My humble thoughts

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This was written a few months ago after we were inundated by responses from George Floyd’s murder. I posted it on Facebook at that time and only those with eyes could have seen the real message. I did a few edits to this piece to post on this platform. By Walter Henry

It is my view that most of us earthlings see history and life in general from a Eurocentric /Americentric perspective.  You may argue that you do not because of that strong nationalistic or ethnic pride. However, if you can relate to any of the following then, you more than likely you share the above perspective. The fact that you are reading this, means that you have at least a social media account.  You probably have access to Netflix or stream movies. You also know what a meme is. Your timeline is inundated with George Floyd related or influenced post like this one. You have had at least one conversation about George Floyd. You can at least hum to Hotel California and know who Beyoncé or Taylor Swift are. You probably have a WhatsApp, which means you have a smart phone and have watched at least one YouTube video. You go to concerts, movies, vacations in the Caribbean. Live in North America, visited or would like to especially before COVID 19. You follow the NBA, NFL, or the Premier league.  You were up at 4am when the American girl married that British prince (big deal).  You think that a PhD is the pinnacle of academic success, or plan to get rich or will die trying, work a 9-5 and spend fiat money.  You know what an emoji is, even my Aunty Kate does, and she is almost 80. Here’s the big one, a large percentage of you believe that Cesare Borgia is Jesus. Sorry if I offended you, I did not mean to but that’s a farce. The fact that we live in this system or whether we agree with its tenets or not. We directly or indirectly or sometimes both, view life through the above lens.

 It is my view that the so-called modern world experienced a paradigm shift in 1492. When the joint Castilian and Aragonite forces defeated the Moors (Mainstream history says that just the Moors lived in Spain at that time. Thanks to Benayah Israel we now know different) at Granada. The same year Colon used Moorish maps and other technology to claim that he discovered new lands where advanced civilizations already existed. It is my strong belief that 1492 was the beginning of the misinformation, genocide which set the stage for European / Western dominance of the world. History from then on was written from a Western European perspective.  Non-historians view historical events prior to this period as mystical. The hunter was now telling the story because he defeated the lion, an old lion.

How did we arrive at George Floyd?

 From that point black people/our people were treated as less than human. So called scholars wrote theories which suggested or even said directly that black these people were less than human. See Carl Linnaeus or Johann Friedrich Blumenbach. According to these theorists black people built nothing, were, backward naked, living in huts and the least intelligent of the human species. These theories were used to justify their affected cognitive dissonance when enslaving these people.

Side note. According to estimates by the New Scientist's Fred Pearce, Benin City's walls were at one point “four times longer than the Great Wall of China and consumed a hundred times more material than the Great Pyramid of Cheops”. Parts of wall is still there even though covered with vegetation. You were taught the largest wall was in China.  Parts of this wall and the city was destroyed and looted by British. Some of the artifacts from that event can be found in the British museum in London England.

Back to my ramblings. With these justifications firmly set in place and quickly becoming the belief in Europe. So called “black people” were captured, sold shipped and enslaved to various parts of the world. In the process, they built economies and countries but were still treated with disdain. They begged to be accepted, and still do. They invented, they sang, they ran, they jumped, set trends, they became scholars and even had leaders. I wonder what happened to their leaders. Their land was taken from them (1884) and their dignity(slavery) but somehow, they survived. These people were eventually " freed” and given "independence". These people were even allowed to run their own countries. Some of these countries are now seen as corrupt and mismanaged (shit holes). Do you wonder how and why they became like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXwmJhFvn5Mt=115s

These people seem to have Stockholm syndrome. Many of them, often run right back to their former masters and ask. Can I get a green card so I can live with you? Or please for loans so I can run my country?  Can you make sure that our elections are free and fair?  We are so dependent on the IMF, IDB and World Bank? Again, I wonder why? Maybe independence and emancipation were a farce, if we really look at it. I see your rolled eyes

Thanks to social media the world is now seeing how these people have always been treated since that pivotal period in 1400s, in the western world. The Arab slave trade was before chattel slavery but is Leviathan hole that this writer does not want to dive into currently.

What happened to George Floyd is nothing compared to what happened to a plethora of people in the past. Emit Till is an example, that young man was beaten and disfigured. However, Floyd’s death is a tipping point of an angry, frustrated, and tired people. The fact that it happened while being videoed in 2020 is even more infuriating.  I remember reading during my Comparative Caribbean and Brazilian slavery history course while at University of Guyana. It was about this 14-year-old boy from a plantation in the colony of Demerara. This boy like any young man from any ethnic, socio and cultural background, loved to play, like boys of his age should be doing. However, he had a spirit of rebellion. This young man would escape the plantation, whilst other slaves were working, to go and swim in the canals and catch fish. He continued to do this regardless of the punishment. The writer stated that he received so many beatings and every conceivable form of punishment so much so that he became " retarded."

Black wall street, bombed. The policy of redlining. Worrying   about being stopped by the police. Millions of black men in jail many for minor offences and some innocently. The crack epidemic in the 1980’s the glorifications and creation of gangs. MLK and Malcom X, killed! I can go on until tomorrow.

Caribbean and African people we somehow share this belief that we are exempt and better than. Why, because you were given independence and run our governments? Is your nation truly sovereign? What about the Haitians who won their freedom in 1804 but were forced   to pay repatriations to France and the former slave owners? What about the Berlin Conference of 1884 on Africa, the Biafran war, AIDS, apartheid, those predatory IMF and IDB loans? They are connected to the development poverty, mismanagement, inflation, corrupt leaders, high crime rates, poor infrastructure, and health and Vybz Kartel (It is my post so I can add him) lol. 

Here what some Caribbean and African Hebrews say? Walter, but we come to North America and we do better than the black Americans and Canadians. Let me burst your privilege bubble with two statements. Your teachers looked like you and you were taught about Ghana, Mali and Songhai. You went to NAMS, Campion and Combermere.  (Those are some of the best high schools in the Caribbean). From day one you learnt “NAMS we are best, and we are better than the rest.” You listened to Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Fela Kuti and Mariam Makeba. Your leaders were Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya), Kwame Nkrumah (Gold Coast, now Ghana), Julius Nyerere (Tanganyika, now Tanzania), Léopold Sédar Senghor (Senegal), Nnamdi Azikiwe (Nigeria) Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d'Ivoire), Marcus Garvey (Jamaica) and Forbes Burnham (Guyana). These former things can help build an arrogant self-confidence that forms a bullet proof vest against the racist ideologies. So that’s why your grandmother or mother was able to go to North America or England without formal education and fight through all the barriers and “make it” You came with University Degree and that alone distinct advantage. Remember that Botham was St Lucian had a University Degree, a good job but was still shot in his apartment. Direct rule ended for you in the 1950’s and 60’s but even that perceived independence is a farce.

Someone ask me why is this happening Walter? Why are we being killed? Why don't they like us Walter? Walter, they don't even like us in Guyana, and we are from there? Are we really? Walter, have you seen how “some” Indian people in Guyana are making fun of what is going in America? (I said “some” so don't get in your feelings. If you just did, question yourself.) They don't like us anywhere we go. Walter, we don't seem to like us. Why Walter? How could you kneel on someone's neck? Walter, street protest is an antiquated strategy.  Walter, we are angry, frustrated and we are not our parents? What should be our next move?   Do you really want to know?

The truth is, once we continue to see ourselves , as Guyanese , Jamaicans, Turk Islanders, Hatians, Nigerians, Ghanians , African Americans, Bloods, Crips, PNC , PPP, JLP, NDP ,West Side , East Side,  from Jane and Finch,  I am American ,Canadian, from New York  , from California,  I am educated , I am not educated, I am not enough , I cannot , I am too  dark skin, I am light skin and have good hair.  I can continue until tomorrow. Once we see continue to accept these created differences we will always be divided. Remember that we all came from the same place but just took different boats   and were dropped off at different places. We became Christians and Muslims and plethora of other things

The solution to end this is simple, and totally nonviolent, but we, you, and I, do not even know who we are and where we came from.   The solution is dust, knees and the only and the guy that said that he’s the only “way”, but we are stiffed neck people.    The masses including us read the “book” and don’t realize it is our story.

It is my view that most of us earthlings see history and life in general from a Eurocentric /Americentric perspective.  You may argue that you do not because of that strong nationalistic or ethnic pride. However, if you can relate to any of the following then, you more than likely you share the above perspective. The fact that you are reading this, means that you have at least a social media account.  You probably have access to Netflix or stream movies. You also know what a meme is. Your timeline is inundated with George Floyd related or influenced post like this one. You have had at least one conversation about George Floyd. You can at least hum to Hotel California and know who Beyoncé or Taylor Swift are. You probably have a WhatsApp, which means you have a smart phone and have watched at least one YouTube video. You go to concerts, movies, vacations in the Caribbean. Live in North America, visited or would like to especially before COVID 19. You follow the NBA, NFL, or the Premier league.  You were up at 4am when the American girl married that British prince (big deal).  You think that a PhD is the pinnacle of academic success, or plan to get rich or will die trying, work a 9-5 and spend fiat money.  You know what an emoji is, even my Aunty Kate does, and she is almost 80. Here’s the big one, a large percentage of you believe that Cesare Borgia is Jesus. Sorry if I offended you, I did not mean to but that’s a farce. The fact that we live in this system or whether we agree with its tenets or not. We directly or indirectly or sometimes both, view life through the above lens.

 It is my view that the so-called modern world experienced a paradigm shift in 1492. When the joint Castilian and Aragonite forces defeated the Moors (Mainstream history says that just the Moors lived in Spain at that time. Thanks to Benayah Israel we now know different) at Granada. The same year Colon used Moorish maps and other technology to claim that he discovered new lands where advanced civilizations already existed. It is my strong belief that 1492 was the beginning of the misinformation, genocide which set the stage for European / Western dominance of the world. History from then on was written from a Western European perspective.  Non-historians view historical events prior to this period as mystical. The hunter was now telling the story because he defeated the lion, an old lion.

How did we arrive at George Floyd?

 From that point black people/our people were treated as less than human. So called scholars wrote theories which suggested or even said directly that black these people were less than human. See Carl Linnaeus or Johann Friedrich Blumenbach. According to these theorists black people built nothing, were, backward naked, living in huts and the least intelligent of the human species. These theories were used to justify their affected cognitive dissonance when enslaving these people.

Side note. According to estimates by the New Scientist's Fred Pearce, Benin City's walls were at one point “four times longer than the Great Wall of China and consumed a hundred times more material than the Great Pyramid of Cheops”. Parts of wall is still there even though covered with vegetation. You were taught the largest wall was in China.  Parts of this wall and the city was destroyed and looted by British. Some of the artifacts from that event can be found in the British museum in London England.

Back to my ramblings. With these justifications firmly set in place and quickly becoming the belief in Europe. So called “black people” were captured, sold shipped and enslaved to various parts of the world. In the process, they built economies and countries but were still treated with disdain. They begged to be accepted, and still do. They invented, they sang, they ran, they jumped, set trends, they became scholars and even had leaders. I wonder what happened to their leaders. Their land was taken from them (1884) and their dignity(slavery) but somehow, they survived. These people were eventually " freed” and given "independence". These people were even allowed to run their own countries. Some of these countries are now seen as corrupt and mismanaged (shit holes). Do you wonder how and why they became like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXwmJhFvn5Mt=115s

These people seem to have Stockholm syndrome. Many of them, often run right back to their former masters and ask. Can I get a green card so I can live with you? Or please for loans so I can run my country?  Can you make sure that our elections are free and fair?  We are so dependent on the IMF, IDB and World Bank? Again, I wonder why? Maybe independence and emancipation were a farce, if we really look at it. I see your rolled eyes

Thanks to social media the world is now seeing how these people have always been treated since that pivotal period in 1400s, in the western world. The Arab slave trade was before chattel slavery but is Leviathan hole that this writer does not want to dive into currently.

What happened to George Floyd is nothing compared to what happened to a plethora of people in the past. Emit Till is an example, that young man was beaten and disfigured. However, Floyd’s death is a tipping point of an angry, frustrated, and tired people. The fact that it happened while being videoed in 2020 is even more infuriating.  I remember reading during my Comparative Caribbean and Brazilian slavery history course while at University of Guyana. It was about this 14-year-old boy from a plantation in the colony of Demerara. This boy like any young man from any ethnic, socio and cultural background, loved to play, like boys of his age should be doing. However, he had a spirit of rebellion. This young man would escape the plantation, whilst other slaves were working, to go and swim in the canals and catch fish. He continued to do this regardless of the punishment. The writer stated that he received so many beatings and every conceivable form of punishment so much so that he became " retarded."

Black wall street, bombed. The policy of redlining. Worrying   about being stopped by the police. Millions of black men in jail many for minor offences and some innocently. The crack epidemic in the 1980’s the glorifications and creation of gangs. MLK and Malcom X, killed! I can go on until tomorrow.

Caribbean and African people we somehow share this belief that we are exempt and better than. Why, because you were given independence and run our governments? Is your nation truly sovereign? What about the Haitians who won their freedom in 1804 but were forced   to pay repatriations to France and the former slave owners? What about the Berlin Conference of 1884 on Africa, the Biafran war, AIDS, apartheid, those predatory IMF and IDB loans? They are connected to the development poverty, mismanagement, inflation, corrupt leaders, high crime rates, poor infrastructure, and health and Vybz Kartel (It is my post so I can add him) lol. 

Here what some Caribbean and African Hebrews say? Walter, but we come to North America and we do better than the black Americans and Canadians. Let me burst your privilege bubble with two statements. Your teachers looked like you and you were taught about Ghana, Mali and Songhai. You went to NAMS, Campion and Combermere.  (Those are some of the best high schools in the Caribbean). From day one you learnt “NAMS we are best, and we are better than the rest.” You listened to Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Fela Kuti and Mariam Makeba. Your leaders were Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya), Kwame Nkrumah (Gold Coast, now Ghana), Julius Nyerere (Tanganyika, now Tanzania), Léopold Sédar Senghor (Senegal), Nnamdi Azikiwe (Nigeria) Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d'Ivoire), Marcus Garvey (Jamaica) and Forbes Burnham (Guyana). These former things can help build an arrogant self-confidence that forms a bullet proof vest against the racist ideologies. So that’s why your grandmother or mother was able to go to North America or England without formal education and fight through all the barriers and “make it” You came with University Degree and that alone distinct advantage. Remember that Botham was St Lucian had a University Degree, a good job but was still shot in his apartment. Direct rule ended for you in the 1950’s and 60’s but even that perceived independence is a farce.

Someone ask me why is this happening Walter? Why are we being killed? Why don't they like us Walter? Walter, they don't even like us in Guyana, and we are from there? Are we really? Walter, have you seen how “some” Indian people in Guyana are making fun of what is going in America? (I said “some” so don't get in your feelings. If you just did, question yourself.) They don't like us anywhere we go. Walter, we don't seem to like us. Why Walter? How could you kneel on someone's neck? Walter, street protest is an antiquated strategy.  Walter, we are angry, frustrated and we are not our parents? What should be our next move?   Do you really want to know?

The truth is, once we continue to see ourselves , as Guyanese , Jamaicans, Turk Islanders, Hatians, Nigerians, Ghanians , African Americans, Bloods, Crips, PNC , PPP, JLP, NDP ,West Side , East Side,  from Jane and Finch,  I am American ,Canadian, from New York  , from California,  I am educated , I am not educated, I am not enough , I cannot , I am too  dark skin, I am light skin and have good hair.  I can continue until tomorrow. Once we see continue to accept these created differences we will always be divided. Remember that we all came from the same place but just took different boats   and were dropped off at different places. We became Christians and Muslims and plethora of other things

The solution to end this is simple, and totally nonviolent, but we, you, and I, do not even know who we are and where we came from.   The solution is dust, knees and the only and the guy that said that he’s the only “way”, but we are stiffed neck people.    The masses including us read the “book” and don’t realize it is our story.

It is my view that most of us earthlings see history and life in general from a Eurocentric /Americentric perspective.  You may argue that you do not because of that strong nationalistic or ethnic pride. However, if you can relate to any of the following then, you more than likely you share the above perspective. The fact that you are reading this, means that you have at least a social media account.  You probably have access to Netflix or stream movies. You also know what a meme is. Your timeline is inundated with George Floyd related or influenced post like this one. You have had at least one conversation about George Floyd. You can at least hum to Hotel California and know who Beyoncé or Taylor Swift are. You probably have a WhatsApp, which means you have a smart phone and have watched at least one YouTube video. You go to concerts, movies, vacations in the Caribbean. Live in North America, visited or would like to especially before COVID 19. You follow the NBA, NFL, or the Premier league.  You were up at 4am when the American girl married that British prince (big deal).  You think that a PhD is the pinnacle of academic success, or plan to get rich or will die trying, work a 9-5 and spend fiat money.  You know what an emoji is, even my Aunty Kate does, and she is almost 80. Here’s the big one, a large percentage of you believe that Cesare Borgia is Jesus. Sorry if I offended you, I did not mean to but that’s a farce. The fact that we live in this system or whether we agree with its tenets or not. We directly or indirectly or sometimes both, view life through the above lens.

 It is my view that the so-called modern world experienced a paradigm shift in 1492. When the joint Castilian and Aragonite forces defeated the Moors (Mainstream history says that just the Moors lived in Spain at that time. Thanks to Benayah Israel we now know different) at Granada. The same year Colon used Moorish maps and other technology to claim that he discovered new lands where advanced civilizations already existed. It is my strong belief that 1492 was the beginning of the misinformation, genocide which set the stage for European / Western dominance of the world. History from then on was written from a Western European perspective.  Non-historians view historical events prior to this period as mystical. The hunter was now telling the story because he defeated the lion, an old lion.

How did we arrive at George Floyd?

 From that point black people/our people were treated as less than human. So called scholars wrote theories which suggested or even said directly that black these people were less than human. See Carl Linnaeus or Johann Friedrich Blumenbach. According to these theorists black people built nothing, were, backward naked, living in huts and the least intelligent of the human species. These theories were used to justify their affected cognitive dissonance when enslaving these people.

Side note. According to estimates by the New Scientist's Fred Pearce, Benin City's walls were at one point “four times longer than the Great Wall of China and consumed a hundred times more material than the Great Pyramid of Cheops”. Parts of wall is still there even though covered with vegetation. You were taught the largest wall was in China.  Parts of this wall and the city was destroyed and looted by British. Some of the artifacts from that event can be found in the British museum in London England.

Back to my ramblings. With these justifications firmly set in place and quickly becoming the belief in Europe. So called “black people” were captured, sold shipped and enslaved to various parts of the world. In the process, they built economies and countries but were still treated with disdain. They begged to be accepted, and still do. They invented, they sang, they ran, they jumped, set trends, they became scholars and even had leaders. I wonder what happened to their leaders. Their land was taken from them (1884) and their dignity(slavery) but somehow, they survived. These people were eventually " freed” and given "independence". These people were even allowed to run their own countries. Some of these countries are now seen as corrupt and mismanaged (shit holes). Do you wonder how and why they became like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXwmJhFvn5Mt=115s

These people seem to have Stockholm syndrome. Many of them, often run right back to their former masters and ask. Can I get a green card so I can live with you? Or please for loans so I can run my country?  Can you make sure that our elections are free and fair?  We are so dependent on the IMF, IDB and World Bank? Again, I wonder why? Maybe independence and emancipation were a farce, if we really look at it. I see your rolled eyes

Thanks to social media the world is now seeing how these people have always been treated since that pivotal period in 1400s, in the western world. The Arab slave trade was before chattel slavery but is Leviathan hole that this writer does not want to dive into currently.

What happened to George Floyd is nothing compared to what happened to a plethora of people in the past. Emit Till is an example, that young man was beaten and disfigured. However, Floyd’s death is a tipping point of an angry, frustrated, and tired people. The fact that it happened while being videoed in 2020 is even more infuriating.  I remember reading during my Comparative Caribbean and Brazilian slavery history course while at University of Guyana. It was about this 14-year-old boy from a plantation in the colony of Demerara. This boy like any young man from any ethnic, socio and cultural background, loved to play, like boys of his age should be doing. However, he had a spirit of rebellion. This young man would escape the plantation, whilst other slaves were working, to go and swim in the canals and catch fish. He continued to do this regardless of the punishment. The writer stated that he received so many beatings and every conceivable form of punishment so much so that he became " retarded."

Black wall street, bombed. The policy of redlining. Worrying   about being stopped by the police. Millions of black men in jail many for minor offences and some innocently. The crack epidemic in the 1980’s the glorifications and creation of gangs. MLK and Malcom X, killed! I can go on until tomorrow.

Caribbean and African people we somehow share this belief that we are exempt and better than. Why, because you were given independence and run our governments? Is your nation truly sovereign? What about the Haitians who won their freedom in 1804 but were forced   to pay repatriations to France and the former slave owners? What about the Berlin Conference of 1884 on Africa, the Biafran war, AIDS, apartheid, those predatory IMF and IDB loans? They are connected to the development poverty, mismanagement, inflation, corrupt leaders, high crime rates, poor infrastructure, and health and Vybz Kartel (It is my post so I can add him) lol. 

Here what some Caribbean and African Hebrews say? Walter, but we come to North America and we do better than the black Americans and Canadians. Let me burst your privilege bubble with two statements. Your teachers looked like you and you were taught about Ghana, Mali and Songhai. You went to NAMS, Campion and Combermere.  (Those are some of the best high schools in the Caribbean). From day one you learnt “NAMS we are best, and we are better than the rest.” You listened to Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Fela Kuti and Mariam Makeba. Your leaders were Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya), Kwame Nkrumah (Gold Coast, now Ghana), Julius Nyerere (Tanganyika, now Tanzania), Léopold Sédar Senghor (Senegal), Nnamdi Azikiwe (Nigeria) Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d'Ivoire), Marcus Garvey (Jamaica) and Forbes Burnham (Guyana). These former things can help build an arrogant self-confidence that forms a bullet proof vest against the racist ideologies. So that’s why your grandmother or mother was able to go to North America or England without formal education and fight through all the barriers and “make it” You came with University Degree and that alone distinct advantage. Remember that Botham was St Lucian had a University Degree, a good job but was still shot in his apartment. Direct rule ended for you in the 1950’s and 60’s but even that perceived independence is a farce.

Someone ask me why is this happening Walter? Why are we being killed? Why don't they like us Walter? Walter, they don't even like us in Guyana, and we are from there? Are we really? Walter, have you seen how “some” Indian people in Guyana are making fun of what is going in America? (I said “some” so don't get in your feelings. If you just did, question yourself.) They don't like us anywhere we go. Walter, we don't seem to like us. Why Walter? How could you kneel on someone's neck? Walter, street protest is an antiquated strategy.  Walter, we are angry, frustrated and we are not our parents? What should be our next move?   Do you really want to know?

The truth is, once we continue to see ourselves , as Guyanese , Jamaicans, Turk Islanders, Hatians, Nigerians, Ghanians , African Americans, Bloods, Crips, PNC , PPP, JLP, NDP ,West Side , East Side,  from Jane and Finch,  I am American ,Canadian, from New York  , from California,  I am educated , I am not educated, I am not enough , I cannot , I am too  dark skinned, I am light skinned and have good hair.  I can continue until tomorrow. Once we see continue to accept these created differences we will always be divided. Remember that we all came from the same place but just took different boats   and were dropped off at different places. We became Christians and Muslims and plethora of other things

The solution to end this is simple, and totally nonviolent, but we, you, and I, do not even know who we are and where we came from.   The solution is dust, knees and the only and the guy that said that he’s the only “way”, but we are a stiffed neck people.  The masses including us read the “book” and don’t realize it is our story.

Comments
CeeCee CP 2 yrs

Your perspective is well documented. Todah for sharing

 
 
Garfield Murphy 3 yrs

Well done my brother.