In honor of Black History Month
Put forth on February 19, 2007 by XicanoPwr
Posted in Civil Rights, Raza
This month has been a crazy month and I have not done my part to honor Black History Month. In order to build a true movement, it must be a movement that cross racial/ethnic/cultural boundaries. We cannot prioritize which struggles we must take up first, i.e., this year we focus on Latino issues, and maybe next year African American issues and go on from there. It is too easy for us to fall into the trap that our issue is the most important issue there is, and that the condition that we find ourselves in is the condition that must be changed or else. Therefore, in order to build a solid unbreakable movement, we must shut up and listen to people other backgrounds, we must be willing to start and maintain a dialog. We also have to challenge ourselves each time we get uncomfortable. We must figure out what is holding us back from engaging with people who are from a different racial/ethnic/cultural groups. Because in the end, we really do learn from each other and oftentimes, some of their issues in their struggle are the same as ours. Once we are able to find our common ground, their struggle becomes my struggle. So in honor of Black History Month and given the recent events that occurred last week, I feel Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet” is a perfect way to start the week off.
Technorati Tags: Black History, Latino, African American
Related posts
| 
Print This Post
|
This is the blog of Edmundo "XicanoPwr" Rocha, a social worker, an activist, freelance writer and founder and editor of The Sanctuary. My interests include: immigration reform, critical race theory and it's interaction with equality/inequality and freedom/oppression as they relate to the experiences of people of color in the Americas.
Para Justicia y Libertad is a Latino-centered political blog focusing on the humanistic perspective of politics, history, and society as they relate to the Latina/o community throughout Texas and the United States.
Entries (RSS)
3 Responses to “In honor of Black History Month”
3 Comments
You can follow any responses to this entry through the
Comments (RSS) feed.
So much love. Thank you. I miss a person who speaks with fire. No one quite has it the way he had it. MLK had a different timbre, a river running over a rockbed. But X had fire. In his thoughts, in his tone, in his life…thank you.
Living here in TX, I have seen what the conquer and divide has done; and during the time I lived in Chicago, I have seen what unity can do. I opt for unity. The unity that gets built here is a faux unity that is easily broken all them.
One of the biggest things that is missing, are the leaders. Jesse Jackson almost had it, but the powers that be, are always looking for the one flaw to magnify it. It seems if a person wants to be a leader, they must live a saintly life, which next to impossible. I know I have made my mistakes in my life, however, given today’s society there is no forgiveness.
As much as I love MLK, I feel there was a need to highlight other people who were also influential in the Civil Rights movement.
I know what you mean, and I liked Malcolm because he spoke to the people and not preached at them. For unity, we need interaction; exchange is at the heart of getting anywhere in any movement. If it’s one sided, and all our eggs are placed in one mouthpiece, what happens when that mouthpiece leaves?
Speak your mind
Comment Policy: First time comments are moderated. Please be patient.