On this first day of March, now that we have exited the pure fiction that is “Black History Month”, I am going to use this occasion to deconstruct just how pernicious these racial brands are. Why did I call “Black History Month” fiction? Because it is obnoxious that the history of “black” people can be confined to just one month, the shortest and coldest month of the year at that.
Why do I keep putting quote marks around the brand “black”? The same reason I put quote marks around the brand “white”. Make no mistake about it, these labels that were imposed upon humanity were in fact brands, a racial system meant to create a social order based on skin color. As I wrote about yesterday, sadly we have accepted what was always meant to dehumanize some people and elevate others as a point of pride.
Race is a caste system created by despicable racists, vile traders of human and wicked colonizers, why are we willingly ingesting what they fed us to kill us spiritually?
So today, on the same day that we celebrate the Battle of Adwa, where my Ethiopian forefathers defeated Italian colonizers, I too summon the spirit of jegnoch (warriors) to reject out of hand these vile racial labels and encourage others to rise up to and refuse to accept brands that were always meant to “otherize” us and trap us behind the ghettos (prisons) of labels. We don’t need fictitious movies like Black Panther to prove that we are significant, our histories are full of civilizations greater than Wakanda even if politicians don’t speak on it and educators refuse to teach it.
The victory of jegnoch at the Battle of Adwa was not just a victory for Ethiopians, it was a victory for all people around the world who have and continue to taste oppression from the chalice of exclusion. Back in 1896, when the world found out about what took place at Adwa, right here in America, people who had just earned their freedom after spending hundreds of years as capital prisoners were given hope that they took could find redemption. Ethiopia was the clarion call for all marginalized people. So when we celebrate Adwa today, we are celebrating not only the defiance of Ethiopians but the rebellion against tyranny we all have in our souls.
Usually, I write long essays here at the Ghion Journal, but today I shall dispense with the in-depth analysis and let pictures (videos) do the talking. The two videos that you see below are ones that I produced when I was homeless in Colorado. Goes to show, hardship is a good thing for with woes come wisdom. The first video is about the Battle of Adwa and the Haitian Insurrection. Please watch these videos not only on your own, but watch them with your children. The second video is about the origins of race constructs like “black”, “white” and the endless number of labels we accept and why we should walk away from them.
The education system in America is meant to disempower us and to teach us that we are victims. We are none of that; we are champions who come from unconquerable souls::
Lastly, let me ask this of everyone reading this article. We have the power of social media in our hands. Instead of echoing the establishment and being medicated by the sensationalism of outrage, why not take this day to in fact be like the warriors of Adwa and rebel against mind colonizers who are abound in the media-politico complex? Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Adwa, let us awaken like Adwa and revolt against the status quo. Forget the audacity of bankrupt politicians, have the audacity of jegnoch and share this article on social media and in the process speak against the lies of the establishment. #Adwa #AdwaAwakening Click To Tweet
Peace and remain defiant!
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
They killed King but they could not kill his spirit and his ideas. Rest in Eternal Power::
Greater than Wakanda: the Battle of Adwa and the Bravery of Haiti
Race was Created by Racists: We Are Not Brands #WeAreNotBlack
Teodrose Fikremariam
Latest posts by Teodrose Fikremariam (see all)
- The Divided States of America - November 7, 2020
- Ethiopia’s Choice: Ethnic Disintegration or Inclusive Healing - November 4, 2020
- Reflecting Trump: Four Years of Projecting Our Collective Id - November 3, 2020
