Flossin Magazine Volume #20: Letter from the Editor
/Welcome back, Friends. Who knew that as we reached completion of the latest issue of Flossin Magazine, we would also be contemplating a broad range of life-altering changes in nearly every facet of our existence? Caught in between the rock of a global pandemic and the hard place of worldwide uprisings and protests stemming from unmitigated slavery, oppression, genocide and violence carried out against Black people in the U.S for hundreds of years, the structures, beliefs and overall status quo of this colonial empire have been swept up by a mighty river so profound and all-encompassing in nature, that there is no stopping what has been unleashed.
As a people, we are clear that there is no going back to the old ways of merely co-existing and obeying, without question, the dictates of our jailers. I am also finding myself at a place in my life where I’m doing a lot of soul searching and re-evaluation of my purpose as a citizen and leader in my community and in this country built by our Black Ancestors. It is at this juncture that I turn to my inner-guides, most notably Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who reflects and informs many of my highest goals and aspirations, particularly with regards to serving my people.
Often quoted by churches, spiritual leaders and revolutionaries alike, Dr. King motivated hundreds of thousands in the U.S. to protest peacefully against racism and racist power structures woven into the very fabric of this country since its inception. Lesser known, are the quandaries he faced during the later stages of his life, when his perspective and growing discontent led him to consider other strategies being used to attain the same goals.
Actor/activist, Harry Belafonte, shared a memory about a conversation he had with his friend shortly before he was murdered. According to Belafonte, King said,
“I’ve come upon something that disturbs me deeply. We have fought hard and long for integration, as I believe we should have, and I know we will win, but I have come to believe that we are integrating into a burning house. I’m afraid that America has lost the moral vision she may have had, and I’m afraid that even as we integrate, we are walking into a place that does not understand that this nation needs to be deeply concerned with the plight of the poor and disenfranchised. Until we commit ourselves to ensure that the underclass is given justice and opportunity, we will continue to perpetuate the anger and violence that tears the soul of this nation. I fear I am integrating my people into a burning house.”
I feel those words all the way to the core of my Being. Integrating and assimilating into the very white, racist structural realities hell-bent on our destruction comes with no small amount of gut-wrenching uncertainty. When I look around and see my Brothers and Sisters from coast to coast rising up to confront the viral pandemic of racist laws and enforcement that are the sum total of a 400-year cycle of oppression and genocide upon Black and Brown bodies and lives, I reflect upon what is considered an appropriate response to the horrific abuses we have sustained.
The toll extracted from Black America by the innumerable micro and macro-aggressions we face in our uphill battle to achieve parity and equity in this country, cannot be underestimated. When a person’s entire life experience is a daily fight to stay alive in a society that targets and kills them with impunity, while socially and economically disenfranchising them, their very soul and nature of what it means to be human is violated. The eviscerating pain of families being ripped apart by “human services” that are structured to “help” but only if the family is broken and the Male is not in the picture, compounded by witnessing our children ruthlessly murdered in the streets by law enforcement, rips the bloody, tattered bandage from ALL of the wounds sustained over generations. In those moments where our Soul boundaries are breached, we can either erect psychological and emotional buffers against the ensuing and highly primal rage, carry out retribution against the perpetrators of our suffering, or tragically turn the “gun” on ourselves.
With it’s colonial boot on our necks and U.S. law dictating that we cannot respond in any way other than with passivity towards our tormentors, we most often implode. Black on Black crime is a potent example of such a visceral response to our collective condition. From a human standpoint, how is the community as a whole expected to respond when 400 years of oppression that has robbed us of everything, including our dignity, then strips us of the only thing that makes life worth living….our precious children? Think about it and think about it hard. What would YOU do??
Now I’m no hate monger nor do I advocate for a race war or a violent response to the wrongs committed against us. However, from my perspective, the male participants in ANY family have a role to play. In every war, the men most often possess a sword and a shield. Black men in this country are the only men expected to approach conflict limited by the laws of the white establishment, which states that the rules of engagement are different for him. We aren’t allowed to have a sword and are constantly admonished that we should remain “nonviolent” and “passive” in achieving our goals of living in freedom and equality. We are not allowed to physically defend ourselves against the invasion, against the persecution, and to add insult to injury, we are expected to stand there with our hands by our side or tied behind our backs.
Even as a proponent of non-violent strategies. Dr. King understood well the dynamics of a powder keg and the deplorable human condition which continues to light the fuse with righteous anger.
“And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the negro poor has worsened.... It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity.”
The question of “What has America failed to hear?” must also be asked of those in the Black community who have assimilated, especially those who hold positions of privilege and power. The question I would pose of these people is “What have you failed to hear as you defend your disposition of complacency in this burning house?” In order to preserve our dignity as a people, we must have the opportunity to be equal in rank and prosperity and to live without having to watch our backs for fear of being killed like Ahmaud Arbery, who, while on a jog, was hunted down and shot dead by a white father and son. Like Breonna Taylor, who was shot 8 times as she slept, by police who entered her apartment on a no-knock warrant. Like George Floyd, who was murdered on the street in broad daylight by a white police officer who knelt down on his neck until he died while three other police stood by and watched. And like countless other Black Americans lynched by the same power structures supposedly in place to “protect and serve” us all. I ask you again. What would YOU do?
The bottom line is that I would choose death before I would stand down in the face of such grave transgressions upon myself, my children, and my people. Because change never comes easy or without the joint efforts of individuals and organizations working together towards a common goal, I and my staff are focusing our magazine lens on the efforts of those on the frontline of systemic transformation in our state and in our nation. Addressing historic discrepancies in Money, Power, and Representation across the board, We Count Oregon is leading the dynamic movement to make sure our Black citizens and other hard to count communities are represented in the 2020 census.
While COVID-19 continues to ravage the entire globe, Black and Brown communities are being impacted at a disproportionate rate, which is adding fuel to the blaze of economic and racial tensions. However, in an effort to not lose sight of the opportunities embedded in the crisis, we are shifting the narrative by examining how patients and doctors are connecting through telehealth and by exploring mental wellness and self-reflection with Dr. Ayeesha Hankins, who reminds us that we are our own best agents of internal change.
In the field of politics, we are highlighting leaders like Representative Akasha Lawerence Spence and her Black peers who are putting Oregon's legislature on BLASK and who are working with the Black community to take economic power back into their own hands. To lend perspective on the importance of transportation justice, Irene Marion from PBOT takes us on a road-trip of Oregon’s highways and byways, by reflecting where we have come from and where we are going.
In closing, I want to emphasize that while I constantly seek to find redemption in the silver lining of the gathering storm, the dignity of this Black man will not be appropriated from me. I will never stop pursuing the fight for life, liberty and justice and I urge each of you to do the same. Our very lives and the lives of our children depend on it.
John Washington, Editor-In-Chief, Flossin Media
