"Pledge allegience to a flag that neglects us - honor a man that refuse to respect us - emancipation Proclamation? Please - Lincoln just said that to save the nation - these are the lies we've all accepted - say no to drugs but the government kept them - running through our community - killing the Unity - the War on Drugs is the War on You and Me - and yet, they say this is the home of the free - you ask me? it's all about hypocrisy - the Constitution? No it don't apply to me - and Lady Liberty? Stupid bitch lied to me - this may be strong, and no one's gonna like what I'm pumpin - but it's wrong to keep someone from learning something - so get up, it's time to start nation buildin - I'm fed up, it's time to start teaching children - that they can be all that they want to be - there's much more to life than just poverty - this is definitely, words of wisdom!" (Tupac Shakur, "Words of Wisdom" from the album "2pacalypse Now")
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I included these lyrics above because I've been constantly listening to this album on repeat, many times over, and the tracks "Don't Give a Fuck", "Trapped", "When My Homies Call" and this one, "Words of Wisdom" have such a deep seeded effect on me, to the point that I find myself becoming emotional and impacted as I sing or recite the lyrics, because the fact that someone at such a young age (Tupac) could not only understand these things but had the initiative, creativity, and dedication to put them into songs that people would listen to and enjoy, while also learning something. There are many revolutionary lyricists, artists, poets, and writers around, but something about 'Pac always gets me. Maybe it's cause his mom was a panther, maybe it's cause he always said it like it was, but something about this song my friends...
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When we look around the world there is so much information and knowledge to be had, on things that we may never have even heard of, experienced, or seen - or things we see and do every day that we think we understand, but really, we do not. One example I've been focusing on is revolution, a common term now a days that can mean a million different things; we have "revolutions" in skin care treatment, and breast reduction surgeries; we have revolutions in classroom control, and revolutions in manufacturing; but what we here in the "United States" are desperately lacking is a revolution in reality - a revolution of the social, political, and economic sort.
When we look at the history of the world, we see that revolutions are actually quite common. In fact, one might say that they are one of the most consistent acts taken by people throughout time. In Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, we see that revolutions, rebellions, riots, uprisings, coups, juntas, putsches, and other forms of power struggle have always been happening. And today, nothing has changed, as we see in Niger, Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso that this is true, we also see it in Sudan, the DRC, Ghana, South Africa, and elsewhere across the African nations. In Asia, the same can be said; in the Philippines, in China, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Yemen, Nepal, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and elsewhere the struggles are ongoing, and put to shame the European and "American" actions such as marches, webinars, and demonstrations. These are parts of the puzzle, but unless we take our struggle to new heights by advancing through demonstrations and protests, our real ability to shift power will remain in deep question, and to most, unfathomable.
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We don't need to lie, or make up stories, we don't need to spend exhaustive hours debating with folks to make clear the reality of our shared shituation: the world is dying, our rights as human beings are non-existent, we have no power, and we are vastly out-organized.
For the people in power to make the masses believe in their game, they have to write fantastic diatribes about the economy, long speeches about moralism behind the "American" actions, re-write history, come up with massive lies - we don't have to do that. We can be clear, we can be honest, we can be forward. This system as a whole has nothing to offer the vast majority of people besides miserable poverty and a long-term death crawl, maybe a TV or a nice vacation (once in their lifetime), but minus that, a lifetime of working away one's life. One does not go to school to avoid work, one does not go into the military and not work, wherever we are, even as we are unemployed, our existence on this Earth is taken advantage of by putting us all to work - just some of us make more and work differently, but we ALL WORK.
People are poor beyond other people's wildest dreams, human beings in 2023 die every day from hunger, thirst, extreme heat, extreme cold, and even some of the most common illnesses known to us today, while laboring for 8, 10, 12 or more hours, 5 or more days a week. Others who cannot labor are even worse off and tend to be given an expressway ticket to the morgue through social disdain, government policies, the law, and the police. Why? Because they are expendable, trash, worthless, to the system. Someone who cannot work, someone who cannot produce wealth for their employer, is not seen as valuable to society, even to some of us. We talk down of the unemployed, we speak poorly of poor people, we cry out in disgust about the Third World and chastise them like we are their overseers. We blame ourselves even when we slip and fall into further depths of poverty, or become unemployed, or drop out of school, or lose our home. But this is not our fault! This system is one that exists on this fundamental exploitation in many different forms, and one that is meant to make us feel powerless.
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If we look carefully at history however, we can see that in fact we are the most powerful, because we are the majority. Again, we need not lie! The masses of people around the world have far more in common with one another than differences, and that is echoed by the extremely small number of people who actually control the economy, politics, and society. We are all oppressed, exploited, taken advantage of, and by and large none of us have power of this. It is by an increasingly small amount of business owners, politicians, military officials, intelligence agencies, and the like that we are forced and kept in these positions. Every day less and less can match the might, money and power of the true Ruling Class, and more fall down into the pits of the oppressed, but we must take encouragement in this!
We are the ones with the real power.
When workers strike, it is a clear example of who holds the cards; if a strike is done correctly, it can cripple an entire sector of the economy, a nation, or international trade. Adding to that, when we see true revolutions in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, we see that it is the people themselves who have always been the most powerful. But our power has been shackled, here on Turtle Island and around the world, it has been exploited, controlled and taken for granted.
Our power, our physical, mental, emotional, and other creative capacities have been stolen from us and manipulated into being used to benefit others and to enrich them, not us. We have worked, we have toiled, we have planted, we have harvested, we have manufactured, we have consumed, but we have not become more in control of ourselves and our society by doing so. In fact, we become more dependent each day on the system when we continue to extract our small concessions from our lifetime of labor and remain contented to consume.
This is why revolution has always and will always be a true game changer, a locomotive of history. Because it changes this all on the fundamental position that until we actually break from what has existed before and build something that represents OUR needs, we will not be making a revolution, or progress.
A revolution is not simply a word, it is not one act, or one event, it is not a day, or a week, or a government, or a party, it is a process by which the old becomes abandoned and destroyed, and the new is created through hard, daily struggle, education, participation, and self-defense. It is a day to day battle where peoples habits, behaviors, patterns, relations, power, and destiny is changed by their own doing and their own actions, in the millions and billions.
If there was a revolution, one must find ways to produce for the good of the people, otherwise it is not a revolution.
If there was a revolution, one must be able to defend it from those who will try to overthrow it, otherwise it is not going to stand.
If there was a revolution, one must be truly committed to learning, adapting, changing, growing, and advancing every part of society, politics, the economy, etc. not just the ones we are most familiar with, otherwise we will be doomed to repeat the mistakes of those who came before us.
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One must study hard, train, prepare, and not think for a moment that any of this can or could be easy.
The Capitalists are more organized than ever before, but yet, more contradictions are rampant, and they become numerically smaller every day than ever before. One can and must think critically, and bring this to those around them, to have them doing the same. Collective study, action, and struggle far outweighs any one individuals' ideas, theories, etc.
Revolutions overthrew the early remnants of slavery, and it killed many of the slave masters.
But counter-revolution created new slave masters, and new people to enslave, new ways to enslave them.
So then, the oppressed and enslaved must and have created new and improved forms of struggle to emancipate themselves, once and for all, it is our responsibility to follow in their footsteps, and continue on in our collective struggles.
This is not something that cannot be done in a day, a week, a year, or a decade. It is one that must continue on through our children, the youth, those yet to be born. We must create a struggle, a society, based on the needs of all, so that all can and will take part in this fight for liberation and an end to exploitation, everywhere.
All power to the People