HTP

Recently a series of posts have been created arguing for the "unification of ALL people." For anyone to unify, there has to be to common goal or ground on which they stand. Shoutings of:

"I'm for everybody!"

"I'm part of ONE race;the HUMAN race"

"All colors, black, white, yellow, red, purple, blue, teal, pick, silver, fucia, etc. need to come together."

"We have a common enemy!"

are all useless and meaningless when dealing with reality. For you Americans out there, be silent and think for a minute. The point of difference between people often seems to be race but that is largely due to the empirical European framework on which America rests. Now for others outside of the Western Hemisphere the point of reference is not always race.

My question for all of you is: How can ALL people "unite?" Coming from the typical European cultural ethos standpoint, this "unity" is no more than lip-service (rhetorical ethic). The fact remains that there IS NO common enemy. And for all of you who wish to say this, "ignorance" is not an enemy. Ignorance is "not knowing." Not "knowing" of someone and their culture is not the reason for hatred and/or fear of them. No that "xenophobia" is the result of someone's own culture.

Culture is a difference that people often take for granted. Not everyone has the same goals nor sees the world in the same way for those similar goals to exist.

So come on "we-are-the-worlders," UNITE against what, for what, and how?

Show and prove.

PEace
Solarus

i was actually thinking this when i saw that last unity post-

there is no reason in hell to unite everyone in the globe in singing peace and harmony unless you've got the funds for one helluva coca cola advertisement

as for uniting for certain causes or uniting to achieve common goals, how the hell ya gonna achieve anything with one spine supporting a movement? one vegetarian in a world of menus won't result in a pork-free vegetarian menu. but a whole armya "is that PORK in my tofu?!"ers can achieve somethin.


==**peace**==

"baby,
I'd draw yuh bath
like Picasso..

pick you,
like fruit
off yuh family tree. &
eatcha' honeydew ass,
wet"

-Giovanni, rhythmic poet extraordinaire

i believe in education and empowerment through art. i believe that movements happen when ideas are set to music. bodies and people come together through dance and movement, eyes awaken in the face of a good movie, and whatever ya gotta say is useless unless you can use these tools to reach right into people

"The logic of divide and rule is still valid today." Capleton

DomePoem Poets; Vibe Nation; One ppl under the spoken word

one
vegetarian in a world of
menus won't result in a
pork-free vegetarian menu. but a
whole armya "is that PORK
n my tofu?!"ers can achieve
>somethin.

I like that analogy a lot :) I guess this is in response to the "Lets all unite and be happy" or whatever post that someone put up. Not to down that person for their idealistic (if not a bit fantasmical) point of view, but thats probably not going to happen. All of the cultures and races in the world are not going to be sitting around the campfire singing kumbaya anytime soon. I'll tell you why, but not now. I hate to say something and not be able to explain my opinion and back it up by facts, but Unfortunately, I'm working. But I'll get back with my reasons as soon as I can.


~Peace


"I'm an African, never was an African American..." - Dead Prez

is hilarious!!!!

"To-Fu-er's." Where is that dam dictionary when you need it!:7


****************************************
"When the Black Man of North America makes up his mind to be that which Allah has created him to be, which is a replica of Himself, then and only then can he call the universe into order."

-Me.

:) Excerpts of my response from the other "unity" post:

It's not really about uniting. Unity happens when a person feels connected to everything around him/her. They experience their true place in the world. But if someone feels excluded or experiences exclusion then it's hard for them to unite with others. They are disconnected and no matter how many words of support they get from well-intentioned folks it will not change this reality.

The first thing some folks do is label themselves. "I am white, Jewish and from the suburbs." But this only alienates people who are not white, Jewish and from the suburbs. This will not help people unite. Don't give people labels. Tell them what you know and what you are doing to change things. Stop waiting for acceptance and stop ignoring that the society and culture we live does create discord. Change the nature of this society/culture and there will be more unity.


"Trials and tribulations make you stronger live longer
You wanna reach the nation nigga start from your corner
Everything in life don't always happen like you plan it
Demand it, overstand it, then you handle it
Fuck wishing, you missing the ambition in your mission
Now you switching, why you quitting 'cuz it's heat in the kitchen?
--Big Boi

"Know thyself"

"Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you". So we may boldly say, "The Lord is my helper, I will not fear. What can man do to me?"
-- Hebrews 13:5,6

"There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path"
--Morpheus in "The Matrix"

"It's our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"- Dumbledore to Harry Potter "Chamber of Secrets"

certain regions of the world have made an attempt, at least on an economic level...like when Africans realized there was a need for solidarity to combat their economic condition and try to get up to par w/ the rest of the world. Hence, West, South, and East African economic collectives (forgive me...I can't remember the names/acronyms at the moment).

Same with Europe and the universalization (that a word?) of their economy. I think money (fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your view) may be the quickest, most efficient way to "unite" a nation or a group of nations.

But when you want to start shaking up the status quo and uniting to defeat oppression and oppressive societies...then you run into problems. The people of the African diaspora would be hard pressed to get together because many of them refuse to identify as "black" or as the "descendants of Africans." So how are you going to combat the global effects of colonization when you're still thinking black/African is an insult?

Seems like a catch 22 to me...




~~~SPITFIRE: AUGUST 23, 2001~~~
HipHop. Old school style. In Full Effect. Want Info? Email: carameldom@hotmail.com

"to get inside this head of mine/would take a monkey wrench/and a lot of wine" ~~Res

I agree completely Solarus. All these BLACK people screaming their not Afrikan or African American or Black, but they're American is proof of how Western greed,excess, and perverseness can twist our perceptions. What really cracks me up is when those people give you that age ole quote "Love it or Leave it!"
I'm like I'd like to leave if I could..., but unfortunately, I must survive first. I wish I could get up and go, which I can if I wanted to, but I'm conscious of my RESPONSIBILITY!
I'm rambeling. But I couldn't agree more Solarus.
peaces
PS3

UNITE for freedom, freedom of mind, body, and soul, unite so your seeds don't have to deal w/ the same ish you did, to redefine what it means to be human, unite to let those in power know that we will no longer accept the ad campaigns the stereotypes the degedation of people the , the destruction of our habitat, the devaluing(a word) of the soul, if we don't do something now we will really be slaves.

UNITE TO DESTROY THE FALSE GOD---THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR

enough ranting...for now

~the anti-sig~

are you referring to corporate america or the government? the question was not UNITE for what but UNITE against what?
against the government? why would i want to UNITE against the government if it serves my interest? what's in it for those whose needs are currently satisfied by the current status quo?
I'm with Solarus on this one. I've got Black,White,Brown and Yellow friends but I'm not gonna be preaching that "World Unite" bullshit anytime soon. To each his own.
Let us do our own thing and try not to step on each other's toes.There is no unity without common interest.
SIGNATURE STARTS YONDER
"I'm not looking...forward to seeing
him"- Snoop on Suge's release.
understatement of the year :-)
**************************
:-)NE LOVE/N:-(LOVE
(THE C:PHICE IS Y:9URS)
**************************
The emoticon as 'O' symbol is a
registered trademark of dafriquan.
No biting without written permission.
*************************

the government IS corporate america, and fuck uniting the world, the fact of the matter is a lot of people are ignorant, when i speak of uniting people, i speak of uniting concious people, for when this is achieved the revelution can begin
i.e. let's say all the conscious black people rise up and it will be a matter of weeks before the rebellion is dispersed and all the the black people are rounded up and imprisoned, now let's say conscious people of all race's were to unite, the system would have a much harder time.

~the anti-sig~

first of all i do agree with solarus on this issue but this is fun so i just had to try (i know its not a game but its only kvibe that answered against). ok, here we go

unite against what? we dont necessarily have to have a common enemy. there dosent even have to be any enemy. eff the 'enemy'. that is, we dont have to be 'against what' BUT 'for what'. so i shall rephrase the question and say:

unite for what? now thats better :) unite to be free. unite to free our minds.

ok, who else wants to try?

---------------------------
"...okay player here we go..." - 8 ball

---------------------------
mE__again AKA mE_again AKA mE AKA joe1192

mE__again appears courtesy of joe1192 productions

UNITING might mean agreeing to compromise with the very agents that keep your mind shackled. We can free our minds without UNITING. Mater of fact, un-free minds are the very last things you want uniting because they are so confused they wouldn't even know what they want out of the unity.
I'd say free our minds first before we can talk that UNITE stuff. I'm reaching for a Marcus Garvey quote but it escapes me right now...anyway it has to do with how we have to unite amongst ourselves before we can unite with other groups.
SIGNATURE STARTS YONDER
"I'm not looking...forward to seeing
him"- Snoop on Suge's release.
understatement of the year :-)
**************************
:-)NE LOVE/N:-(LOVE
(THE C:PHICE IS Y:9URS)
**************************
The emoticon as 'O' symbol is a
registered trademark of dafriquan.
No biting without written permission.
*************************

i'll be back

i have to come up with a response

---------------------------
"...okay player here we go..." - 8 ball

---------------------------
mE__again AKA mE_again AKA mE AKA joe1192

mE__again appears courtesy of joe1192 productions

you don't have to come up with a response...maybe i'm actually on point on this one :-)
anyway think about it...if you can convince me otherwise i'll be glad to re-consider my views.

SIGNATURE STARTS YONDER
"I'm not looking...forward to seeing
him"- Snoop on Suge's release.
understatement of the year :-)
**************************
:-)NE LOVE/N:-(LOVE
(THE C:PHICE IS Y:9URS)
**************************
The emoticon as 'O' symbol is a
registered trademark of dafriquan.
No biting without written permission.
*************************

I couldn't put it better myself, Unite against the goverment against oppression, against Ignaunts who think Uniting is A lip Services. I don't totally disagree your views, I understand how it looks, But do you think there is work to be done in this world?? Do you think there should be a honest and public run goverment?? Do you think the atrocitys in Africa and other parts of the world should continue?? I doubt you do.

But how possible could we do something about each of these situation, you know the answer. We come together and fight the current powers that be, we demand they are dealt with. Make a stand on these issues or like now, they stand on us and we are unable to move.

Time 5 o clock time to splurt.

***One Lock, is thicker then One strand***

Something like that.

Peace

;-)

From the initial post:

"So come on "we-are-the-worlders," UNITE against what, for what, and how?"

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

PEace
Solarus

***Words of Wisdom***

"Every time you rise from your sleeping state, you have been reincarnated. Every time you recover from a bad experience, you have been reincarnated. Every time you have been given a new lease on life, you have been reincarnated. Every time you breath in and out, take in the fresh breath of life and feel the divine intelligence flowing in and around you, you have been reincarnated."- Mfundishi Bakari

On "love":

"I am in love everyday, whether I am with someone or not. Why? All love is based on a search for spirit. For me love is timeless, transcendent, peaceful, freeing, soul-based, unifying, and enhanced evolution. This is the basis of my activism."- Nettrice, the embodiment of Oshun

"Since we all make up the rules as we go along, love can mean many different things to many different people. But, for me love is a total commitment to understanding that is not limited to just people but is open to the totality of life. As long as we approach love from a fear based mentality and perceive it through veils of guardedness and anxiety, it will always be restricted by our fears."- Mfundishi Bakari

why you gotta piss on the unity parade?

solarus, you hit on several key points, including the fallacy of a global (race-based unity). race is important to white folks, and its important to us. probably much less so to other peoples who tend to view their exploitation by europeans as more of an issue of nationalism.

the biggest point you hit on, though, is the underlying assumptions for any such universalism: positive or negative. are we uniting against something or for something.

unity against something is only as lasting and cohesive and pervasive as what you're fighting. you need something on a scale of hitler (both in terms of evil and obviousness) to spark that type of unity, and even then once the evil is gone, everyone will go their separate ways. sci-fi writers know that, which is why the laziest of them are apt to posit some type of 'alien' attack as a catalyst for one world government.

unity for something is probably the preferred approach, but the challenge is determining what we all want. lowest common denominator unification. there have been attempts, like "the universal rights of the child", and "kyoto", but the problem here is that you will eventually run into conflicting interests and definitions of rights and statuses. can i march alongside the vegetarians eating my ham sammich and shouting power to the rain forest? more typical, what of global aims of supporting the rights of women. on its face, its a grand and noble thing, but in application, it may run in conflict with other rights of cultural self-determination (Taliban, anyone?). i can make the judgement call that the right of women prevails but i will concede that my opinions in that realm are shaped by being raised in a culture dominated by a western-european ethos, no matter how reconstructed i think my african mind is. nahmean?

to acheive such a one-world approach (and i am, ultimately, a one-worlder), we have to start at a level of obvious evils (sounds like the first unity option, right), and unite for a world free of that. its a conundrum. begin with things that are (almost) universally deplored, and work up from there -- no child slavery/prostitution, etc.

mad complicated. i think economics would be a good basis for unity, but if the power is concentrated in the hands of the "haves" who have no vested self-interest in dismantling the status quo, our only option of enacting that unity is via revolution (always outnumbered, always outgunned) or reformation (reliance on the colonial powers to see the innate goodness of a perfectly framed argument for sharing).

arrgh. baby steps, mayne. bringing us back to the malcomist view: how we gonna unite with anybody else when we can't unite within ourselves? intragroup unity is probably more important than intergroup unity for us at this juncture, or else we'll continue having folks brokering deals on our behalf which don't benefit the masses of our people.



peace & blessings,

x.


January is Kool Keith quote month, for lack of anything else:

"I never hearda you stupid, what's your name man??"

"Rappers don't know, I'm out the hospital/
cold buggin' and illin' like Dr. Doolittle"

"I'll chew your ass like monkeys on Wild Kingdom"

"you call yourself GOD, can you make it rain?/
can you tell me now what I'm thinkin' in my brain?"

"under your arms, you're kickin power and musty"

"word to mom, I'm in my own world.../
galaxy raaaaaays... powerful"

i believe we should all work to make this world a better place!

i believe in human rights!

i believe that education is important!

-now tell me:
how the fk can you disagree with statements like that? statements like tehse have been getting politicians elected in america for years now.

let's look at amnesty international. i used to ask the cool kids behind the amnesty tables what their petitions were about, and they would (dutifuly) answer "human rights, man. you should sign it"

"but what ABOUT human rights?"

"what the hell more do you need to know in order to support it, man? it's for HUMAN RIGHTS!"

i used to ask my friends in amnesty international what it stood for, they would say the same thing, "it's a human rights organization"

in truth, i do support a lot of what amnesty does, when i know what they do, but who is gonna stand up and say "i'm against human rights""i don't believe in human rights" even hitler wouldn't say that!

global peace and unity sounds like such an idealistic beautiful thing, but it DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING. can i unite with the owner of my company abt the opression of me and my coworkers? can i unite with the kkk to fight racism?

it's just nuts that people DON'T THINK DEEPER


==**peace**==

"baby,
I'd draw yuh bath
like Picasso..

pick you,
like fruit
off yuh family tree. &
eatcha' honeydew ass,
wet"

-Giovanni, rhythmic poet extraordinaire

i believe in education and empowerment through art. i believe that movements happen when ideas are set to music. bodies and people come together through dance and movement, eyes awaken in the face of a good movie, and whatever ya gotta say is useless unless you can use these tools to reach right into people

"The logic of divide and rule is still valid today." Capleton

DomePoem Poets; Vibe Nation; One ppl under the spoken word

Seems like the responses are saying that one should be picked over the other: Unite AGAINST what, or Unite FOR what. Well, I think it has to be a combination of those two elements. First, what are we uniting for? What are the aspects of this world, this society that we feel need to be corrected? Of course, like Poetx said, this is a great task in and of itself, because peoples views are always going to slightly differ somewhere down the line. Therefore, to piggyback off of what she said, pick something big that can't be argued with (mental enslavement, oppression, etc) and work your way down. Once their has been unification for that cause, then what must be looked at is who is to blame for this? It, of course, will not just be one person or one entity, but who shall we fight against to rectify this situation. Who are the powers that be, that keep these things going on in our world? That is the collaboration of those two things. First, find something in which you believe in, and unite for that. Then devise a plan of solution or attack against those who thrive off it. Does that make sense? Just my opinion...





~Peace





"I'm an Afrian, never was an African American..." - Dead Prez

>The fact remains that there IS
>NO common enemy.

Maybe the common enemy IS this system that America rests on. Maybe the common enemy is the fact that the same diseases affect everyone...whether they be AIDS or a lack of responsibility...they're all problems that affect everyone in one way or another. Maybe the common enemy is the people's lack of vision that keeps them from realizing that all of this politics bullshit won't last and isn't real. Maybe the common enemy is the fact that we as humans are decendants of warriors and hunters...all around self-suficient people that bought into convenience long ago and have since taken a downward spiral to what we are now. I could go on with these, but the fact is, there's plenty other than ourselves to fight.

Also, did you ever think that maybe the fact that there is no set common enemy is the very reason everyone should unite? If there's nothing to fight, there's no reason for the teams we have divided everyone into.

I agree that many people have turned it into empty rhetoric that's fun to say, but the basic idea that it started out as has a lot more merit than you give it.

8:35

http://www.mp3.com/835
http://www.mp3.com/forgottendialect
http://www.mp3.com/atedurdyjive

>>The fact remains that there IS
>>NO common enemy.
>
> Maybe the common enemy IS
>this system that America rests
>on.


What is "this system that America rests on"?

Capitalism for one. This media/Hollywood driven society for another.

Basically, I was referring to what was said about "European system that America rests on" or whatever it was he said.

8:35

http://www.mp3.com/835
http://www.mp3.com/forgottendialect
http://www.mp3.com/atedurdyjive

...sweatshops. :-)

Sorry, I'm trying to get a job with them next year.

As for unity, you're right. You don't unite AGAINST, you unite FOR.

In some of the best advice I've ever received, a community organizer told me that you never have enemies, and should never treat anyone as such.

Sometimes you'll be sitting on the same side of the table, sometimes opposite sides. But if you put all your energy into pushing FOR change instead of fighting AGAINST the oppressive power of the status quo (I know it's a fine line), you can get somewhere without dividing yourselves.

Alek

______________________________________
LEFT side of the bedroom, fool!
What?! What?!