Abhijit Naskar's Blog - Posts Tagged "slavery"
The Juneteenth Sonnet
Once upon a time but not long ago,
They brought us to America in chains.
Thinking of themselves as superior race,
White barbarians kept us as slaves.
But the sapling of humanity found a way,
To break those chains causing ascension.
Whites and blacks all stood up together,
And lighted the torch of emancipation.
Juneteenth is now declared holiday,
Yet to some it feels like a critical dishonor.
The human race comes from a black mother,
Yet they treat people of color as inferior.
The America handed to us is far from civilized.
But together we'll make our home humanized.
They brought us to America in chains.
Thinking of themselves as superior race,
White barbarians kept us as slaves.
But the sapling of humanity found a way,
To break those chains causing ascension.
Whites and blacks all stood up together,
And lighted the torch of emancipation.
Juneteenth is now declared holiday,
Yet to some it feels like a critical dishonor.
The human race comes from a black mother,
Yet they treat people of color as inferior.
The America handed to us is far from civilized.
But together we'll make our home humanized.
Breathing While Black (The Sonnet)
White folks think before going to work,
Hope I don’t run into traffic on the way.
Black folks think before going to work,
Hope I don't get shot and make it safe.
White folks think before going to jog,
Hope the park is not much crowded.
Black folks think before going to jog,
Hope I don't run into someone bigoted.
White folks teach their kids before school,
Don't you dare talk to strangers.
Black folks beg their kids on knees,
Don't act smart when approached by coppers.
Whites can dream of being big and creative.
All we blacks can dream of is being able to live.
Hope I don’t run into traffic on the way.
Black folks think before going to work,
Hope I don't get shot and make it safe.
White folks think before going to jog,
Hope the park is not much crowded.
Black folks think before going to jog,
Hope I don't run into someone bigoted.
White folks teach their kids before school,
Don't you dare talk to strangers.
Black folks beg their kids on knees,
Don't act smart when approached by coppers.
Whites can dream of being big and creative.
All we blacks can dream of is being able to live.
Sonnet of National Obligation
When a nation is founded on terrorism,
It has an obligation for self-improvement.
If admitting the past hurts your feelings,
Better remain in your mother's basement.
If we really look for filth and atrocities,
We'll find it in the history of every nation.
The real problem is not the history,
But the absolute denial of its admission.
No nation can become civilized,
Till it steps up to right the wrongs.
Admit the errors of our ancestors,
And pledge to never repeat those harms.
Humanity begins with admitting inhumanity.
Lo we are the shield against further atrocity.
It has an obligation for self-improvement.
If admitting the past hurts your feelings,
Better remain in your mother's basement.
If we really look for filth and atrocities,
We'll find it in the history of every nation.
The real problem is not the history,
But the absolute denial of its admission.
No nation can become civilized,
Till it steps up to right the wrongs.
Admit the errors of our ancestors,
And pledge to never repeat those harms.
Humanity begins with admitting inhumanity.
Lo we are the shield against further atrocity.
Undoctrination Sonnet | High Voltage Habib
If we teach kids history,
They say we’re indoctrinating them.
If we immunize them against disease,
They say we’re microchipping them.
If we teach kids science,
They say we’re practicing blasphemy.
If we teach kids biology,
They say we’re messing with their identity.
With such mentality of a caveman,
How on earth did you manage to conceive!
I guess, to raise a human takes common sense,
But to make a baby takes only genital breach.
Hence it is more reason for reason to persevere.
There is no way we can let stone age reappear.
They say we’re indoctrinating them.
If we immunize them against disease,
They say we’re microchipping them.
If we teach kids science,
They say we’re practicing blasphemy.
If we teach kids biology,
They say we’re messing with their identity.
With such mentality of a caveman,
How on earth did you manage to conceive!
I guess, to raise a human takes common sense,
But to make a baby takes only genital breach.
Hence it is more reason for reason to persevere.
There is no way we can let stone age reappear.
Civilization is Not A Place (The Sonnet) | Gospel of Undoctrination
No matter who likes it not,
Say Gay anyway.
Compliance to discrimination,
Is the coward’s way.
A true leader once said, women belong in,
All places where decisions are being made.
I say, fudge it all,
Women just belong, period.
They say, they don’t want their kids,
To be hurt learning history.
I say, if learning history makes you hurt,
You are in dire need of therapy.
Civilization begins when we acknowledge our primitiveness.
Civilization is not a place, it’s a people, it’s a process.
Say Gay anyway.
Compliance to discrimination,
Is the coward’s way.
A true leader once said, women belong in,
All places where decisions are being made.
I say, fudge it all,
Women just belong, period.
They say, they don’t want their kids,
To be hurt learning history.
I say, if learning history makes you hurt,
You are in dire need of therapy.
Civilization begins when we acknowledge our primitiveness.
Civilization is not a place, it’s a people, it’s a process.
Ain’t Your Nigger (Sonnet to The Whites) | Bulldozer on Duty
Yes I am colored,
But I ain’t your nigger.
I am your way to oneness,
I am the humanitarian trigger.
I am the trigger for revolution,
Whenever there is oppression.
I am the trigger for reason,
Whenever there is dogmatization.
I am the trigger for ascension,
Whenever there is assumption.
I am the trigger for assimilation,
Whenever there is discrimination.
On our shackled shoulders America was built.
Yet how come we are still hated to the hilt!
But I ain’t your nigger.
I am your way to oneness,
I am the humanitarian trigger.
I am the trigger for revolution,
Whenever there is oppression.
I am the trigger for reason,
Whenever there is dogmatization.
I am the trigger for ascension,
Whenever there is assumption.
I am the trigger for assimilation,
Whenever there is discrimination.
On our shackled shoulders America was built.
Yet how come we are still hated to the hilt!
To See Color (The Sonnet) | Ingan Impossible
The problem is not that you see color,
It is that you assume character from color.
The problem is not that you see gender,
It is that you assume capacity from gender.
The problem is not that you see religion,
It is that you assume tendency from religion.
The problem is not that you see profession,
It is that you assume worth from profession.
The problem is not that you see sexuality,
It is that you assume nature from sexuality.
The problem is not that you see nationality,
It is that you assume honor from nationality.
The main problem is not that you make assumptions.
It is that you assume yourself beyond examination.
It is that you assume character from color.
The problem is not that you see gender,
It is that you assume capacity from gender.
The problem is not that you see religion,
It is that you assume tendency from religion.
The problem is not that you see profession,
It is that you assume worth from profession.
The problem is not that you see sexuality,
It is that you assume nature from sexuality.
The problem is not that you see nationality,
It is that you assume honor from nationality.
The main problem is not that you make assumptions.
It is that you assume yourself beyond examination.
Poverty is a Capitalist Invention | Vande Vasudhaivam
Poverty is a capitalist invention,
Third world obscurity is colonial construct.
History of the west is history of abuse,
World hunger is a western by-product.
Third world obscurity is colonial construct.
History of the west is history of abuse,
World hunger is a western by-product.
World History 101 – The Actual History | Vande Vasudhaivam
History is not a record of truth, history is a record of triumph. The triumphant writes history as it fits their narrative – or to be more accurate, history is written by the conquerors for maintaining the supremacy of the conquerors, while the conquered lose everything.
Let me give you an example. In a commendable endeavor of goodwill and reparations a descendant of the British conquerors, President Lyndon Johnson started Hispanic Heritage Week, which was later expanded into a month by another white descendant, President Ronald Reagan – fast forward to present time – during the Hispanic Heritage Month the entire North America tries to celebrate Native American history. But there is a glitch – Spanish is not even a Native American language.
Native Americans did not even speak Spanish, until the brutes of Spain overran Puerto Rico like pest bearing disease and destruction, after a pathetic criminal called Columbus stumbled upon “La Isabela” in the 1500s.
Many of the natives struggled till death to save their home – many were killed by the foreign diseases to which they had no immunity. Those who lived, every last trace of their identity was wiped out, by the all-powerful and glorious spanish colonizers – their language, their traditions, their heritage, everything – just like the Portuguese did in Brazil.
The Spaniards would’ve done the same to Philippines on the other side of the globe, had they had the convenience to stay longer. Heck, even the name Philippines is not the original name – the original name of the islands was (probably) Maniolas, as referred to by Ptolemy. But when the Spaniard retards of the time set foot there, they named it after, then crown prince, later Philip II of Spain.
Just reminiscing those abominable atrocities makes my blood boil, and yet somehow, the brutal “glory” of the conquerors lives on as such even in this day and age, as glory that is.
That’s why José Martí is so important, that’s why Kwanzaa is so important, that’s why Darna is so important – in the making of a world that has a place for every culture, not just the culture of the conquerors.
No other “civilized” people have done more damage to the world than the Europeans, and yet, on the pages of history books their glory of conquest is still packaged as glory, not as atrocity. Why is that? I don’t know the answer – do you?
Trillions of dollars, pounds and euros in aid won’t suffice to undo the damage – but what just might heal those wounds from the past, is if the offspring of the oppressors and the offspring of the oppressed, both hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder, unravel the history as it happened, not as it was presented – what just might heal the scars of yesterday, is if together we come forward to learn about each other’s past, so that for the first time in history, we can actually write “human history”, not the “conquerors’ history” – so that for the first time ever, we write history not as conquerors and conquered, not as oppressors and oppressed, but as one species – as one humankind.
Let me give you an example. In a commendable endeavor of goodwill and reparations a descendant of the British conquerors, President Lyndon Johnson started Hispanic Heritage Week, which was later expanded into a month by another white descendant, President Ronald Reagan – fast forward to present time – during the Hispanic Heritage Month the entire North America tries to celebrate Native American history. But there is a glitch – Spanish is not even a Native American language.
Native Americans did not even speak Spanish, until the brutes of Spain overran Puerto Rico like pest bearing disease and destruction, after a pathetic criminal called Columbus stumbled upon “La Isabela” in the 1500s.
Many of the natives struggled till death to save their home – many were killed by the foreign diseases to which they had no immunity. Those who lived, every last trace of their identity was wiped out, by the all-powerful and glorious spanish colonizers – their language, their traditions, their heritage, everything – just like the Portuguese did in Brazil.
The Spaniards would’ve done the same to Philippines on the other side of the globe, had they had the convenience to stay longer. Heck, even the name Philippines is not the original name – the original name of the islands was (probably) Maniolas, as referred to by Ptolemy. But when the Spaniard retards of the time set foot there, they named it after, then crown prince, later Philip II of Spain.
Just reminiscing those abominable atrocities makes my blood boil, and yet somehow, the brutal “glory” of the conquerors lives on as such even in this day and age, as glory that is.
That’s why José Martí is so important, that’s why Kwanzaa is so important, that’s why Darna is so important – in the making of a world that has a place for every culture, not just the culture of the conquerors.
No other “civilized” people have done more damage to the world than the Europeans, and yet, on the pages of history books their glory of conquest is still packaged as glory, not as atrocity. Why is that? I don’t know the answer – do you?
Trillions of dollars, pounds and euros in aid won’t suffice to undo the damage – but what just might heal those wounds from the past, is if the offspring of the oppressors and the offspring of the oppressed, both hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder, unravel the history as it happened, not as it was presented – what just might heal the scars of yesterday, is if together we come forward to learn about each other’s past, so that for the first time in history, we can actually write “human history”, not the “conquerors’ history” – so that for the first time ever, we write history not as conquerors and conquered, not as oppressors and oppressed, but as one species – as one humankind.
4th of July Declaration | Tum Dunya Tek Millet
In one of my early works I once wrote, “America is a great country, built by great people”. And it took me some time to look through the fallacy of this statement. I could still justify it by saying, it depends on the context – which would be technically true. But my dignity, my conscience, my morality – everything that is civilized in me, has been eating me alive for some time now over this one statement. Because if we throw away all technicality and look from a simple, everyday human perspective – nothing about the the birth of America is great – America is a terrorist nation, built by terrorists who invaded other people’s land, stripped them of their homes, and built a spin-off of the ruthless British empire over their blood and bones. You think America’s homeless problem is something new! It’s not – America has been making people homeless ever since the pilgrims set foot in Plymouth Rock. The pilgrims were not pioneers, they were terrorists.
99 percent of the world’s warzones are the legacy of white, western imperialism. Until you get your head around this simple fact, your views, your opinion, your advocacy, all are worthless to the peace struggles of these “westsploited” nations.
In the modern age no other country has wrecked more nations than America. Like father, like son – first it was England, then it’s its rebellious runaway child America. That’s why China is such an enemy in the westwashed narrative of the world – because when one nation has somewhat maintained an autocratic control over the planet since the 1800s (under the banner of “Manifest Destiny”), it would never want that control be undermined by another budding power – particularly when that power is far superior in infrastructure. Sure, the state of China tries to influence every move of its people, that’s the first unwritten rule in the handbook of “democracy” – but Uncle Sam has been manipulating the moves of every single state for over two hundred years. Now tell me, which state should you be more cautious of?
No country is free from human rights violation, but America’s share in global transgressions is right at the very top. America is the top exporter of humanitarian crisis in the world, and as such, US is the least qualified nation to be the moral guardian on anything.
It doesn’t matter whether you are white, colored or martian – denial never solves nothing. To treat a disease we must first acknowledge the disease. And what is the disease? Is it white people – is it whiteness? No – whiteness is not the disease, but white imperialism is. And how do you treat this disease? You gotta strip yourself of all the privileges of skin, and make yourself one with the world – you gotta denounce the privilege of your whiteness and embrace the responsibility of your humanness. Only then, shall there be peace in the world – only then, shall there be integration – only then, shall there be a civilized world to begin with.
99 percent of the world’s warzones are the legacy of white, western imperialism. Until you get your head around this simple fact, your views, your opinion, your advocacy, all are worthless to the peace struggles of these “westsploited” nations.
In the modern age no other country has wrecked more nations than America. Like father, like son – first it was England, then it’s its rebellious runaway child America. That’s why China is such an enemy in the westwashed narrative of the world – because when one nation has somewhat maintained an autocratic control over the planet since the 1800s (under the banner of “Manifest Destiny”), it would never want that control be undermined by another budding power – particularly when that power is far superior in infrastructure. Sure, the state of China tries to influence every move of its people, that’s the first unwritten rule in the handbook of “democracy” – but Uncle Sam has been manipulating the moves of every single state for over two hundred years. Now tell me, which state should you be more cautious of?
No country is free from human rights violation, but America’s share in global transgressions is right at the very top. America is the top exporter of humanitarian crisis in the world, and as such, US is the least qualified nation to be the moral guardian on anything.
It doesn’t matter whether you are white, colored or martian – denial never solves nothing. To treat a disease we must first acknowledge the disease. And what is the disease? Is it white people – is it whiteness? No – whiteness is not the disease, but white imperialism is. And how do you treat this disease? You gotta strip yourself of all the privileges of skin, and make yourself one with the world – you gotta denounce the privilege of your whiteness and embrace the responsibility of your humanness. Only then, shall there be peace in the world – only then, shall there be integration – only then, shall there be a civilized world to begin with.
