Self-Awareness

BY EDDIE LANG

How do we as Black Leaders over our domain define ourselves? Some who stand for and with the Black Liberation Organization of Defense claim to be revolutionaries, but most claim and represent oppression, destruction, and total chaos. We must be aware that everything that we say and do affects the nation as a whole. We must separate ourselves from those who fail to truly embrace and represent the true cause of our nation with sincerity. We must separate ourselves from those who consider themselves “gang-bangers” so that we can no longer be looked upon in society as monsters and savages, but as revolutionary warriors. Removing this false “gang” concept from our organization will not be an easy task but it should be of importance so that we will have nothing holding us down from building our nation into an empire.

For the last 30 or more years Black Leaders over our domain have witnessed first hand oppression in its worst form. The government has successfully enslaved our mindframes by keeping us at war with ourselves so that we will not be strong enough to unite and overthrow this unjust system. We are so blind, deaf and dumb that we fail to see that not only are we oppressing our own race but we are also oppressing ourselves! We do this by cherishing the “ghetto superstar” lifestyle instead of striving to be successful in life as doctors, lawyers, etc. It is not impossible for us to gain (regain) our self-dignity but we must first wake up and realize that our enemy is keeping us divided by brainwashing us to believe that their is no solution to our problems. The solution is education, understanding, wisdom, knowledge and self-awareness. Once we find solutions to our everyday problems we must react!

Our organization was developed and designed to stand for a common cause. What is that common cause? To fight off oppression by any means necessary and to unify black men and women so that we can overcome the harsh conditions of confinement that we are forced to endure, based on the fact that the black race is degraded and humiliated not only in our neighbourhoods but in society in general. We must stand up and unite as one and rebuild our sets and organizations to become true revolutionaries and not “gang-bangers” fighting over land that is controlled and owned by our common enemy, the oppressors!

We need to change the mindframes of young brothas and sistas who embrace this nation from the negative conception into a more positive and meaningful clarity. We need to show young brothas and sistas that what they see on T.V. and hear in hip-hop music is a false conception of what we stand for and represent. If we began to teach young brothas and sistas at a young age what revolution is and set examples of how we as revolutionaries react to the oppression that we face daily, then we can reverse this cycle from gang-bangers and recruit more black leaders over our domain who can contribute to our nation in a meaningful and constructive way.

We must begin to put our words into action and give our life for this cause. The way to regain our liberation and dignity is through revolution. We must form a new strategy that will educate and guide young brothas’ and sistas’ mindframes to strive to achieve more in life and not continue to accept what they have or do not have. Revolution is a process, a process that involves more than just strategizing. We must begin to put our thoughts into action.

We must offer our brothas and sistas successful ways to override oppression and feed them constructive knowledge to make them more conscious that they (we) are the oppressed. Those of us that must put our freedom at risk in order to feed our families, we must educate and build up our women so that when we do fall they will continue to stay strong. We must show love, honour, and respect to our beautiful black women at all times so that they will never feel forgotten or unloved. For a woman is the backbone and foundation of our existence.

We must stop labeling ourselves as a gang and not accept society labeling us as a gang. We must get the “gangsta” and “thuggish” mentality out of our mindframe. Gangstas end up dead or in prison, revolutionaries end up in legacies and in the hearts, spirits, and mindframe of their comrades. Secondly, we must own up and take responsibility for our actions. This is how we become honest within ourselves which causes us to be honest with those who we come in contact with. Being honest with oneself is one of the keys to really changing. When a person starts to make a real change they listen to what others have to say about them because others see things about us that we cannot. Often times another will say things about us that we refuse to say about ourselves. Change takes a lot of strength and sometimes a lot of time.

Most of all, we must be more conscious of our actions because we stand as a unit that is united and unified as a whole. There is never enough time in the day for the busy and never enough rest for the weary, but a lazy heart can always find the time for nothing. Do not allow yourself to grow lazy, for the heart is what keeps our blood flowing through our veins. Sawoop to all the Damus, political prisoners, and revolutionaries who died in the struggle.

In solidarity through the struggles,

Edward Lang #532018
Ohio State Pen
878 Coitsville-Hubbard Rd
Youngstown, OH
44505 USA