Revolution

How do we start a revolution? More importantly, do we want a revolution? Do we want a change to the American way of life? Or are we content to complain knowing that complaining is as far as our activist engagement will go? These are the questions that we must ask and ultimately answer. Truthfully, many of us do not have the stomach for revolution or the desire to see real change. The life of American luxury has smothered the voice of resistance and institutionalized revolutionaries. The idea of change has become commodified and is sold to the masses as a bumper sticker not a lifestyle. However, for those who desire revolution they must recognize it is not easy and is not sanctioned by the elite. Revolution requires real sacrifice and an undying love for the people. Revolution is not easy but definitely necessary. To all my comrades in the struggle I say Let's Get Free!

The Death of Indifference

It is critical that we see the way indifference is the essential foundation for exploitation to flourish. This is not to suggest that indifference is natural, no it is cultivated through propaganda. Propaganda is disseminated through mass media, a mass media that destroys critical consciousness and is fueled by profit so the key to killing indifference is to critically challenge the ways in which we are socially lulled to sleep by a media content to destroy our passion. It is essential that we destroy the belief that change is impossible, a belief that creates a culture of helplessness that gives birth to perpetual feelings of indifference amongst the masses. It is imperative that we create safe spaces where we can begin to build consciousness, consciousness is the key to transforming indifference to concern, concern for a world that is desperate for new voices, new voices that can articulate new visions for justice. Let's Get Free!

Ignorance is Bliss

Are we afraid to embrace consciousness? Is it easier to remain on the sidelines and not try to understand the problems of the world? To be enamored with the idea that change is impossible therefore leaving us off the hook for the ways in which we choose to live our lives? There seems to be some truth in the phrase ignorance is bliss, we seem content to embrace apathy and to be conveniently distracted by trivial pursuits. I am not judging simply wondering what would the world look like if we collectively regained consciousness? A world where the cool kids were the ones who had radical opinions. A world where those who had convictions were not labeled close-minded. A world where worth was not defined by materials. I wonder if we are even interested in a world that would look so vastly different than the world we currently inhabit? Are we so convinced of our exceptionalism that its impossible to imagine another way? Or have we simply cloaked ourselves in the warm blanket of ignorance so that we don't have to be held responsible for the atrocities that happened on our watch? What do you think?

The American Way

Can we change the American way of life? Are the values and ideas of America so interwoven with intense capitalism and stubborn individualism that change is impossible? It would seem that the possibility of change is not possible without detaching collectively from questionable values.However, the question remains what does it mean to change our world? Is it the act of simply changing our condition or does it require more? I am convinced that the changing of our condition must be connected to the changing conditions of others. We must view our lives in concert with the predicament of others and there struggle must become our struggle. It is a difficult life to embrace but I can see no other way to find peace. For me, peace must be attached to the calming influence that comes with embracing the struggle and seeking liberation for the masses. Let's Get Free!

Capitalism

To create true change we must replace capitalism. Capitalism, is a system that ensures that the masses will be exploited and wealth will be generated for a few. This is a corrupt machine that is only able to survive because of the political propaganda that preaches the message of individualism. By creating a system of cultural beliefs that plants the idea of hard work as the key to success we make political structures and systems meaningless. Success is solely connected to how hard one works and allows for corrupt institutions to remain free of true critique. Also, by inundating us with the lifestyles of the rich and famous we consciously or sub-consciously begin to identify with lifestyles we will never attain. However, the allure to reach that lifestyle becomes an obession no matter how unrealistic. It is critical that we challenge the ways capitalism produces unhealthy cultural values and extols materialism above all else. Also, American capitalism is connected to global imperialism. So our inability to challenge and confront the evils of capitalism ensures that other countries will be exploited because of our indifference. True change is not easy but is very necessary. Let's Get Free!

No Title

So often we can grow disillusioned with the direction of America. It can seem that we have abandoned the critical dialog necessary to challenge the status quo. Or we have allowed for these conversations to only take place in the privileged intellectual spaces of higher education. Why does it seems that there are so few spaces reserved for those who desire to fight? That critics are relegated to the sidelines, viewed by others as malcontents who do not recognize the luxury of living in America? America is defined as the cream of the crop so all criticism is immediately view through a paradigm of bewilderment. It is difficult for people to understand that with great privilege comes greater responsibility. We as Americans have an obligation to examine the ways in which our privilege is connected to the exploitation of others. We must wake up and resist the urge to turn a blind eye to our complicity in the continued exploitation of others. Change is only possible when the urge to rest in the created comfort of American imperialism is destroyed. Let's Get Free!

Questions?

The questions I must answer for my life are connected to purpose. How will I define success? Will the pressure to conform to capitalistic values destroy my passion to see the system destroyed? These our questions I must answer but I feel at some point we all must answer. We all must answer the internal question of what will motivate the choices of our lives? Who will we become? We will remain true to the inner voices that urge us to embrace radical choices or will we ultimately become more conservative seeking approval above everything else? This question is pivotal to the possibility of change. If we continue to muffle the voices that emanate from within, the voice that cries for change then we will continue to miss the point. Life is not simply a practice in comfort, it is an embrace of that which forces us to break from comfort. The sooner we realize that concocted images of the good life are simply idealistic prisons that divert our attention from the truth. Once we see that the truth is connected to embracing the struggle and altering the course of history with our willingness to be defiant in the face of systematic injustice. Then and only then will begin the process of truly living. Let's Get Free!

Sound of Freedom

Would we recognize the sound of freedom if we heard it? Have the cries of the oppressed fallen on apathetic ears? Have we become consumed with individualistic longings and capitalistic trappings? It seems like the collective revolutionary spirit necessary to change unjust conditions has been co-opted swallowed up by hollow pictures of constructed ideas of success. Success, is something that has been narrowly defined as the acquisition of materials. Our lives becoming nothing more than exercises in conformity. We are losing touch with the passion that made us feel that deplorable conditions could be changed. The question is how do we get back in touch with a passion that connects us to the suffering of others? At some point we must begin to deplore the reality that we live in a world were the term disenfranchised is a label that confines masses of people to lives of heartache and exploitation. How can we not spend every waking moment overturning a system that confines so many to impoverished lives? Things must change! Let's Get Free!

Coalitions

It is imperative that oppressed people begin the process of building true coalitions. We must move away from simplistic nationalistic feelings. The battle is to eliminate the pervasiveness of white supremacy and eradicate the ways it strangles the potential of the masses. We must resist the temptation to internalize the racist ideas perpetuated by Eurocentric values and standards. Oppressed people must break from the divisive idea that there victimization should take center stage and the victimization of others is a threat to their time in the proverbial spotlight of white attention. Unless we begin to see the struggle for liberation as a collective battle were all voices and perspectives are necessary for the dismantling of white supremacy we will continue to suffer from systems of domination that maintain social misery. The time is now to break with ideas that teach us that our oppression is different and that others cannot understand our plight. Freedom is only possible we recognize the interconnectedness of our struggle and recognize the ways in which our unity is the greatest tool in the battle to reach true liberation. Let's Get Free!