Light of Lamar: Self-Awareness that is Confused for Self-Hatred
Written by Teodrose Fikre, May 18, 2017
Kendrick Lamar, not too long ago, ignited a firestorm on social media as he spoke a truth that gave birth to a procession of people cackling endless insults. Here is a helpful guide: when you see a throng of people running in one direction, stop and walk the other way for nothing draws herd like thinking than ignorance. This rule held true yet again when I saw a flock of folks going ham on Kendrick Lamar on Facebook and Twitter. Usually, I ignore the chatter and sensationalism; but when I realized the source of people’s consternation and why so many were disparaging Kendrick Lamar, I paused and gave a salute to this brave soldier for speaking the unbridled truth.
In an age of utter selfishness and self-pursuit, few in the public limelight are willing to rock the boat and fewer still have the courage to speak truth to power. Paycheck makes slaves out of many a men; add on top of this paycheck the twin chains of status and opulence and few from the rich and famous will actually have the the guts to display any sense of courage. The stars that we all love to idolize and worship, these people are paid by the very system of injustice that takes from the world. It is that very same system that keeps the mega-famous on a tight leash. If they speak too loudly about the truth of that system and the reality of pervasive injustice, their status and fame disappear faster than a Halley’s comet as their stars get subsumed into pitch darkness. Those who display valor and speak truth become shrouded by the shadow of “has-beens” or silenced permanently—the price of fame comes along with the cudgel that keeps stars in place.
Kendrick Lamar took on the spirit of Tupac (link) and stepped into this risk and decided to shine his light into the darkness. In the process, he spoke a truth which has been white washed by wicked people who have tried their best to eradicate the significance of a continent which was once called Ethiopia. Kendrick said he was not black and told others to stop referring to him as such. This was the act of courage that drew the cackle of of a million dimwits who rushed to crucify him without even understanding the reasons behind his statement. With that one utterance, Kendrick reclaimed hip hop from the clutches of jigaboos like Jay Z and his lot who have hijacked a music of defiance and turned it into a tune of genocide and self nullification.
Kendrick was speaking truth to the very same powers who were behind the enslavement of tens of millions of people who were stolen from the continent we now imprudently call “Africa” and sold as chattel. The label black was imposed upon them the same way shackles and chains were saddled on their limbs. Black was always meant to dehumanize us and to marginalize us to the periphery of “others”. Black is not what we are; black is a pejorative meant to infer that we have no light in us (watch the video at the bottom). Look up the word black in the dictionary and you will find endless instances where that insult is used to describe negative and nefarious things. Black is not a word that came from us, black was a label that was passed on to us by oppressors.
This is the truth that Kendrick was speaking and in the process he was trying to expose the lies that have kept too many of us buried in the bondage of ignorance. He touched a third rail; nothing burns as violently in America as the issues of identity and race. This is why a litany of the unknowing rushed to nail Kendrick and libel him as a sellout and a fraud. To those who are wrapped in the cocoon of ignorance, it is easy to conflate self-awareness for self-hatred. It reminds me of Harriet Tubman in this way, she once said “I freed a thousand slaves in my lifetime; I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves”. The world over, we have been enslaved by a system of hatred that thrives at our expense—too many of us would rather bow to this system than question it.
Kendrick went a step further and said that he was an Israelite and for his troubles of speaking this truth, he was treated to mocking and yet more vilification. Supposed “educators” and professors were mum and silent, which proves that college degrees and doctorates mostly confer indoctrination atop the ignorance of those who call themselves teachers. I’ll take the wisdom of Kendrick any day over unoriginal professors who keeps burying our children in self-hatred as they keep teaching us that we are black when we have an awesome light in us. Some teachers would rather keep getting their paychecks rather than teach the truth and shed light to the lies of the state propaganda that is passed on as history.
Kendrick was right; people who are from the continent of Ethiopia (what we now refer to as Africa) were the original Israelites. I know there are some who are going to try to use that “anti-Semite” label on me for speaking on this, let them try and I’ll show them my family tree that traces its roots back to Hebrews of antiquity. Did you know that the word Jew comes from the word Judah? Judah was a king of the 12 tribes of Israel before the Southern and Northern kingdoms splintered into separate empires. It is from Judah that King David was birthed as well as King Solomon and eventually Yeshua (who we now refer to as Jesus). It is for this reason that the continent of Ethiopia is mentioned more than any other nation in the New Testament and Torah. The tribe of Judah emerged from Ethiopia and returned to Ethiopia when Queen Sheba and King Solomon had a baby together named Menelik I. This is why Ethiopia, the modern day country, is referred to as the Lion of Judah.
But very vile men decided a long time ago to erase the significance of Ethiopia and enslaved the entire continent with lies that bends the mind. Systematically, over centuries, they have gone about obliterateing facts and replacing it with deception and pure fiction. The continent of Ethiopia was renamed to Africa to honor the deeds of Scipio Africanus, the empire of Axum was renamed to Abyssinia, the river Ghion was renamed to the Nile by the Greeks, Christianity was hijacked by Constantine as some dude who looks like a Roman soap opera actor was presented as Jesus. I could go on forever about the ways nefarious souls appropriated stories and facts from the continent of Ethiopia and passed it off as theirs. This is what thieves of cultures do; they erase stories like that of Taitu (link) while making up pure fiction of Columbus discovering America when in reality Christopher was lost on his quest to find “India”. Victors get to write the “truth” as they see fit;in time the truth overcomes the lies of their propaganda.
So when Kendrick spoke about being an Israelite, there was no need to put an adjective in front of it. We are not black so those who go around saying they are black Israelite need to stop that nonsense. I don’t write this to be divisive, but the modern day nation of Israel has about as much to do with the biblical Jews as I am connected with the Inuit in Alaska. Zionism is not biblical nor is it found in the Torah. True enough there is a land called Zion which one day will birth redemption for humanity according to scriptures, but Zionism is a political movement started by Eastern European Ashkenazis who converted to Judaism in the 12th century. The star of David is a pure farce drawn up by Theodor Herzl in the late 1800’s, in fact the bible is very clear about the evils of using icons and symbols as was Yeshua because these symbols serve to divide humanity and makes us bow before idols.
Thus, in modern context, to be Jewish is not an ethnicity, it is a religion. The original Jews, or Hebrews, were people who looked just like Kendrick Lamar. It is hard for me to write these things because I disavow color and the endless ways we keep dividing ourselves. I am a man of faith who believes that we all come from an awesome creator and we can all trace back our ancestry to one source. Humanity is thus one big family; archaeologists and social scientists have affirmed that life started in the area we now refer to as Ethiopia. Humanity was begat as one as then spread out—a dot radiating outward where two became 7.8 billion that we are today. In this way, we are all Ethiopian and all of us are children of God and all of us are chosen people. However, I will not bite my tongue and let other people lie and pass themselves off as something that they are not in order to lift themselves as they bury the rest of us.
I do not write these things to in any way defame groups of people or ascribe motivations to entire nations. When I speak against the evils perpetuated in the past—which continue being practiced in the present—I do not single out “white people” or “Jewish people” or any other groups. I refuse to pass on the guilt of a few to the masses; doing so is immoral and only feeds into divisiveness on which the system of injustice and iniquity nourishes itself on. Whether someone is lighter than me or their ancestry is from Ethiopia or Ashkenazis is inconsequential for in the end we all are being mugged by a global system of oppression that takes from the masses and gives to the few. Unity is the only way we can overcome this system and turn the paradigm towards justice. Unity means we are all in this together; but unity cannot be built on a foundation of the pervasive lies before us.
The lie will not stand up forever; more and more deceptions are being revealed and the frauds who perpetuate them are being exposed. Out of the unlikeliest places, a light was shone by a rapper who decided to speak with courage instead of spitting infantile lyrics. You see, those who speak truth to conventional wisdom are initially derided and mocked by a village of indoctrinated lemmings who repeat dogma thinking they are Imhotep reincarnated. But those who have mics and choose to use it to speak truth to power eventually erase lies and replace distortion with light. Kendrick chose light instead of speaking lies. Lamar means “liquid gold”, he used his words to give us the treasure of knowledge if we choose to listen. #LightOfLamar
So do not be afraid of them. For nothing is concealed that will not be uncovered, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark,speak in the light; what is whispered in your ear,proclaim from the housetops.” ~ Matthew 10:27
If you appreciated this write up and understand the light in these words and the light evident in Kendrick Lamar, share this article on social media and speak truth to power using #LightOfLamar Make sure you send a tweet to @KendrickLamar and tell him thank you and pass along this article to him.
Check out the Ghion Cast below that goes into detail of the reasons we are far from black. Watch the video below with an open mind and then make up your mind with the benefit of information that is different than what indoctrination taught you.
Check out the video below by Kendrick Lamar, harsh words are OK as long as it speaks harsh truth.
This is the Continent of Ethiopia::
The same way our music has been hijacked by fools rapping about foolishness as they serve their corporate masters, our music can be taken back by those who rap with intellect and serve a higher God than the lesser devils who bleed the world #Tenacity
Teodrose Fikre
Teodrose was born in Ethiopia the same year Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed by the communist Derg junta. The great grandson five generations removed of Atse (emperor) Tewodros Kassa II, the greatest king of Ethiopia, Teodrose is clearly influenced by the history and his connection to Ethiopia. Through his experiences growing up as first generation refugee in America, Teodrose writes poignantly about the universal experiences of joys, pains and a hope for a better tomorrow that binds all of humanity.
Teodrose has written extensively about the intersection of politics, economic policies, identity, and history. He is the author of "Serendipity's Trace" and newly released "Soul to Soil", two works that inspect the ways we are dissected as a people and shows how we can overcome injustice through the inclusive vision of togetherness.
Latest posts by Teodrose Fikre (see all)
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