Real Talk

"So to understand why some of the victims of the ruling class might identify with the ruling circle, we must look at their material (i. e. based on concrete things, objects) lives; and if we do, we will realize that the same people who identify with the ruling circle are also very unhappy. Their feelings can be compared to those of a child: a child desires to mature so that he can control himself, but he believes he needs the protection of his father to do so. He has conflicting drives. Psychologists would call this conflict neurotic if the child were unable to resolve it....In a sense, then, that is what we (the Black Panther Party) are all about. First, people have to be conscious of the ways they are controlled, then we have to understand the scientific laws involved, and once that is accomplished, we can begin to do what we want-to manipulate phenomena."


- Huey Newton, p. 36




"We believe that black Americans are the first real internationalists; not just the Black Panther Party, but black people who live in America. We are internationalists because we have been internationally dispersed by slavery, and we can easily identify with other people in other cultures. Because of slavery, we never really felt attached to the nation in the same way that the peasant was attached to the soil in Russia. We are always a long way from home."


- Huey Newton, p. 38



"Huey Newton's main deed, however, and one powerful reason for the appeal of the Panthers' stance both here and abroad, is the turning of a negative identity into a positive one, in the sense in which a cornered animal turns on the attacker. This is what the Black Panther imagery stands for, after all. All of this, in part, is a black-and-urban version of a psychic transformation used by the rebellious youth of other colonialized or oppressed people."

- Erik Erikson, p. 47


"Nothing could divide the respective identities of different people more than the sense of free choice and the sense of being without it; and yet, by the mere dialectics of living here for generations, does not the American black 'belong' here more than anywhere else?"

- Erikson, p. 59







Peace and blessings,

As someone who is in academia but also want to make serious change in people's lives (not to suggest that these two things are mutually exclusive), I was surprised to hear that conversations took place between Huey Newton and Erik Erikson, and were published in a book entitled, "In Search of Common Ground: Conversations with Erik H. Erikson and Huey P. Newton" (1973). Although I do not fully endorse the ideas and theories of either Newton or Erikson, I do think that both have contributed in a positive way to our understanding of individual and societal behavior. And quite frankly, I think that some of their ideas and theories are pretty accurate. For instance, I think that Erikson's notions of the human need and capacity to form identities and the Black Panther's beliefs in empowerment through knowledge of self, self-respect, and accountability are on point.

The first conversation was more formal and took place at Yale University in February 1971. The second conversation was informal took place around April 1971 in Huey Newton's apartment in Oakland, CA. The first conversation, which included a question and answer period from students, was less of a dialogue between the two and more of an introduction into their backgrounds, ideas, and theories. The second conversation dealt primarily with the misconceptions each initially had about the other, as well as the "disappointment" the students probably felt at the first meeting, due to the fact that Newton and Erikson did not "battle" each other, but instead respectfully exchanged ideas.


The common thread through both conversations was that each demonstrated how two people from very different experiences (Erikson the product of voluntary immigrants, Newton the product of involuntary slaves), can be honest and respect one another. Now I don't want to romanticize the conversations because there probably was some level of conflict or tension. The point is that regardless of this conflict or tension, they were able to critique and build on each other's ideas, while offering their perspectives on the plight of American society in general, and of black and other oppressed peoples more specifically.

What do you think? Any other collaborations you heard of or witness that surprised you? Any you would like to see? Stay blessed, take care, and speekonit...

Labels: Black Panther Party, black people, Erik Erikson, Huey Newton, identity, In Search of Common Ground, op

Peace and blessings,

As a sophomore in undergrad, I was fortunate enough to attend an African American Christian Leadership conference. At the conference, I was able to learn from and interact with a host of students, pastors, and prayer warriors that helped give my life more direction while changing my music preferences. Although I heard from many powerul speakers, one in particular continues to stick out in my mind. For those who may not have heard of him,
introducing

Bishop George McKinney

After hearing him deliver a powerful message, I decided to approach him and get some guidance regarding a faith issue I was struggling with. At that time in my life, being in college and being exposed of all the injustices that have occurred and are still occurring against people of African descent, I was having a hard time (and sometimes I still do) trying to understand why and how something like 400 years of slavery could have happened. I refused (and still do) to say that God “allowed” slavery to happen, yet when discussions around slavery would come up in various contexts, I had no idea as to how to approach the issue (and similar issues of injustice) from a Christian-faith perspective. After telling Bishop McKinney these things, he simply replied, “the final chapter has not been written yet.” Initially I thought that he “short-changed” me with that answer as I expected much more. The more I thought about it, however, the more I realized that his reply was more than what I needed. Consequently, as soon as I returned home from the week-long conference and cracked open my bible, the first thing I noticed was a passage (I think in Exodus) that was talking about how God will avenge and restore His people (Children of Israel) who were enslaved for 400 years! At that moment I remembered how Bishop McKinney spoke with so much faith and conviction regarding the power of God through Jesus Christ to change lives and right wrongs.

Let’s fast forward about three years later while attending graduate school on the east coast. While visiting the school of Divinity’s library, I came across one of his books (see below) called “The New Slave Masters.” In a nutshell, the premise of the book is that just as people of African descent were stripped of their identity and oppressed beyond measure during the years of physical slavery, people today (of all races and walks of life) are in spiritually enslaved to drugs, gangs, materialism, crime, violence, hatred, racism, sexual immorality, and negativity just to name a few.



I recommend Christians and non-Christians to cop it. It’s not expensive, short, and it’s an easy read. In addition, it doesn’t come off as “preachy.” Do you think there are similarities between "social" issues and "spiritual" issues? Differences? Weigh in and speekonit...

Labels: African American, Children of Israel, Christian Leaderhip Conference, identity, New Slavemasters, oppressed, racism, sexual immorality, violence