Black Folks, Let Pharaoh Go!

I really don't know how I missed this and I'm very late to the game but the black citizenry of Chicago, Illinois - homeland of President Barack Obama - are up in arms about the state of their city. For only the second time in my life, I'm seeing a glimmer of hope that black American's will eventually get tired of putting all of their proverbial eggs in the Democratic Party's political basket and getting almost nothing to show for it.

The first time was in March 2010. Tavis Smiley was holding a symposium titled "We Count! The Black Agenda is the America Agenda." During that conference, the glimmer of hope came from the most unlikely of sources: Minister Louis Farrakhan. Despite the racist overtones he made the following impassioned comment.

Farrakhan: Now remember, our dear sister [Dr.] Julianne Malveaux mentioned A. Philip Randolph. Man that was long time ago and the cry was jobs and justice. In the March on Washington in 1963 the cry was...
Crowd: Jobs and justice!
Farrakhan: In the 20 year anniversary of the March on Washington the cry was...
Crowd: Jobs and justice!
Farrakhan: We are now in 2010 and what is the cry?
Crowd: Jobs and justice!
Farrakhan: Well, wait a minute! How long are you gonna [sic] sit around begging white people to do for us what we have the power to do for ourselves? ... We have come up with black agendas but we've been looking to the wrong people to fulfill our agenda.

This is almost identical to the sentiment El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) expressed while with The Nation of Islam almost 5 decades ago. Malcolm essentially said we need to do this on our own and stop waiting for someone else to solve our problems. While I don't agree concerning separation from America, the idea of Black Nationalism needs to take hold if we are to improve the black experience in America.

Then on December 19, 2013, noted race-baiter Al Sharpton hosted a town hall meeting at Hyde Park Academy High School to hear solutions from panelists and residents to the massive violence in Chicago. The agenda was, of course, gun control but Rev. Sharpton got something completely different. The video speaks for itself.

Of course, this may be wishful thinking on my part. Blacks have been giving their vote to the Democratic party since President Lyndon B. Johnson famously said: "I'll have those niggers voting Democratic for the next 200 years." That was also said over 5 decades ago and hasn't changed since so I'm guarded. Nevertheless, as things get worse there may be a change coming. It would be ironic that it took a black Democrat coming to power in the U.S. to make blacks realize that voting for the Democratic Party is never going to solve their problems.