Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds."


Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 info@nowarningshotsfired.com

NWSF Bullet: Martin, Barack or Biggie ?

There's something important happening this weekend. Something of great importance to African Americans.

Let's see...

Martin Luther King's birthday weekend?

No..

The weekend before the inauguration of the first black president of the United States?

Naw..

Oh, yeah. "Notorious ," the Biggie Smalls movie comes out!

I don't know about you but I can't remember the last time I have seen a movie hyped up this much. You can't go five minutes without seeing the Notorious trailer during commercial breaks .

It doesn't even matter which channel you're watching, either. Even the Country Music channel.

"The Conway Twitty Story will return after these messages...."

"NO...NO...NOTORIOUS!"

Now, I've seen my share of black movies over the years but I can't remember "Do the Right Thing" gettin' this much attention.

Especially, since most of the white suburban ticket buyin' public don't know Christopher "Biggie Smalls" Wallace from Kris Kross.

Am I suggesting the release of Notorious is some grand conspiracy to divert our attention from the Inauguration?

Nope. But one has to wonder why the marketing execs chose this weekend. It's not like folks haven't known that Obama was gettin' sworn in on January 20th for months. Also, MLK Day has been the third Monday in January for a while now.

Maybe Fox Searchlight Films thinks that black folks will either go see the movie after the MLK Day Parade or will catch the flick on their way to DC for the Inauguration.

Sometimes our priorities are just jacked up.

I guess while the rest of the world is anticipating "change" this weekend, Tyrone will be at the concession stand waiting for his...

Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com

The Rise of Radio Revolutionaries

The Rise of Radio Revolutionaries:

March on Washington 2007

Min. Paul Scott

"We need to raise up our readership so that our children can grow up and freely lead without readin' a script"

KRS from X-Clan's "Speak the Truth"

The other day I was listening to Malcolm X's classic speech "Message to the Grassroots" and his critique (OK, diss) of the "Big Six" Civil Rights Leaders after the 1963 March on Washington.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/malcolmxgrassroots.htm

I wonder what Bro. Malcolm would say about the March on Washington 2007.

"Oh, I'll tell you, Brothers and Sisters. They were gathered to do some damage. They wanted some action! Yes! They wanted change, not tomorrow, not next week but today! But just as soon as the crowd was about to get busy and really take care of business, some DJ yelled for Juan D to play some old Hip Hop record and the whole crowd stopped marchin' and started doin' the 'crank dat soldier boy.' I'll tell you, you've been had, tricked, bamboozled..."

Don't get me wrong. I ain't mad at anyone takin' a stand against injustice, miseducation or even why gas is so darn high. But anytime that entertainers get thrust to the front of the black leadership line. I have to ask some questions.

Now, I never claimed to be a straight A student in school but even I know the difference between a radio host and a revolutionary.

This is not to say that you can't be both. Local radio hosts were often the catalyst for change in communities across the country. They saw it as their civic duty to wake the people up with information as soon as their alarm clocks went off at 6AM. There are many stories about radio hosts who have sacrificed their jobs and risked their lives by bringin' on guests or discussing topics that were too hot to handle.

But that was an era long gone, before the corporate take over of local radio, as thoroughly broken down by Glen Ford's article at http://www.blackagendareport.com/

I know this ain't 1969, the height of the Black Power Movement, when black folks were gettin' their heads cracked on a daily basis and many of us are too young to remember that period. So, the point of reference I am using is the Hip Hop version of the Black Power Movement 1988-1992. That is the closest, in the last 20 years, that entertainment and activism have come together for collective change.

Now some may argue (and rightly so, in some cases) that all that period produced was a bunch of paranoid black folks who were too scared to go to protest rallies because they thought that government satellites would beam death rays down from space and vaporize them. Or a bunch of middle class Buppies who "used to be conscious" in college who now justify their comfortable, apolitical, corporate lives by endlessly talking about "The Spook that Sat By the Door."

But that ain't everybody. Some are still fighting the fight like the "Cease the Fire" Movement.

http://www.myspace.com/freeallpoliticalprisoners

What is most disturbing is when this new commercial radio radicalism (which came as a direct result of the powers- that -be realizing that black internet bloggers could put heat on racists like Don Imus without "Civil Rights" leaders) takes the place of grassroots community based activism.

According to Kenneth O'Reilly in his book "Black Americans: the FBI Files," in 1966 Atty General Nicolas Katzenback wanted to create a militant but peaceful organization which could compete with SNCC around the same time the organization was becoming pro-black under the leadership of Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael)and then Jamil Al-Amin (H. Rap Brown).

Kinda like revolution-lite.

Now am I suggesting that the radio hosts should should arm the marchers with machine guns and swear them in as members of the Black Panther Party.

No.

But the key is to play your role. Stay in you lane. Or as George Clinton would say "Don't fake tha Funk." (Shout out to the Ol' School)

I just don't think that a DJ who won't even break format to play "Behind Enemy Lines" by Dead Prez will be the first one to toss a Molotov cocktail. Maybe that is why many of them spend more time assuring their corporate sponsors that a demonstration will be "nonviolent" than they do explaining to the people why they are marching.

We all know that there is a line of demarcation that entertainers dare not cross. A place where DJ's fear to tread: a land of taboo topics and banned Afrocentric scholars and researchers. They know that just beyond that line of demarcation is where the "real" fight begins.

And they know that they have crossed that line when they begin to raise the collective consciousness of their millions of listeners and their corporate sponsors begin pulling commercials.

When you have millions of listeners that don't know who George and Jonathan Jackson are and think that COINTELPRO is the new cell phone that Verizon has coming out next month , therein lies the problem.

Until we replace the "Joke of the Day" with the "Fred Hampton Speech of the Day," no matter how many marches we have,to quote Chairman Fred we will be left with:

"Answers that don't answer, explanations that don't explain and conclusions that don't conclude."

For more information on the Books or Bullets Movement go to http://www.booksorbullets.com/

Min. Paul Scott's blog is http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com/ He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 info@nowarningshotsfired.com