Message To Black and Other Oppressed Communities Of Color: Silence Is Our Enemy; Sound Is Our Weapon!

In 1946, Martin Niemoller, a prominent Lutheran pastor in Germany during the 1920’s and early 1930’s, articulated the analytical assessment of his historical context this way, “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

A short time later in 1958, an esteemed African pastor, living in amerikkka, the Right Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. published his book entitled “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story”. In it, Dr. King sagaciously stated, “the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”

Black and other oppressed communities of color in amerikkka are living through a precarious and perilous time because of white supremacy, capitalism, and a fascist amerikkkan government that is out of control.

Two out of the three co-equal branches of the federal government are failing us and the third one is standing on shaky ground. The executive and the legislative branches, which are controlled by the Republican Party, are each failing to perform their respective duties under the U.S. Constitution.

The executive branch of the U.S. government is led by a convicted criminal named Donald Trump who abides in lawlessness and who has an affinity for lawbreakers. Among his closest friends are convicted pedophiles, rapists, thieves, sex traffickers, and hoes. In spite of running on the campaign promise that if elected, he would clean up the swamp of corruption in Washington politics and release the Epstein files, the Trump administration has instead become the swamp of corruption in Washington politics. Trump has utilized his Attorney General bleach blonde barbie Bondi to keep the Epstein files from ever being seen in the light of day by the American public. And the Republican Party has the unmitigated gall to refer to itself as the party of law and order. What they actually are is the party of scoundrels and scumbags who are full of shit. Via racist gerrymandering in the Red (Republican) states, Trump is orchestrating the dilution of the voting rights of Black and other oppressed communities of color in order to maintain Republican control of the legislative branch of the federal government after the midterm elections in 2026. Trump is raising tariffs on nations around the world who are friends and foes which will cause U.S. taxpayers to pay more in the form of taxes on parts/products imported from other countries which will further increase the rate of inflation and harm the U.S. economy. Trump is utilizing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, employed by the federal government, as his personal “gestapo force” to illegally harass, terrorize, and deport immigrants in this country without due process. 

Trump has bullied media organizations into firing news commentators and late night TV show hosts whose criticism, of Trump and his fascist administration, hurt his fragile feelings. The Trump administration has gone to great lengths to repress the First Amendment rights of the citizenry of the United States who dare to speak out against him and his administration’s wicked authoritarian policies. 

The executive branch of the federal government is failing us because of the aforementioned reasons above and because it inches closer each day towards eradicating democracy and inaugurating authoritarianism.

As a result of Trump’s “Big Ugly Bill” that was passed by the Republicans in the legislative branch of the U.S. government (Congress), the federal government is slashing the funding to everything that benefits the proletariat  (working) class in amerikkka but has cut the taxes of the bourgeois (capitalist) class in amerikkka. This “Big Ugly Bill” legislation includes deep cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This means fewer benefits, stricter eligibility, and less emergency allotment support. This legislation will drastically impact the number of poor children getting free breakfast and lunch at public schools across this country. Because Trump has nothing but racist, incompetent, capitalistic PIGS around him, they thought these cuts to SNAP would primarily be hurting Black and other oppressed communities of color who live in urban communities. Instead these cuts to SNAP will be hurting more White people who live in rural communities. Ironically, it is the White people in rural communities who voted overwhelmingly to put Trump into the Whacked (white) House for a second term. 

On average in fiscal year 2024, about 41.7 million people participated in SNAP per month. That represents about 12.3% of the U.S. population. SNAP is the largest federal nutrition assistance program, accounting for about 70% of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) nutrition-assistance spending. Among the participants in SNAP, 42% are adults aged 18-59, 39% are children under age 18, and 19% are adults aged 60 or older. Thus the SNAP program serves a mix of working-age adults, children, and older adults. According to the USDA, the racial demographics of those receiving SNAP benefits are as follows: 35.3% are White, 26% are Black, 15.1% are Hispanic, 3.7% are Asian, 1.4% are  Native-American, and 17% are “race unknown”. Even though non-White groups are overrepresented relative to their share of the U.S. population in many cases as a result of white supremacy and capitalism, White recipients remain the largest single racial group who are participants in SNAP. 

The legislative branch of the federal government (Congress) is failing us because it has deferred its responsibilities to the executive branch of the federal government and serves as a rubber stamp to the narcissistic retributive impulses of the Obese Orange Oppressor (Trump).

After the governors of various states in the Disunited States of amerikkka stood up to Trump, as a result of the catastrophic impact to their respective citizens, for the purpose of filling in the gap for the SNAP benefit payments that had been halted by the federal government, the Tangerine Tyrant (Trump) requested that the U. S. Supreme Court stop the governors from aiding the citizens in their states who are about to go hungry because they have no food. Who does that but a Devil from the pit of hell who hates humanity? Punk Ass Bitch!

The phrase "silence is our enemy, and sound is our weapon" was coined by Janelle Monáe as a rallying cry against injustice, particularly police brutality. This rallying cry is apropos to Black and other oppressed communities of color in amerikkka during this precarious and perilous time because white supremacy, capitalism, and an out of control fascist amerikkkan government is brutally unjust to US. 

The question to US is, “What are we going to do about it?” When confronted by precarious and perilous times, intelligent people should always analyze history to discern what similarly situated people in the past did when they were confronted by similarly situated circumstances that mirror the current circumstances of today. And wise people ask themselves sagacious questions about the experiences of people in the past and the decisions they made when they confronted situations similar to what we are confronting currently. They ask themselves questions like: What did people in the past do to ameliorate their conditions? How did taking this course of action in the past work out for them? As a result of the outcome produced in the past by them taking this course of action that they took, could they have made a better choice that would have possibly produced a better outcome? In light of the lesson gleaned from this history, what should we do today?

The history lesson that Martin Niemoller, Dr. King, and Janelle Monáe would have us learn today is that "silence is our enemy, and sound is our weapon”. When we see injustice perpetrated against ourselves and others, we have a moral responsibility to call it out and confront it. 

Martin Niemoller would remind us that when we see the oppressor come for someone who doesn’t: look like us; worship like us; share the same gender as us; love like us; share the same economic class as us; or identify as we do, and we don’t say anything about it or confront the oppressor about it today, we are behaving cowardly and foolishly because that same oppressor, if not neutralized, will come for us tomorrow.

Dr. King would remind us that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it“.

In her song “Hell You Talmbout”, Janelle Monáe reminds us that we have an obligation to challenge the status quo by giving a voice to the victims of brutality and injustice or we are complicit ourselves.

My beloved Comrades, Brothers, and Sisters, we must organize ourselves to combat white supremacy, capitalism, and an out of control fascist amerikkkan government. Organization decides everything and disorganization decides nothing but guarantees the perpetuation of the status quo. It is the masses that make history not individuals. Therefore, if you’re not in an organization that is fighting for justice, I encourage you to join one. If there are no existing organizations that are in alignment with your values, I encourage you to create a new organization that is aligned with your values and that will be fighting for justice.

Organize, Organize, Organize!

Marinate on that!

Ready For Revolution 

All Power To The People!!!