The New Black Panther Party... UGH.

I think I will pass on killing cracker babies (or any other babies for that matter) and I wish Samir Shabazz would stop suggesting that I do so…

New Black Panther member and Philadelphia chapter leader,(King) Samir Shabazz, has been under much scrutiny as of late regarding his hateful statements at this year's Odune Day Festival in Philadelphia, PA and his alleged voter intimidation in 2008. In no uncertain terms, Shabazz has declared that blacks should "kill cracker babies" and he has denounced black men for their relationships with white women. After the media gained access to Samir's statements and began designating The New Black Panther Party as the African American version of the KKK, Malik Zulu Shabazz, the NBPP leader, spoke on Geraldo at Large about his fellow Black Panther. Brother Malik stated that Samir Shabazz was his brother and he was working with Samir to help rectify his actions. I was quite pleased to hear Brother Malik speak so lovingly and admit that, while Samir Shabazz's approach may not be the best, he was still his brother and was in the process of reformation. It all sounded so nice on Geraldo at Large and I really believed Brother Shabazz until…

On Saturday I attended the Ma'at Festival, sponsored and organized by Pearl of Africa (624 South Street, Philadelphia). The festival was held in Malcolm X Park (Osage Ave, Philadelphia) and it was incredible- there were great performers (featuring The Last Poets), wonderful people and a vibe of unity and love. Black people came out in peace to enjoy live entertainment, vendors and the love of one another. Many of the local black organizations worked together to make the event a success. One organization in particular, the New Black Panther Party, made their presence especially known, with each member dressed in all black, moving around the park with stiff militancy. The NBP members acted as security for The Last Poets and took the stage after The Last Poet's perfomance to spreading their pro-black agenda.

As one who is all for the progressiveness of her people, I found it hard to follow the NBPs. They (mainly Samir Shabazz) were on stage ranting and raving about "the peckerwood this" and "the peckerwood that" while reliving African American atrocities of the past. They made it clear that they are against the enemy (the white man) and will assert their stance wherever, whenever and however they like. They completely disrespected the white people in attendance by calling them 'peckerwoods' and by proclaiming that whites should never feel comfortable in the presence of black people. The NBPs rant went on and on, assumedly for the purpose of uplifting black people, and did not end until Samir Shabazz reasserted that cracker babies should be killed and a low quality hip hop song was performed. To say the least, even though I was in a crowd that was approximately 98% Black/Latino I felt embarrassed by the things that Samir Shabazz said. I was disgusted and appalled.  He did not uplift me, he did not teach me, and he did not inspire me.  He was a complete waste of my time.

There were many in the audience who were pleased with Samir's performance and screamed "Black Power" with pride.  I watched people nod in agreement with Samir's propaganda and declarations of war and wondered if they really knew how detrimental this man was to our community and the society at large. I wondered if they knew that promoting hate while claiming that you are promoting love is nothing more than a game played by unintelligent propagators. I began to wonder why I was even still at a festival that thought it was ok for Samir Shabazz to gallivant across a makeshift stage pumping negativity into the minds of the attendees.

Anyone with common sense should know this--- negativity does not promote positive change. It can only create negative change which is the complete opposite of what we are fighting for.

Here's an example… New reporting on race relations has changed over the past 2—4 months.  There have been a lot of negative occurrences in the realm of US race relations that have subsequently resulted in negative representations of race relations in the media. If we want to combat the negative forces against people of color in this nation, we have to do it intelligently and diplomatically. If you run around talking about killing cracker babies, you might just find a couple nigga babies murdered as a result of your stupidity. People, no matter their race, do not take kindly to threats.

People of color do not hold much power in this country. We do not determine what will be reported on the news and ultimately, we do not determine how we will be depicted in other forms of media. While we are working toward gaining more power in places that will best suit our progressive development, we have to be careful what we say and what we do. We will not get anywhere by spreading hate because the ones that we supposedly 'hate' are the ones with the power. If we spread hate about them, how are we supposed to get the power? Just like the NBPP, I believe that we are at war and we must fight if we wish to win. However, the war that we are fighting is not a physical one. Therefore, we cannot bum-rush the offices of the powers-that-be and expect to take control by kicking them out and declaring the world ours. That will not work. We have to be intelligent, thoughtful and careful; otherwise we will surely lose the on battlefield.

I do hope that Brother Malik understands that Samir Shabazz is a detrimental component of the NBPP. I want to support the organizations of my people but I CANNOT support people like Samir Shabazz. If this man remains allowed to speak in his current manner as a member of the NBPP, I will begin to believe that his words and actions are those of the entire NBPP and I will completely turn my back on the organization. If Brother Malik Shabazz has any concern for his organization, his people, and the legacy of Brother Khalid Muhammad, he would pull (King) Samir Shabazz from position so that the NBPP may gain a more reputable image. Something has to change…