Ooops, was just saving my draft to go take a nap when I accidentally hit the send button. Will complete as resend later. Kabir. On 4/23/07, Kabir Njaay <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > It is indeed true that in most cases of liberation struggles it is the > middle-class that assumes the leadership role but probably the earliest > attempt at liberation war from colonialism by someone that emerged from with > the grassroots. Dedan Kimarhi lead what is commonly reffered to as the Mau > mau, a rather derogatory term which historians are still scratching their > head as to its origins. > > Freedom Fighters don't come more genuine than the man who led, without > much theorizing, The Land and Freedom Party of Kenya. His message was simple > and to the point: Retake the land. Yet, aside from Ngugi who has celebrated > Dedan from his earliest works as the most genuine Freedom Fight of > Kenya, the middle-class, from Jombo Kenyata to Moi has shunned both the > man and his legacy until quite recently when he was finally recognised as a > liberation hero and had a statue raised in his honour and a Square named > after him in Nairobi. > > Frantz Fanon, on the other hand was never shamed by the man's methods, of > amongst others simply decapitating the colonislist officers, members of > their families and whoever participated in the oppression of Kenyans in > cahoots with the imperialists. > > He defended his actions well; who was to judge that his was more brutal > than that of his adversaries who herded millions of defenceless Kenyans like > animals into reserves where cattle received more humane treatment than > humans? Under who's value system was that judgement to be made? > > Yet Kenyata may never have been had it not been for the fearless Kimathi, > who was finally captured and hanged. To this day, despite tireless searches, > his grave have not been located even though he was brurried in the same > prison where he was murdered. > > I say without him > > > Each man is the sum of his collective experiences whichever way you slice. > Fanaon himself, a psychiatrist posted by colonial France to Algeria was no > different to practice his trade, gave psychiatry a new meaning when he > extended his medical prectice into the Liberation War. Why? > > Because according to his reasoning, his patients always returned > for renewed treatment whenever he discharged them because the source > and "cause" of their mental illness did not go away. The cause of their > mental condition was the brutal oppression and subjugation by the colonial > power. Men with a high premium on "honour" found themselves, their wives and > daughters being humialited daily at the hands of the colonialists. So Fonon, > the pragmatist, recognised that unless that source and cause of their mental > condition was eliminated, all he was treating were symptoms and not the > cause. For that reason he dedicated his life to help liberate Algerians, > even refusing to evaquate for treatment of his lukaemia until it wasd to > late to save his life on arrival in the US. The internationlist in him > recognised that the struggle to liberate the oppressed was anywhere it found > him at any given time. Fanon canonized violence as a tool for liberation and > used it accordingly. > > So did Cabral and both their projects succeeded eventually. Of course The > PAIGC's Liberation War may never have been had Bissau and Cape Verde been > colonised by another colonial power than Portugal, who refused to give up > her colonised, waging brutal wars of oppression from Bissau to Angola and > Mozambique because of abject poverty ayt home. For them it was a do or die > fight to maintain the right to suck the blood of Africans in order to > nourished her citizens at home. > > > > > > > On 4/23/07, Baba Galleh Jallow <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > > On Oppression and the Oppressed – Part Two > > > > By Baba Galleh Jallow > > > > A discussion of oppression and the oppressed must inevitably lead us to > > the > > issue of who leads the struggle for liberation from oppression. In most > > cases, such a role is assumed by people who are academically and > > economically better off than the average oppressed person; these people > > step > > forward to assume the mantle of leadership against oppression, to act as > > champions of the oppressed, and as voices of those they consider the > > voiceless. They form political organizations and create manifestos and > > slogans proclaiming their aims and objectives, and set about condemning > > the > > oppressors while at the same time courting the support of the oppressed > > by > > offering themselves up as better alternatives to the oppressors. The > > interesting thing is that in at least 8 out of 10 cases, these champions > > of > > the oppressed fail in their endeavors; or in the rare situations in > > which > > they succeed, find themselves proving unequal to their self-assigned > > task of > > ending oppression, becoming instead as bad as, or even worse than, the > > oppressors they dislodge. > > > > While there are undoubtedly many reasons for this failure of leadership, > > a > > failure to truly identify with the oppressed masses must rank among the > > top > > causes. Coming mostly from middle-class backgrounds, most leaders of > > anti-oppression movements fail to truly identify with the oppressed > > people. > > Rather than view and treat the people as partners to be creatively > > engaged > > and dialogued with in the course of the struggle against oppression, > > such > > leaders specialize in the ephemeral politics of propaganda, slinging mud > > at > > their opponents on all sides of the political divide and preaching > > endlessly > > to the people on how morally superior they are and what glittering > > goodies > > they would deliver should they assume positions of power and authority. > > They > > engage in such empty politicking with the erroneous presupposition that > > all > > the people want to hear is how their current lot will be improved once > > the > > oppressor is removed from power. Sadly, in most cases, these messages, > > because they sound so commonplace and monotonous, fail to register with > > the > > people and these leaders are dismissed as just another bunch of > > power-hungry > > politicians. > > > > During Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde's struggle for liberation from > > Portuguese colonialism, Amilcar Cabral repeatedly taught that those > > intellectuals who wanted to be true and effective leaders of the people > > must > > commit what he called class suicide. They must be able to purge > > themselves > > of all pretences to superior knowledge, wisdom or leadership skills, and > > > > identify totally with the oppressed if they wanted to be authentic > > leaders > > of the people. He argued that a leadership that seeks to lead from > > whatever > > kind of high pedestal is doomed to failure. Once they totally identify > > with > > the people and the people with them, those who assume leadership of the > > oppressed will find, when they assume positions of political power, that > > they are either unable or unwilling to become oppressors because of > > their > > internalized and assimilated affinities with the people. > > > > The necessity of class suicide aside, it has also been observed that > > some > > oppressed people tend to be more hostile towards each other than towards > > their oppressors. Many oppressed people tend to assume a fatalistic > > attitude > > vis-à-vis their oppression, blaming their unhappy conditions on divine > > providence and therefore failing to see any connection between their > > sufferings and their oppressors. And the oppressor, through a malicious > > combination of vicious cunning and open brutality, dedicates all his > > energies at keeping things just this way by making the people believe > > that > > the best way to keep out of unnecessary trouble is through a slavish > > regime > > of total, unquestioning submission. This often leads to a situation in > > which > > all the repressed humiliation and rage of the oppressed are horizontally > > > > unleashed at their fellow oppressed at the slightest semblance of > > provocation. Frantz Fanon observed this curious phenomenon among the > > oppressed Algerian peasants in The Wretched of the Earth. "While the > > settler > > or the policeman has the right the livelong day to strike the native, to > > insult him, and to make him crawl to them," he writes, "you will see the > > native reaching for his knife at the slightest hostile or aggressive > > glance > > cast on him by another native." > > > > But while a certain degree of fear may be excused at the level of the > > peasant – the oppressed person who does not entirely blame his wretched > > plight on the oppressor – the issue becomes tricky when we note that > > this > > horizontal hostility towards fellow oppressed is also found among the > > ranks > > of those who pose as champions of the oppressed. Indeed, the mutual > > hostility and unhealthy rivalry within and between the leadership of > > opposition and alternative political parties and organizations in Africa > > is > > far more acrimonious than that expressed towards the oppressive regimes > > they > > are out to replace. The oppressor regime can dish out any number of > > demeaning slurs and even outright insults on the heads of opposition > > leaders > > with little or no comparable reaction or response. But one mild word of > > criticism or disagreement from one opposition leader to the other often > > has > > the effect of eliciting a disproportionate barrage of invectives against > > the > > daring culprit. Some scholars like Paulo Freire and Albert Memmi > > attribute > > this strange phenomenon partly to a certain inferiority complex on the > > part > > of the opposition leaders and partly to an unconscious desire to be seen > > as > > high and mighty as the oppressor and therefore way above being the > > object of > > such petty criticisms from their fellow equal opposition leaders. > > > > But this tendency of the oppressed to be hostile to their fellow victims > > of > > oppression is not limited to the peasant and the leaders alone. It is > > also > > observed among the ranks of oppressed people located between the masses > > on > > one hand and the leaders on the other. This middle section of "freedom > > fighters" are often observed engaging in a kind of horizontal hostility > > with > > their supposed comrades in the anti-oppression struggle to the extent > > that > > they lose sight of their original objective. Thus in discussion groups, > > Diasporan communities, and internet mailing lists, one observes a > > troubling > > level of horizontal hostility and acrimonious debate between people > > supposed > > to be fighting for an end to oppression. One observes a troubling trend > > towards the creation of acute hostility and enmity within the ranks of > > people who are supposed to be fighting the same monster of oppression > > and > > for a certain level of tolerance and mutual respect for one another. > > What > > should happen in such forums is not endless bickering, the assumption of > > rigid, unchanging positions, or the presumption of infallibility, but > > the > > observance of maximum civility on all sides – a desire to teach and a > > readiness to learn; a desire to convince and a readiness to be > > convinced; a > > desire to prove that one's position is right, and a readiness to be > > proven > > wrong; a habit of always keeping in mind that all human beings are > > fallible, > > that people have a right to their opinions, however contrary to one's > > own; > > that in building a democratic culture, we must start from within our own > > > > selves. Intolerance of dissenting opinion, it should be remembered, is > > one > > of the chief defining characteristics of oppression. > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! 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