Photos courtesy of BRITANNICA.COM

By ANTONIA WILLIAMS-GARY
Special for South Florida Times

Here is my quick take on the history of Blacks in the USA from before Columbus to today: how to survive at all costs! I am in awe of a tactic used by Harriet Tubman when she famously threatened to shoot anyone who wanted to turn back while she attempted to rescue them from slave owners.

There are several other examples of Black freedom fighters, including Denmark Vessey, Nat Turner, The Black Panthers, Malcolm X, and so many others who understood that achieving freedom was not necessarily devoid of violence.

Even Frederick Douglass, best known for his use of persuasive oratory, was not opposed to John Brown, the white abolitionist, who unsuccessfully raided Harper’s Ferry. Douglass just felt the timing was not right.

Our ongoing fight for freedom is threaded throughout the narratives of US history.

James Baldwin, an outspoken proponent for the freedom of Black folk in the USA, once said “to be Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a state of rage almost all of the time.”

I know that freedom looks different to everyone.

I like the concept of having freedom to breathe, create, evolve, form unthreatened communities and institutions, rather than just freedom from bondage, segregated situations, unjust and immoral laws, or individual hatred.

Contrary to the popular narrative that describes how formerly enslaved people were emancipated by a proclamation in 1863, Blacks have been emancipating themselves since the beginning of this country’s recorded history..

Stories of self-emancipation are liberally documented and easily re searched; the Underground Railroad was only a tip of the iceberg of self emancipation efforts.

Living under the US Constitution is inherently living under codified barriers which have always protected white, male, property owners. Despite the limitations of the governing documents and the various tacked-on amendments that offered limited protection of Blacks (13th, 14th, 15th, and various Civil Rights Acts, some recently rescinded, freedom to be unmolested in this coun try, to prosper and function as full citi zens, was never guaranteed.

So, the Black fight to remain in the USA and seek the unspecified benefits of centuries-long free labor-reparations; to continue to live free of daily and ubiquitous forms of harassment, including disproportionate rates of incarceration for just being Black, continues.

Enraged? Of course we are! I am eager to see how the emergence of a democratic socialist movement will address the historical plight of Black folk.

Can the results temper Black rage?

Perhaps.

Some. For a little while.

Until. Minimally, I propose that during this political season- and beyond- that we stop going high.

It’s time for some below the belt blows; not to kill, but to maim the aggressive onslaught of policies and practices designed to keep Black and Brown necks compressed under the heels of those who wave the constitution as a shield, and who have ripped up that so-called sacred document, only to replace it with an army of goons wearing masks and carrying badges (but no body cameras), and who have been authorized to round up anyone suspected of not “loving” this country!

Enraged? “Love of country” cannot be the litmus test to determine who is a good citizen.

Remember, the 1776 Patriots did not love this country while they were living under the tyranny of Britain.

No, they rebelled, declared war against their oppressor, formed a new nation using poetic and inspired words, and the rest is history: A nation born in violence, sustained by an ironclad document which codified a supremacist class, and built on free labor including enslaved Africans, indentured servants, Native Americans.

Enraged?

On July 4th, Nolan Wells, an eighteen year-old Black male in Mississippi, died while vacationing with his friends; he was the only Black person at the party.

To date, no one has a definitive answer about who is legally responsible.

In the meantime, accusations, recriminations, mud-slinging, and racialized opinions have been flying around a legitimate inquiry.

But a small mercy for Nolan’s family, Ben Crump, one of the nation’s sharpest Civil Rights/personal injury attorneys, is on the case.

We wait.

Regardless of the outcome of Nolan’s case, Black emotions are raw because a young Black male body washed up on the shores in a part of the country that has never held Black bodies in high esteem, except at times on the athletic fields.

We are enraged, still and again. Is there a healing soothing salve for this rage?

I’m not interested in anything we paste over our wounds to hide them from ourselves.

Hold your prayers.

As Langston Hughs warned in his poem “Harlem,” our wounds should remain open, festering sores like a raisin in the sun, until our dreams of total freedom are realized, or lest we continue sagging under the heavy load of Black rage.

Toniwg1@gmail.com