CLASSIC | Jamaican living in America claims Black Americans need to STOP BEGGING

[00:00:00]united in this disproportionate disarrangement disruption of our culture.

[00:00:08]And although we may have good intentions of wanting to build the identity of Americans here in this country because a lot has been withheld, withheld, that doesn't mean that we have to be divided and that we have to be torn apart.

[00:00:26]Like >> Forward.

[00:00:27]>> At the end of the day, everyone went through trauma. Jamaicans, a lot of trauma in the slave trade. A lot of that. That's where bus breaking came from. So, it's not a matter of if you're not foundational black, then you shouldn't have this or you shouldn't have that because just because someone else's trauma isn't the same as yours, that doesn't mean it's not valid.

[00:00:50]>> No, no, no, no, no, no. Number one, let's break this down, family. What many of these black immigrants like to do, especially the tether class, is they like to project their insecurities onto us. So, they like to use a lot of shaming techniques. So, what she's trying to do is saying, "Hey, oh, well, don't you know there was slavery in the Caribbean?"

[00:01:10]You know, they they like to say, "Oh, don't you know there was colonization in Africa? We all went through something."

[00:01:16]Okay, and that's their way of trying to crowbar their way in on our reparations claim. Well, we had slavery in Jamaica.

[00:01:22]It's this entitlement thing that because something happened to them in their homeland and they had to flee and they got chased out that whatever we get over here, they're entitled to.

[00:01:34]Okay? And we got to check that. Okay?

[00:01:37]What happened to you in your country was horrible, a horrific thing, but fight for your reparations back home like CARICOM is doing.

[00:01:45]Don't try to crowbar your way in on our reparations claim that happened here in the United States of America. Your ancestors weren't enslaved in the United States of America. Your ancestors' hard sweat, blood, sweat, and tears did not go towards building the United States of America. It went towards building Jamaica and some of those other European countries. Britain, holler at Britain.

[00:02:07]Don't try to say, "Oh, well, damn, I got into an accident over here, so I need some of your claim, too." Okay, let's just merge our claims together. No, no, no, no. Fight your oppressors, fight for reparations in the Caribbean island, and fight your oppressors to get that reparations money from Britain.

[00:02:22]Like I said, we can't fall for that anymore. This entitlement thing where if we're not crashing out for them, if we're not putting them in on all of our little claims and every little movement we got going, then all of a sudden, oh, they view it as a slight. No, no, no, we're not doing that anymore. But, let's continue.

[00:02:39]>> But, what we need to remember is by asking and begging for reparations or permission for anything or even saying with the Essence Fest, "Oh, you're showing other cultures and you're not standing on the cultures that really started this event, you are disproportionately cutting yourself out from the bigger picture.

[00:03:04]You are stifling your own [clears throat] self. And you are always stronger when you are together. When you divide yourself and you go into conflict and then you go begging other people for things to give you freedom, that's going to keep you in the horrible loop that got you stuck here in the first place.

[00:03:21]>> Oh, lord. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. And let me reaffirm this again. Number one, we are not begging for reparations. We are simply demanding reparations for a debt that is owed. These tethers, they love to use these shaming tactics.

[00:03:39]You're begging. You're begging. You're begging. No, begging is what you were doing at the border. Begging is what y'all do for these green cards. Begging is what you do when ICE shows up. That's begging. What we're doing is we're demanding a debt that is owed to us and we're standing on that. Ask the Democratic Party.

[00:04:00]See, we weren't begging them. We were like, "Hey, either you come with reparations in the form of cash payments for foundational black Americans or you lose the election." They thought we were bluffing. They lost the election.

[00:04:10]Plain and simple.

[00:04:12]You dig? These are our demands and we're going to get our reparations.

[00:04:16]These are demands and this is the debt that is owed to us, okay? Now, you can say, "I'm not going to meet the demands.

[00:04:23]I'm not going to pay it." Well, don't come asking us for anything.

[00:04:26]All right? Don't come asking us for anything. Same thing goes for you tethers. You tethers, you sit up here and you try to undermine reparations.

[00:04:34]You sit up here and want to shame us, "Stop begging. Stop being a victim."

[00:04:39]Okay, so when ICE comes knocking at your door and your family members' door, don't come begging us for anything. Quit being a victim. That's what we're going to start telling you and that's what we've been telling y'all. Quit being a victim, okay? Cuz every time we want to fight for something that's specific to us, they want to use these shaming tactics talking about we're begging and playing the victim. Also, number two, they love to play this game of of unity.

[00:05:02]Every time we start fighting for something that's specific to us, every time we start gatekeeping our culture, she brought up Essence Fest. They love to play this game of fake unity. Oh, well, you're cutting yourself off from the broader picture. What's the broader picture?

[00:05:18]What's the broader picture? Let me ask these tethers this because to these tethers, the broader picture is us doing for them. That's the broader picture.

[00:05:27]See, we must do for the diaspora. We can't do anything for ourselves. We have to do for them all the time. Okay?

[00:05:33]Meanwhile, when we do for them, they get off cold.

[00:05:37]Meanwhile, when we sacrifice for them, when we sit up here and crash out for them, they come they come over here and start undermining what we're fighting for. They come over here and start calling us beggars. They come over here and start talking about we got the victim mentality. We need to stop begging.

[00:05:52]What are you talking about? So, we said, "No, no, no, no. We're not going for that anymore, family."

[00:05:57]I also feel like it's ironic that a lot of these tethers, they sit up here and try to lecture us on unity. They sit up here and try to lecture us on coming together and what we need to do to unify and X, Y, Z and none of these folks, I tell y'all this all the time, none of them are unified in their homelands. All of their homelands are in shambles. They don't get along. Hell, they got not only tribalism, but classism and all type of different stuff going on in the Caribbean islands, going on in Africa, X, Y, and Z. They can't unify to save their lives and then when they get over here, they become Harvard PhD professors on unity. They're going to wag their finger and lecture us on unity. This what y'all don't understand. You're playing the victim mentality. [ __ ] shut up.

[00:06:45]Use all that PhD, Harvard, uh Pan-African unity to unify your homeland.

[00:06:54]Use that knowledgeism information to go home and unify your homeland. And then once you unify your homeland, then we can have a conversation. Until then, shut the hell up and be grateful for foundational black Americans who made it possible for you to live in this nation, even though you sacrificed nothing for it. But, let's continue.

[00:07:12]>> Today, right now, if you don't like what someone is doing, >> [clears throat] >> you don't have to participate. I know the line >> Okay, she she she just said translate cuz it started freezing. She just said basically that if we don't like it, she's speaking about the Essence Fest, if if we don't like what they're doing, we don't have to participate. Okay?

[00:07:33]That's what she said.

[00:07:34]>> that was presented before you went to Essence Fest.

[00:07:39]I know that things were laid out before you chose to go out there. There are so many other black music festivals that are happening that would appreciate our support. But in this day and age, you have choices. And when you're ignorant, you are choosing to be ignorant because there's so much information out there.

[00:07:59]>> Okay. Okay. Hold on. Let's write this down because I think this is very important. She said that and I've heard a lot of black immigrants say this and tell this especially that if we don't if we didn't like Essence Fest, just don't go. I agree 100% with that. I agree 100% with that and they didn't go. Remember, Essence Fest flopped this year.

[00:08:20]I've seen videos and images of half-empty arenas, uh vendors out there, uh the lack of vendors coming this year, a lot of vendors canceling, X, Y, and Z. Okay, a lot of controversy, a lot of complaints, even with the performers like Ms. Stephanie Mills, our FBA sister, a legend out there. She was complaining.

[00:08:40]So, let's be clear. A lot of foundational black Americans didn't like what they saw and didn't show up.

[00:08:48]Okay? And a lot of people are saying they won't be showing up in the future unless we see some changes in leadership and management in the mission and the goal, the true goal of Essence Fest. All right? So, a lot of foundational black Americans did take that opportunity. However, they came on as well to make sure they made it public. Okay? Cuz that's what you do on a public platform. Okay? You voice your complaints. That's what we as foundational black Americans do. We actually utilize our voices to call out what we don't like. Also, I've heard a lot of black immigrants and tell this when it comes to Essence Festival like her start talking about, "Well, they own it." If these groups of people own it, they can do what they want to with it and it's our choice whether we want to go or not. We're being willfully ignorant. There's also a two-sided coin to that.

[00:09:36]Because a lot of y'all have been running around talking about well, they own it, they own it. Cool, no problem. You own it. Okay? You can do what you want with it. When Essence Fest crashes and burns under your African and Caribbean leadership, it ownership, own that, too. Don't sit around and turn around and blame FBAs.

[00:09:58]Okay? You did what you wanted to with it. You put your culture on it and it failed.

[00:10:04]Own that. But let's continue.