For today's edition of this blog, I going to talk about a somewhat touchy topic. About a month and a half ago, I was talking to my brother from another mother khris. We were talking about random stuff as usual. As we were talking, we were talking about this blog and all kinds of stuff. During this convo, he made a suggestion about how I should do a post about the Willie Lynch letter and to put it in today's time. Now I was going to do this sooner, but the idea got lost among the many other ideas running through my head. So instead of putting it off until later, I thought I will do it now. With all the things that happen in our culture, I couldn't have picked a better time to talk about this because in order to improve the future, you have to deal with the past and the present.
Now whether this letter was real or not is up for debate. For the sake of this post, we going to say that this actually happened. Now little is known about Willie Lynch, or even if he was real, but what we do know is that he was a slave owner that lived in the West Indies that was brought over to America to help slave owners to better control their slaves. In 1712, Willie Lynch would deliver a speak along the James River, in the Virginia colony, that would affect African Americans of the past and their descendants. The aftermath of this speech can still be seen and felt among African Americans of today.This speech would be forever known as the Willie Lynch letter.
Now for those who may have never read this letter before, here is a link to this letter. Take a few minutes to read and fully think about this letter. http://www.iupui.edu/~blacksu/PDF%20Documents/Documents/WillieLynchLetter.pdf Now that you have read this letter, lets continue with the post at hand. What is the most interesting thing about this whole thing is that a lot of these this issues that were that was brought up in this speech is a lot of things that black people deal with in today's time. The ways that Willie taught the masters that he felt would control the slaves can be summed up into three categories: distrust, a lack of understanding, and not knowing our value.
Now in the beginning of this speech, Wille talked about people going against one another. He talked about the young vs the old, light skin vs dark skin, and male vs females as one way of controlling us. He also mentioned how it was necessary for the slaves to love and depend only on the slave master. We see this played out everyday. One of the biggest vs that goes on with in the black community is the light skin vs dark skin thing, aka the dumbest thing ever. You can go on the internet and see various menes about light skin people be like, or dark skin people be like. Another thing that I see is the idea that light skin blacks are better looking than dark skin blacks. We also see males vs females played out. We hear females say that "niggas aint shit", and dudes say that "bitches anit shit." We also see that theres is a sense of drift between the old and the young generation. It is like the older generation sometimes forget that we are young, we going to be make mistakes on the way, and that they were once young, wild, and free. On the flip slide, the younger generation can learn a lot form the older generation as well. Instead of thinking we know it all, just stop and listen to what the older people have to say because they could say something that may save you.
Now as far as the part where he mentioned that it was necessary for the slaves to love and depend only on the slave master, I see this happening as well, but not in the way Willie might have pictured it. The way this happens in todays time is we really do not support our own race. We do not not support local black businesses, whether it be a drugstore, grocery store, or a car tune up place. It seems as we would rather spend our money else where expect for these stores. Now is this done on purpose? I do not believe so. What I believe the root of this issue is that we are so used to other business that we don't support our own businesses. I mean why would a person put there money towards something they do not know about rather than put there money towards a sure fire thing. As much as I see this trend happening, I also see this trend starting to die down. At least where I live at, I see people supporting these local businesses. Th major brand stores still pull in there money, but not as much as what they used to.
Willie would continue to state different ways of controlling slaves, but he would give a warning as well. He told the slave master of the danger of the slaves knowing the language that the slave master were using, but really, he was warning them about the slaves learning. If the slave learn, then the masters can not fool the slaves. The could figure things out, and that would end the slave system according to lynch. Another interesting thing that he said that the slave must forget their language. Now if one looks at this from face value, one can say the reason behind this is so the slave could be easier to control. If one looks deeper into this, one can argue that in order to control someone, you must make them forget were they come from. Why would you want for people to forget where they came from? Well before blacks were kidnapped and sold into slavery, we were a big deal. We were leaders, warriors, and royalty. We had power and were proud of our history. To take that away from the slaves, and break them down was the only way that the slave masters could gain control. A wise person once said "In order to know where you are going, you have to know where you come from."
Is the Willie Lynch speech/letter really happened. To be honest, we may never know. Some people will tell you that it is real, while others will say that it is just a myth. Whether it is real or not, the affects of this letter can still be seen and felt among the African American community. Although we are physically free, there are some who are still mentally bound. How can we break this cycle? to be honest, there is not a clear cut answer to this problem. There are, however, ways that can eventually lead to the solution to this. Two of this these are understanding where we come from, and knowledge. When you have wisdom and knowledge, the world is yours. No one can take that away from you. Then learn about your history. People like to say that we, as African Americans, have come along way. Well to those who say that, all I can say is that you have not looked back enough. We are the descendants of royalty. Once we start acting as such, people will start treating us as such. Thats the end of this post folks. As always, live life, be great, and do dope shit.
Now for those who may have never read this letter before, here is a link to this letter. Take a few minutes to read and fully think about this letter. http://www.iupui.edu/~blacksu/PDF%20Documents/Documents/WillieLynchLetter.pdf Now that you have read this letter, lets continue with the post at hand. What is the most interesting thing about this whole thing is that a lot of these this issues that were that was brought up in this speech is a lot of things that black people deal with in today's time. The ways that Willie taught the masters that he felt would control the slaves can be summed up into three categories: distrust, a lack of understanding, and not knowing our value.
Now in the beginning of this speech, Wille talked about people going against one another. He talked about the young vs the old, light skin vs dark skin, and male vs females as one way of controlling us. He also mentioned how it was necessary for the slaves to love and depend only on the slave master. We see this played out everyday. One of the biggest vs that goes on with in the black community is the light skin vs dark skin thing, aka the dumbest thing ever. You can go on the internet and see various menes about light skin people be like, or dark skin people be like. Another thing that I see is the idea that light skin blacks are better looking than dark skin blacks. We also see males vs females played out. We hear females say that "niggas aint shit", and dudes say that "bitches anit shit." We also see that theres is a sense of drift between the old and the young generation. It is like the older generation sometimes forget that we are young, we going to be make mistakes on the way, and that they were once young, wild, and free. On the flip slide, the younger generation can learn a lot form the older generation as well. Instead of thinking we know it all, just stop and listen to what the older people have to say because they could say something that may save you.
Now as far as the part where he mentioned that it was necessary for the slaves to love and depend only on the slave master, I see this happening as well, but not in the way Willie might have pictured it. The way this happens in todays time is we really do not support our own race. We do not not support local black businesses, whether it be a drugstore, grocery store, or a car tune up place. It seems as we would rather spend our money else where expect for these stores. Now is this done on purpose? I do not believe so. What I believe the root of this issue is that we are so used to other business that we don't support our own businesses. I mean why would a person put there money towards something they do not know about rather than put there money towards a sure fire thing. As much as I see this trend happening, I also see this trend starting to die down. At least where I live at, I see people supporting these local businesses. Th major brand stores still pull in there money, but not as much as what they used to.
Willie would continue to state different ways of controlling slaves, but he would give a warning as well. He told the slave master of the danger of the slaves knowing the language that the slave master were using, but really, he was warning them about the slaves learning. If the slave learn, then the masters can not fool the slaves. The could figure things out, and that would end the slave system according to lynch. Another interesting thing that he said that the slave must forget their language. Now if one looks at this from face value, one can say the reason behind this is so the slave could be easier to control. If one looks deeper into this, one can argue that in order to control someone, you must make them forget were they come from. Why would you want for people to forget where they came from? Well before blacks were kidnapped and sold into slavery, we were a big deal. We were leaders, warriors, and royalty. We had power and were proud of our history. To take that away from the slaves, and break them down was the only way that the slave masters could gain control. A wise person once said "In order to know where you are going, you have to know where you come from."
Is the Willie Lynch speech/letter really happened. To be honest, we may never know. Some people will tell you that it is real, while others will say that it is just a myth. Whether it is real or not, the affects of this letter can still be seen and felt among the African American community. Although we are physically free, there are some who are still mentally bound. How can we break this cycle? to be honest, there is not a clear cut answer to this problem. There are, however, ways that can eventually lead to the solution to this. Two of this these are understanding where we come from, and knowledge. When you have wisdom and knowledge, the world is yours. No one can take that away from you. Then learn about your history. People like to say that we, as African Americans, have come along way. Well to those who say that, all I can say is that you have not looked back enough. We are the descendants of royalty. Once we start acting as such, people will start treating us as such. Thats the end of this post folks. As always, live life, be great, and do dope shit.
No comments:
Post a Comment