“As African Americans, we know firsthand the experiences and consequences of denying civil freedoms on the basis of race, and we certainly understand what racial discrimination is and does to people. We have not tolerated it for ourselves, and will certainly not acquiesce in its perpetration against any other people. For that reason, we are even more obligated to voice our opinion on what is happening to our Cuban brethren a few miles away…
…We support Cuba’s right to enjoy national sovereignty, and unhesitatingly repudiate any attempt at curtailing such a right. However, at this historic juncture, we also do believe that we cannot sit idly by and allow for decent, peaceful and dedicated civil rights activists in Cuba, and the black population as a whole, to be treated with callous disregard for their rights as citizens and as the most marginalized people on the island. Racism in Cuba, and anywhere else in the world, is unacceptable and must be confronted!”
And so went a recently circulated letter signed by some of this nation’s most preeminent minds. In this edition of Jazz and Justice we featured a discussion among equally preeminent critics of this letter who sought to place it within a broader political context. Our guests were Robert Rhodes and Amiri Baraka whose discussion was then followed by a another with Dr. Maurice Jackson on the continued importance of the Haitian Revolution. The show was hosted by Tom Porter.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Dr. Ball, you were greatly missed on your show today and we look forward to your return and hopefully, you will have another discussion of this topic of Cuba, racism and the so-called, “Acting On Our Conscience.” Respectfully, Tom Porter did not do a good job of allowing people to speak; he repeatedly cut off people who dared be critical of Pres. Obama and he lost control of the conversation, Dr. Rhodes kept speaking when Baba Amiri Baraka was speaking. Now while Baba Amiri made good points about the source of the letter, the history of Carlos Moore, etc., both Tom Porter and Baba Amiri supported Obama to become president of the U.S., with Tom Porter being more subtle of his support for Obama. Baba Amiri called us “negroes”, those African people on the political Left that did not support Obama for president. It is also interesting to note that most people on the list of the letter also supported Obama for president. Now, they can list themselves as the cheerleaders for Pres. Obama, even when his policies are wrong and promote a most sinister injustice, justifying racist U.S. wars with a Black president at the helm.
We hope you will take the time and interview those on the letter and ask them why did they sign on or were their names put on the letter without their prior permission? OH MY HOW FAR WE SLAVES HAVE COME.
As I listen to this show, I wonder why our brilliant, respected elders seem to keep getting trapped in battles over European ideologies when all of this energy could be used toward supporting the blueprints for independent worldwide African cultural, economic, intellectual, political, social, and spiritual development.