Submitted by Pachamama
When General Bussa, in 1816, declared war on Barbados he was not so much interested in a little bit of freedom. His position at Bayley’s Plantation gave him the space to plot such a revolution. He already had this little bit of freedom. However, he was destined to overthrow the apparatus of the pernicious government of Barbados to achieve the rights all people desire. He wanted a revolution. A revolution not unlike the Haitian revolution as inspired by His Excellency. He knew of the Haitian Revolution of the 1790’s to 1803. General Bussa also knew that by taking on the merchant-planter elites he was also taking on a global apparatus of oppression. That apparatus represented a violent, terrorist structure based on chattel slavery as the global political-economy model. Indeed, the original sins of capitalism and slavery underlie the current rebellion catching the United States on fire. Bussa might have lost his war for independence but the fight for justice continues with Ferguson, Saint Louis, MO, as its epicenter. This global struggle will always find tinder amongst the descendant of Bussa around the world. For His descendant have struggled for another 200 years since and have not managed to shake off the vestiges of institutionalized slavery and racism, a struggle in which he gave his life. Such sacred martyrdom elevates Him beyond petty notions of nationalism.
Closer to ‘ground zero’ we find other Bussas and their major rebellions. Denmark Vessey (1822); Gabrial Prosser (1800), Nat Turner (1831); the New York City Rebellion (1712); Stono Rebellion (1739) Louisiana Revolt (1811); the Black Seminole Rebellion (1835-38)*. In nearly all cases we had the participation of predominately African-Americans, maroons and American-Indians but also a small number of Whites with African-Americans dying in their hundreds, at times, for freedom from chattel slavery.
The dynamics which gave rise to the Rebellion in Ferguson are not much different. At its center we have a claim by a White police officer to the right to kill an African-American, as if chattel, with the expectation that in the exercise of such a right there were to be no consequences as ordained in the Dred Scott, Supreme Court Decision 1857. The counter narrative by the rebellious African-Americans is that such a right is not and can no longer be recognized. This is the juncture at which a protest turns to a riot, a riot turns to a rebellion and a rebellion turns to a revolution. A Bussa Revolution of 2014 at the centre of global arrogance!
A critical analysis of the constellation of forces paraded will find more similarities than differences to previous rebellions. Firstly, we have an African-American leadership more interested in their own position as protectors of the status quo than the liberation theology they often preach. Secondly, we have a mass media committed to that same slavery, post-slavery ‘normalcy’ than providing critical information from the real activists on the ground who are largely unknown but whose selfless efforts sustain the rebellion and continue to demand revolution. Thirdly, we have political leaders, at all levels, whose only real intent is to restore than very ‘normalcy’ at any cost. Especially in the Presidency, where the current placeholder, a slippery character, will betray the forces of resistance with a nod, while infiltration these very progressive forces with all manner of government agents aimed at destroying them from within. Cointelpro redux! Fourthly, we have White people whose very economic survival is contingent on the existence of crypto-racism. To them justice means economic transformation for African-Americans and this will not be allowed to happen, in their minds, any time soon. For the uplift of Blacks may translate to the impoverishment of more Whites. All these forces of oppression are indeed enabled by official systems of oppression. Whether its the court systems, the education systems, the social systems, the economic system, the political systems and yes the police and military industrial systems. They all work to maintain the oppression of the African-American people today.
And yes we went back as far as 200 years but there are more recent rebellions within the United States aimed at transforming the condition of the African-American. A series of rebellions ending in the so-called civil rights movement of the late 1950’s to the early 1970’s. An accomodationalist devise which maintains the underlying system of racism but with a pretence that African-Americans were to enjoy increased social and political freedoms as consistent with certain earlier amendments to the Constitution. Especially the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. Not so! This attempt could be no longer be presented as a genuine attempt at equalizing the rights of all people in the USA. The reverse being true situate Africa-Americans in a currently worse position than they have been especially when compared with a short-lived period of Reconstruction, or before the very Civil Rights period. What a sleight of hand. So we have currently 1000’s of Fergusons constituting the powder kegs for rebellion and revolution within the American empire.
This American empire has long lost its way, at home and abroad. Having lost its way we can expect a similar trajectory of decline which we have seen before. Indeed, the Ferguson Rebellion may ignite the fires of revolution shouldering within empire at a time when Washington is less and less able to respond with a state apparatus to subvert growing demands for justice. When leaderless movements are not as easily decapitated like happened many times before. When large swaths of people are unwilling to follow the official narratives and distrust officialdom more and more. When it is clear that the centre cannot hold and that racist systems can no longer guide human behaviors. When African-Americans, poor Whites, White from the former middle classes, Indian-Americans, Hispanics and others are loosing confidence in the establishment. The Ferguson Rebellion may indeed be that straw which breaks the back of empire, at home, and leads to the better world we seek. That better world may be given birth in protest but must end with a real revolution.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.