#black intellectuals
There’s been plenty of talk in the past few weeks about Kanye West’s statements, from his interview with Charlamagne, to his Twitter antics regarding Donald Trump, and most notably his interview/rant on TMZ, where he said: “400 years of slavery sounds like a choice.”
I’m going to weigh in on this and show how simple this statement is to dissect and understand from a black perspective.
Simply put, I agree, slavery is a choice. Why exactly?
Because Joseph Cinque and the Amistad Rebellion, where Mende captives revolted against their ship’s crew and won their freedom in New York.
Because Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.
Because Toussaint L'Ouverture, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and the Haitian Revolution.
The Malê revolt of Brazil, led by Hausa Muslim slaves and freedmen during the last 10 days of Ramadan, inspired by their Islamic faith.
Because Nat Turner’s insurrection.
Because Frederick Douglass.
Because Igbo Landing, where 75 enslaved Igbos staged a mutiny near Dunbar Creek, Georgia and drowned their captors, along with themselves.
Because Queen Nanny, her brother Captain Cudjoe, and the Jamaican Maroons who led two organized wars against the British.
Because François Mackandal, the Haitian Maroon leader and Voudou priest who gave slaves poison from plants to silently kill off their captors.
Because the Tempati Rebellion of Surinamese Maroons.
Because the Kru people of Liberia.
Because the Demerara Rebellion, which saw the mobilization of 10,000 enslaved rebels.
Because Madison Washington (a now twice-emancipated slave) and the Creole Case mutiny, revolting against the crew and forcing the overseer to sail them to the Bahamas; inspired by word of the Hermosa mutiny one year before.
Because the Stono Rebellion.
Because Harriet Jacobs, who escaped from slavery by hiding in her grandmother’s attic for 7 years until she could afford to reach the North.
Because the Zanj Rebellion in Southern Iraq.
Because Henry “Box” Brown who mailed himself to freedom by hiding in a box-crate.
Because Carlota’s Cuban insurrection.
Because Robert Smalls, who stole a Confederate ship and sailed to the North.
Because Sojourner Truth, who escaped to freedom with her infant daughter.
Because the Little George ship revolt, which saw 96 captured Guineans kill the crew and sail back to Africa.
Because Malik Ambar, an Ethiopian sold into Indian slavery as a child who amassed an army and became a regional leader.
Because Mr. and Mrs. William and Ellen Craft, of which the wife posed as a white man and the husband as her servant to safely reach the North hiding in plain sight.
Because the Akwamu slave revolt of St. John.
Because Cuffy and the Berbice slave revolt.
Because the 1811 German Coast Uprising.
Because Samuel Sharpe and the Baptist War “Great Jamaican Slave Revolt, which saw the mobilization of 60,000 enslaved rebels.
Need I say more? Trust me, I can go on and on and on about this, giving examples anywhere from the the United States to the Carribean to Africa, India, or the Middle East.
The point behind “400 years of slavery sounds like a choice” is simple: if you have a choice to escape the plantation, you have a choice to stay and work the fields; if you have a choice to revolt and kill your oppressors, you have a choice to remain subordinate and take their orders; if you have a choice to free your people, you have a choice to leave them behind and let them suffer; if you have a choice to jump ship or take the wheel, you have a choice to remain a passenger.
The act of being enslaved or captured is almost never a choice–unless of course the attempt is met with resistence, and if it fails, then it fails. The choice in 400 years of slavery is allowing yourself and your people to remain in those conditions. Fear is not an excuse either, fear is a choice. Our ancestors and distant relatives knew this, and they fought with their lives for freedom. They were brave, couragous, resourceful and above all resiliant, and it’s almost an insult to not recognize this.
Kanye definitely should have been much better at explaining himself, but nonetheless his own screw-up isn’t an excuse to act out irrationally. Close enough, he freestyled shortly before the TMZ rant, saying: “Hopped off the Amistad and made ’[I’m] A God’ … I say what they say when the mic is off … teach white dominance? Question your common sense, see yall been washed in tradition that I'ma rinse, hopped off the Amistad and made ’[I’m] A God’ …”. I also like the line in Ye vs. The People (feat. T.I.): “A lot of people agree with me but they too scared to speak up”.
Yall have to remember one key thing about Kanye West; amongst all the interracial relationship controversy, Trump support, etc., Kanye was raised by a Black Panther for a father and a black community leader for a mother (R.I.P.) on the south side of Chicago. He doesn’t exist in the same thought bubble as today’s heavily liberal, majority-Democratic black population, and yall have to realize for once that not everyone is in your echo chamber screaming at the walls with you; people have different opinions, and the world that exists beyond your ideological safe space should be enough on its own to understand that we can’t deal with everyone in absolutes by something as shallow as political beliefs. Any talk about how Kanye let us down or how Kanye is a traitor, this and that, is nonsense and ultimately your own fault for thinking he had any obligation to meet your own expectations. And on top of that, everybody don’t gotta agree with you, fam.
The way a lot of you so-called “woke” or conscious black people reacted to Kanye’s statement lowkey reminds me of the Catcher Freeman skit from the Boondocks: “Man, fuck that white nigga, that’s yo massa, ion know that nigga! … You prolly don’t even wanna leave, all on massa nuts.” Like foreal, I have a strong feeling some of yall would actually enjoy slavery.
Lastly, considering the current climate of black culture, it’s also funny to me how a lot of these people complaining are the same people who recently applauded Killmonger’s character in Black Panther; the militant, black revolutionary anti-hero who infamously said before his death: “Just bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from the ships, because they knew that death was better than bondage.” Sounds to me like your buddy Killmonger wouldn’t hesitate to fight back and/or die in the process of seeking out his freedom. But let Kanye say it a bit different and the world catches on fire.
But I digress… Yall go do a lot more reading and do a lot less talking for a while. And stop alienating your own people.
