The Nikki-Baldwin interview - Part 1

The history of the black family in the diaspora is as complicated as it is sad. The black man and woman were sold into slavery - an act which in the eyes of many African traditional authorities at the time wasn't wrong, since many advanced methods of doing work had not been discovered at the time. The challenge was the form of slavery that took place, particularly amongst many Western imperialist powers at the time.

The only way, at least in the eyes of most Western powers, to perpetuate slavery even in the event of it being disbanded or outlawed, was to reduce the slave into an animal. That version of man had no past, no heritage, no value system other than what was given to him by the slaver. Once there was no apparent alternative to the brutalities being faced in Europe or the Americas, the black man had to painfully give up his revolutionary past of justice and equality for all and accept this new reality.

This artificial reality although not making any sense, was carefully engineered by many imperial powers at the highest level. They promulgated theories such as; the idea that the black man had a naturally lower Intelligence Quotient (IQ) than other races, the idea of the black woman being naturally promiscuous and hyper-sexual, the idea of the black man having no history of science, politics and innovation, amongst many others. These had being accepted until such a point when these hate ideologies became an actual reality. The black man who was before, merely an accomplice of the crime of self hatred, had now become the mastermind, the culprit of it.

And sadly, this reality had crept into the black man's family. This fact was beautifully pointed out in a two-part interview on a television station called; WNET in the series, Soul (a series of conversations detailing the black experience in America and the struggle for racial and gender equality) between Nikki Giovanni and James Baldwin in 1971, and recorded in London. Despite the many lines of thought expressed in this very consequential conversation, this point stood out all too well to me.

The Honorable Elijah Mohammed, one of the early leaders of the Nation of Islam, (a radical black muslim movement, formed in 1930 which was formed to work towards the dignity and freedom of the black man in the United States of America), said that in order for the black man to be free and take his place on the world stage, first he had to love himself and then love his brother, then he would be able to do for himself what no imperialist would ever dream of doing for him; that is, bringing real development, wealth and prosperity into his hands.

At the family level, the black man had to ensure that in order not to be kicked out of work and starve himself and his family to death, he had to tolerate a lot of things including; working under harsh environments both in terms of the physical work environment and the emotional treatment he was given. He was also often not well compensated, but at least the crumbs from his employer (often times a white employer) was just enough to stay alive. This built-up anger and bitterness was unfortunately passed unto his wife and children; the most vulnerable people within the societal unit. James Baldwin tried to point out that it was impossible for a man under such conditions to feign a smile or act as though all was fine.

Nikki Giovanni thought otherwise, she felt that the future of the children was to be prioritised above the man's bitter feelings. According to her, the black man together with the woman under must see to it that the child is trained properly granting that child the suitable foundation needed for life.

To be very honest, it is impossible to pick a side in this discourse. This is the sort of conversation where both sides provide very valid points until a superior argument is reached. Of course, this is not to validate toxicity in the black household but I think this should help one understand the foundations of the problems of blacks and how to properly solve them or at least contribute to them being solved.

Shalom.