Black Panthers and Colonialism

 This article was written a few days after May 1, 1998, after meeting some of the Black Panthers in Los Angeles, at the funeral of Eldridge Cleaver. It was published in Palestine Times around the year 2000. The paper stopped publishing in 2007. Links to the original issue are: 

https://web.archive.org/web/20010504044545/http://www.ptimes.com/issue86/articles.html#13

http://www.ptimes.com/issue86/articles.html#13

 

Black Panthers and Colonialism

By Fazeel Azeez Chauhan

The Civil Rights Movement heroically reversed the effects of slavery in America. Even today, it is important to understand what strategies were used to create slavery so that we can better defend ourselves. The British Colonialists used the same tactics to create self-hatred among the natives of India.

What is the process that turns a human being into a creature of self-hatred and self-doubt whereby the enslaved becomes fully controlled and fearful of another person? The slave master uses the process known as "seasoning" to condition slaves. Strong men and women are broken down, tortured and stripped of their dignity through seasoning. The process re-makes the person into an image, pleasing to the oppressor.

To maintain fear and control, seasoning usually involves the enforcement of five strategies:

1- Establish and maintain strict rules.
2- Implant in the slave a consciousness of personal inferiority.
3- Make the slave believe that the master has enormous power.
4- Strip the slave of his roots and identity, including his name, culture, history and language. Make the slave admire the standards of "good" conduct of the master, so that the slave longs to be like the master.
5- Impress upon the slave his utter sense of helplessness to create a habit of perfect dependence.

When the slave fears for his own personal life, more than the survival of the group, the seasoning process is complete. This is yet another example of the philosophy of divide and conquer. It creates mistrust, apathy and cynicism among the poisoned society. Similar to the slave masters, the British Colonialists proclaimed proudly, "We will not only rule them, we will control their hearts and souls for generations to come."

On 15 October 1966, the Black Panthers for Self Defense Party was created to combat this racist philosophy, which continued through Apartheid and segregation. The Black Panther Party played an essential role in the Civil Rights Movement. The founders were fed up with the non-violent approach, because African Americans were being killed, beaten, humiliated and oppressed every day. Bobby Seale and Huey Newton decided one day to take matters in their own hands to change the injustices of the status quo. Within an hour, they came up with the goals of their party, those being:

1. Freedom and power to determine the destiny of their community.
2. Full employment for their people.
3. An end to the exploitation of their Black community by Capitalists.
4. Decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings.
5. Education for their people, which exposes the true nature of the American society. They wanted education that teaches them their true history and their role in the present day society.
6. All Black men to be exempt from military service.
7. Immediate end to police brutality and murder of Black people.
8. Freedom for all Black men held in jail.
9. All Black people who are brought to trial should be tried by a jury of their own peers, from their own community.
10. They wanted land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace. They wanted a Black Colony.

Langston Hughes, a famous musician, was a Black Panther who said, "The Panther in his desperate boldness wears no disguise. He is motivated by the truest of the oldest lies." The text paper "Arm the Masses" proclaims, "What we believe equals revolutionary nationalism and socialism for the Black Nation. Forty million Africans are captured inside the racist, capitalist U.S.A....". To help their community, the Black Panthers designed new and innovative social programmes that continue to this day. These include, but are not limited to, free breakfasts for students, free medical clinics, free clothing and shoes, free education and assistance for the elderly.

FBI director J. Edgar Hoover called the Black Panthers "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country". The police and the FBI infiltrated the Panthers through their Counter Intelligence Program to destroy the party and assassinate its leaders. They provoked violence between the Panthers and the U.S. Government. They created internal fragmentation through their propaganda to stop the Panthers' alliances with other groups.

One of the leaders was Kathleen Cleaver. She received a law degree from Yale and is a Professor at Emory University Law School in Atlanta. A reporter, Eldridge Cleaver, joined the Panthers two years after the assassination of Malcolm X (Malik Shahbaz). Eldridge (El Rage) was soon framed with a murder case and the couple had to go into exile in Algeria. Their Muslim son was raised there and in Somalia. Eldridge passed away a few weeks ago.

The Panthers admired the revolutionary Philosophy of Malik Shahbaz, who called for freedom and justice for the oppressed people "by any means necessary". A major activity of the Panthers was policing the police. They confronted the police, equipped with law books and rifles, when it was legal to do so. For further information, read a book or see the movie "Panther". Their common slogan was "Power to the People. Power to the People". We should be grateful to African Americans for their sacrifices. We enjoy several freedoms because they fought to attain these rights for all of us.

 

 

Co-Resist

 Co-resist

Writer's Bio - 1999

 

(39) Writer's Bio

8-16-99

Fazeel Azeez Chauhan of Los Angeles was born in Pakistan. He lived there off and on for ten years. As a teenager, he lived for five years in Saudi Arabia. He's been living in the U.S. since 1980

He attended California State University and has a bachelor's degree in Computer Information Systems. He also majored in Psychology in graduate school. At Los Angeles City College, he completed a two year training program for Television Production. He also studied Creative Writing. Since 1990, his articles on social issues are often published in Pakistan-American weekly newspapers.

In 1991 he started working for a large organization as a Computer Network Engineer. He continues working in that profession full-time. His interests are hiking, traveling, reading and writing poetry, music and community service

A collection of his poems will be published in the coming months.

Thank you joining me in reading.

Contact Information:

QawaLi@yahoo.com

Art and Poetry page:
https://www.facebook.com/SubversiveVerse

Poetry and Essays:
https://globalzebra.blogspot.com/

Another Anti-Muslim Conspiracy?

Another Anti-Muslim Conspiracy?
(by Fazeel Azeez Chauhan 4-1-20)

The British divided and ruled for centuries, to destroy the Muslims
Bearded and veiled people can hide behind religiosity, to destroy the Muslims
It’s another Jewish lobby they said, to destroy the Muslims
Shia and Sunni kill each other, to destroy the Muslims
The Pentagon wages perpetual war, to destroy the Muslims
Saudis use an Apartheid system of salaries, to destroy the Muslims
The Neo-Cons create a “Clash of Civilizations”, to destroy the Muslims
Pornography infiltrates to sicken every home, to destroy the Muslims
The Western news media instigates Islamophobia, to destroy the Muslims
Many angry spouses choose divorce, to destroy the Muslims
The Repuglicans claim to stop Sharia law, to destroy the Muslims
The World Bank enslaves countries in debt, to destroy the Muslims
We got lost in selfies and social media, to destroy the Muslims
The Godfather installs dracula dictators, to destroy the Muslims
We don’t change even after seeing Mecca, we continue, to destroy the Muslims
Hollywood movies portray them as terrorists, to destroy the Muslims
MBS is busy buying half billion dollar yachts, to destroy the Muslims
The FBI does racial profiling, to destroy the Muslims
The dinosaur mullah spins stories to make people sleep, to destroy the Muslims
We memorized vulgar lyrics and music videos, to destroy the Muslims
Lies like “Leaders are elected democratically” are used, to destroy the Muslims
Local military general are paid to be traitors, to destroy the Muslims
“Islam hates us” barks Trump to inflame the mob, to destroy the Muslims
Muslim kings suffer from sky-scraper-envy to enable poverty, to destroy the Muslims
The CIA assassinates people’s leaders, to destroy the Muslims
Alcohol and weed use is popularized, to destroy the Muslims
Pakistanis celebrate the worship of brand names, to destroy the Muslims
Hindu terrorists commit genocide in Gujrat and Kashmir, to destroy the Muslims
We ended up becoming “Muslim” just in name, to destroy the Muslims
NGO’s might work for women’s rights but also aspire, to destroy the Muslims
Economic hitmen ruin the country’s economy, to destroy the Muslims
The “White man’s burden” is to Christianize Brown folks and, to destroy the Muslims
Kids are divorced and left alone, to destroy the Muslims
America controls leaders of major political parties, to destroy the Muslims
The U.N. Security Council sells weapons to all sides, to destroy the Muslims
Western magazines insult prophets, to destroy the Muslims
Arabs get Affluenza from consumerism, to destroy the Muslims
Locals don’t overthrow corrupt leaders who aim, to destroy the Muslims
Religious leaders are on the American payrolls, to destroy the Muslims
We keep hating darker colors and other races, to destroy the Muslims
Minorities are kept in ghettos in Europe and to destroy the Muslims
Pakistan spends most of their budget on nuclear weapons, to destroy the Muslims
We became dishonest in business and personal affairs, to destroy the Muslims
Millions became fans of strip shows of Bollywood movies, to destroy the Muslims
There is no money for schools so ignorance is promoted to destroy the Muslims
We split ourselves into 72 sects, to destroy the Muslims
Foreign powers keep the third world poor also to destroy the Muslims
Think tanks pump out hateful propaganda, to destroy the Muslims
Painkillers and anti-depressants are called halal, to destroy the Muslims
Can’t get elected in poor nations without American support, to destroy the Muslims
Lack of religious knowledge is embodied, to destroy the Muslims
Our nations became backward in technology and science, to destroy the Muslims
Colonial powers create civil wars, to destroy the Muslims
Writers who don’t speak Farsi, hijack sages like Rumi, to destroy the Muslims
Propped up rulers keep the public ignorant, to destroy the Muslims
Our infighting egos clash shamelessly, to destroy the Muslims
We turned religious rituals into drama performances, to destroy the Muslims
We got lost and forgot the Prophet warned not to destroy the Muslims
Sure all the external forces could be truly scheming, to destroy the Muslims
But the internal factors are our own flaws
We like to focus on blaming others
Rather than taking responsibility for our own hypocrisy
To make sure Muslims are not a big enemy of Islam, to destroy the Muslims
We avoid accountability and self-reflection, to destroy the Muslims

Tolerance Lows

Tolerance Lows

Our president openly inciting violence against non-whites, we tolerate

Our family facetiously being cruel to in-laws, we tolerate

Our clergy consistently molesting children, we tolerate

Our healthcare costs causing millions of bankruptcies, we tolerate

Our minds looping, by default playing old tapes, we tolerate

Our military proudly invading and killing civilians, we tolerate

Our marketing companies forcing their fashions down our throats, we tolerate

Our people asleep, enabling the status quo, we tolerate

Our police unlawfully killing Black folks, we tolerate

Our friends not building alliances with other minorities, we tolerate

Our Congress blindly spending billions on endless wars, we tolerate

Our spouses divorcing and getting pets to not be lonely, we tolerate

Our TV media’s 24 / 7 American propaganda, we tolerate

Our Republican politicians serving the top 1% elite, we tolerate

Our fellow citizens pointing machine guns at our temples, we tolerate

Our babies whining, being spoiled brats, we tolerate

Our taxes stolen to pay for warfare instead of free healthcare, we tolerate

Our Muslim rulers enslaving nations to foreign powers, we tolerate

Our news channels selling ads instead of giving education, we tolerate

Our corporations exploiting our insecurities to make us consumers, we tolerate

Our kids carrying billions in student loans, we tolerate

Our genetically modified foods giving us cancer, we tolerate

Our radio stations saying crap songs are bestselling hits, we tolerate

Our parents dis-owned and rotting in nursing homes, we tolerate

Our leaders enriching themselves and not representing the public, we tolerate

Our sugary drinks manifesting our diabetes, we tolerate

Our folks’ paranoid biases against other groups, we tolerate

Our legalized medicines turning us into junkies, we tolerate

Our selves being alienated and isolated without support, we tolerate

Our fats and fast foods causing our obesity, we tolerate

Our demons assuming the worst in other people, we tolerate

Our country bullying the world like a godfather, we tolerate

Our loved ones leaving and dying, we tolerate

Our nation aloof, ensuring that business as usual perpetuates, we tolerate

Our direction lost and life purpose remaining unknown, we tolerate

By Fazeel Azeez Chauhan

7-23-19

Denial

Denial

You have it all
At such a young age
A loving wife, a good job
A boy, a girl
Travelled the world
And moved to America.

Luck follows you everywhere
Maybe it's an ancestor's blessing
You've had it all too easy
And don't value the gifts.

Dark spots of the past
Haunt your conscience
Inside you feel undeserved
And want to tear it down.

So you're on the train
Racing toward death
By internal meltdown
The more you booze
The more you lose

(by Fazeel Azeez Chauhan, 1999)