| May 24th, 2006 | How do you spell Politically Naive |
thinking about the children of New Orleans, the elementary school aged homeless who are going to be affected for life…. thinking about the need for alternative solutions, a serious projected future which provides a true alternative to the horrific mess being propogated by the [\]e0c0[\]z and was struck by this paragraph below for its illustration of my personal political naivete. Never really think in terms of the real issues some communities live with daily. Never even think maybe, just am swept up in terms of the fantasy of paying rent, drinking with friends, live for today because there may not be any tomorrow. Man - that’s a tough one to stop, too. Am in the midst of my own reprogramming but it AIN’t goin’ fast or e-z. “….just some personal reflections. reading this i find myself, as is so often the case with these types of political mission statements, oddly skeptical, uninspired and disassociated. some of this definitely has to do with where i am at in relation to political “theory” and “the struggle,” but i think it also comes from a gut-feeling that, in many of the communities you are asking us to ground ourselves in…to integrate into, to work with…nintendo, the church, television, internet porn, drugs, alcohol, crass media, etc., are a far more powerful, influential force than community organizers. i spent about five weeks behind bars this year (no, i’m not bragging, i’m not that “hard”, just stupid enough not to stay out of their way) and i would have to say that the level of the discourse people are engaging in inside these dungeons is, by and large, completely incapable of integrating the kind of information and historical analysis that you’re kicking here. don’t get me wrong, i had and witnessed some incredible sessions where people got together and kicked some deep knowledge of the political/spiritual/human variety. i heard (and shared) some truly touching personal stories: people are trying to deal with the effects of being abandoned and handed over to the system as young children; being raised by schizophrenics (not to mention suffering from schizophrenia and other forms of mental illness); growing up with parents who are crack addicts (and being addicts), living with HIV, etc., etc.. black males inside and on the streets are literally bouncing off the walls with malnutrition induced attention deficit disorder; eating shit for food (sugar, starch, fried grease); throwing rage around haphazardly; wrapped in a world of self-centered loathing; talking (loudly and assertively) about some mystical israeli-judeo-god…and hoping, at best, to become security guards or, for the big dreamers, CO’s when they get out. most of these kids can’t, and more importantly don’t even express the desire, to want to learn how to read at all let alone delve into the kind of responsibility for self-leadership, collective ownership and self-defense that you and I think and understand as a necessity at this point in time… so as i walk around H street here in d.c., i look around and ask myself what it would take to organize and revolutionize this community…if suffering were enough to motivate change, this is definitely fertile ground. but honestly, i’m at a loss. one can chip away for the next thirty, forty, fifty years working for a non-profit or teaching in a public high school, trying to educate wounded people about the importance of remembering their own histories of resistance and glory… of trying to expose “them” to various strategies for some kind of dignified life… and maybe, just maybe, achieve some slight reform, maybe touch a few lives here and there. so much of what i see (for sure not all, there is some real beauty out here, even in prison) around me are check cashing stores, liqueur stores, literally dozens of fried chicken and chinese food joints, drug dealers pushing dope, crack, meth and opiate-pharmaceuticals. so many of the people i encounter have bodies bent from joint disease, addiction and alcoholism… 30 looking like 50 and at 50 almost dead. and as you point out so urgently, i also see police, teachers, lawyers, judges, business owners, privileged whites within so-called allied leftist organizations, etc., who are violently and systemically intruding on our autonomy and freedom in so many ugly, cynical ways. so, i strongly support your vision of, and call for, alternative community alliances modeled on non-statist federation, an anti-capitalist critique and a firm line drawn in the sand. keep writing joaquin, we need it. peace, rhythm and resistance voice” Posted in History, Politics |
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