Who Holds the Blame

Who Holds the Blame?

By

Sengbe Ben Yosef

   After nearly 500 years of slavery and oppression of the so-called African and let us not forget the Aboriginal black and brown people of the land we now know as America. Only one question comes to mind. Who holds the blame for the condition we find ourselves in today? Answering that question may prove to be one of the hardest things for us to do. The question is a bit more complicated to answer than it may seem. To answer this question we may end up hurting a lot of feelings in the process. People on all sides of the argument will most undoubtedly have hard feelings no matter how you slice the pie.

  You may recall a while back a lot of folks were up in arms over statements made by the world-renowned rap artist designer and media icon Kanye West. Back in May of this year, West made the statement "400 years of slavery; sounds like a choice to me". At that moment I didn't fully understand and like most people I was upset and appalled that a black man would say such a thing. After listening to Mr. West and removing my own ego I could clearly see that Kanye was trying to make a greater point about how we are in control of our lives no matter how bleak the outcome may seem. I believe he was trying to accept the fact that we all have a part to play in what happens to us in life.

   Kanye's words opened up my thinking and that's not to say I totally agree with all he said but I did understand he was trying to show us that we have a stake in this game. We have a stake now and we had one back then. He was saying that yes, evil men did start slavery and that was their choice and we had equal choices even though it may not have seemed we didn't. We have a duty in this life to be responsible for everything that happens to us good or bad. For the things that are the fault of others as well as the tragedies, we bring on ourselves. To that degree, I was willing to hear my brother out and respect his opinion on the matter.

   After listening to West a little more I remembered one of our great elders Huey Newton saying "Many of us are fearful of what's happening in America because we have overestimated the ability of white supremacy and greatly underestimated our own abilities".  With this understanding I move forward not giving an excuse to the evil and cruel institution of slavery or the oppressive system that followed slavery but to the higher understanding that I have power. My world can be shaped by my own thinking and we mustn't allow anyone to make me think otherwise. I also remember my own granddad John Robert tell me that " No one can hurt you more than you hurt your own self and the only thing holding you back is you". Granddad was right because the only times I could recall ever really been hurt badly was when I lived in my own ignorance and wallowed in my own self-petty.

   I would be leading you astray if I ended my store there because we all know people can sometimes do horrific things to other people and because of that we are sometimes at the mercy of the universe. Just as we have choices others have choices and we can't choose for them what is right or wrong. What we can do is defend ourselves against unwanted energies that disrupt our happiness and freedom. Once I read that a good man's job is to show the bad man the way back to the path and to also stop him from hurting others by showing him he is really hurting himself. You see, even in the actions of others we have some control and responsibility. The saying "Am I my brother's keeper "comes to mind and the answer is always yes, just as he is mine. We must take full responsibility for our lives if this world is going to change it will be totally up to us.

   I wrote this because I wanted to say something to shake the souls of men and to break us free from the mental bondage we are currently living under. Also wanted to stop us from engaging in the silly traditions of blaming others for what happens to us. We are the masters of our own fate and captains of our destinies. Never shall we bend the knee to man in fear or in hopelessness that we are without choices and power to shape our own path. In the past, the chains were present and very real the weight of them seemed unbearable yet just as it is today the chains are an illusion.  These chains can and will be broken and we have to do is think anew. Dream a new dream of liberty freedom and justice then do me a favor and wake up and get to work.  

Sengbe Ben Yosef