 Hella black episode 153. We told you he's gonna be back be sure to go to our youtube youtube.com Slash hell black pot be sure to subscribe. You know I'm saying go to our patreon patreon.com Slash hell black pod subscribe on Apple podcast Subscribe on our SoundCloud wherever you get your podcast that we should be there family and if we ain't there just Go to our patreon and tell us, you know, so appreciate all the support all the love as always, you know We're gonna keep building this revolutionary content and we're gonna keep building people's programs, you know, I'm saying so Appreciate y'all supporting listening. We got a good another good episode another timely episode as it pertains to Oakland and you know this Idea of quote-unquote crime That is being pushed by the far right right these these fascist Understandings of what's happening and we're gonna try and give y'all some good insight What's really going on and give y'all some historical understanding to the conditions because I know we all collectively want You know a better Oakland a better a reality for for the people of Oakland. Hey, you know, I would say You know not just necessarily about crime, but I think like all just the current state of Oakland in general Yeah, and I would advise people go check out Episode 145, I think this that episode in this in tandem can help Y'all see like I guess like our full analysis on what's going on Right the current state of Oakland Continues to be at the center of pop culture and nationwide politics because of the excuse me because of the material conditions that are brought forth by the backwards system of capitalism and You know the exploitative conditions that it creates and I know I was talking to you yesterday like you know The town has been the focal point social media discussions anytime like viral videos from that Fair page Bay Area state of mind or Oakland state of mind Goes viral or why these snitch pages really I was telling you I can't remember what the person's name was I should have looked up before him, but there was another video where you had this this white woman This white racist fascist who was on on a news show saying like I think her exact words like Oakland's dead You know and then you know most recently the food critic Keith Lee Had to cut his trip short for a plethora reasons But one of them being you know He was just very distraught and I was like rightfully so we're seeing some of the conditions of it You know like what folks sleep on the street business to shut down cars burn people intense No shit that we see every day for real And so like these type of Only mention Keith Lee right this isn't Criticism of bro or that we really ain't gonna talk about him to that at all past this right, but just his Situation was the most recent catalyst for the town being in conversations once again being in the limelight in some sense You know for people, you know, so yeah for what's going on, but I do want to say you know I'm a sentence. I did invite bro to the our grocery program and our Breakfast program breakfast program, you know, I had the end of them then I reached out to Guap Who has been an avid supporter of people's programs whether it's The Klee check in 2020 whether it's him sponsoring a program. I want to say in 2021 whether it was Last year in 2020 2022-23 with him supporting tales of the town. So Guap has always been Guap that 4,000 so I'm referring to he has always been a supporter of people's programs and even just last month the holiday Study that cry baby So, you know, I had reached out to him because I know they got a little relationship But you should tell bro get involved, you know, Guap has been to a few of our programs But apparently, you know, he had allergic reaction to something and I think the food was just nasty to him too So he probably got a pot here But yeah, we want to continue to extend the invite to Keith Lee to come get involved people's programs The whole thing is a building community through food and that's going as well food and groceries and health care and farming Political education building. Yeah. And so bro. This seems genuinely concerned and I think through that It was some more like genuine conversations around what's going on in Oakland And so we wanted to just provide that analysis, right? Yeah and I think there it should be concerned right when you have just this past year and remind you These numbers come from OPD and a be lying But let's just consider them as the truth. See what the enemy is saying. We had 3600 cases of robbery 14,000 stolen cars and 118 homicides And you partner those with the stats of like thousands of people sleeping on the streets and in shelters every night I would definitely say that's like Calls for concern You know, I don't think anyone can disagree with that I think where the contradiction arises for like you and I is When people talk about the causalities of these conditions, they tend to miss the mark And as a result, they tend to miss the mark with the solution So I mean you are just going to try to do in briefly is provide some analysis so that Provide some analysis on the causalities provide some solutions to that we've seen right? Historically and through our own efforts with people's programs so that we can do Yaki says right Not hit the shadow but actually hit the body And I think yeah first it would do all our listeners some good as if we start to name the causalities of these conditions number one We already said it. It's what we see in Oakland today is the manifestation of Capitalism in its neoliberal form in the 21st century, right? We talked about neoliberalism in the past in the previous episode where you have the privatization of all sectors of society right the economy Shit electricity The schools right you see all these charter schools in Oakland and some could even argue that OPD is a private police force, right? But I digress You know we talk about Neoliberalism right you got to give our people words, you know like define this thing right here We live in a capitalist society and the capitalist society that we live in is in this neoliberal Neocolonial form neoliberalism being you know the practice and economic system that pushes the privatization of all sectors of society like we Just named right like a PG and E like the charter schools like OPD like the health care right that's a privatization, but also still pushes like civil and human rights It was just insane right you know I'm saying that's what you get We call that love here, you know We need more like that's the words that they use while pulling the trigger on the people and keeping people away from grocery stores and rising the cost of everything from rent from food from water to gas to Getting new tires because they don't invest in the streets, but they're gonna build bike lanes That cater to European Crowd that likes to ride bikes even though no African about building a scraper bikes all the time Brian bikes with the sound but they want to do it only when these new people come in under the guise of quote-unquote Equity and climate change and environmentalism, but we got to be real We got to be real, you know Hughie P. Newton talked about the Technocratic state that is being developed in the Bay Area in Oakland You feel me we've seen The Bay Area essentially be a hub for these tech companies these tech companies that are using technology and current technology for wars And then rising up the cost of living the cost of rent the cost of survival in Oakland in the greater Bay Area to where People sleeping on the streets and mass, you know you talk about black people were once Nearly 50% of the population in Oakland and now they say around 21% you know I'm saying that's probably it's probably even less than that Yeah, right. So again, we got to understand these conditions, you know, I'm saying of This town that has been such a small town, right? but the people here are being exploited at a rate that I think is Unimaginable in some ways, you know, I'm saying like a very small imagining such a small town in the heart of this Technological society you feel you feel me where People is being kicked out onto the streets people's being overpoliced hyperpoliced beat by the police shot by the police killed by the police Then you have a Quote-unquote people of color engaging in the city government You know I'm saying you got a mayor like Shang Tao who says she was about abolish the police who says she was about the Community but Shang Tao is talking about I'm in solidarity with the Oakland pig department. She's in solidarity with the Corporate killers you feel me of Oakland police, you know, I'm saying you have people saying abolish the police and they're gonna fix What's what's Auckland and create housing for all but then Doing what for West Auckland doing what for the people? Yeah, you know, so we got to understand this a neo-liberal Strategy of integrating Quote-unquote colonized people into the infrastructure of the city of Oakland government, but still doing the job For the Democrats doing the job for neoliberalism doing the job for for capitalism That's what's happening right now. You feel me where millions upon millions of dollars hundreds of millions of dollars is going to the police But they ain't doing nothing. They ain't solving nothing. You feel me they Providing resources right imagine of that opd budget was actually being truly invested in In the people in the infrastructure for people education Free housing free education Food programs health care programs how fundamentally different Oakland would be The reality is The oppressed always get blamed for being oppressed the oppressed always get blamed for Doing things that oppressed people do but we ain't actually Dealing with the foundation of the problem We ain't dealing with the foundation of this euro-american capitalist structure That breaks in mass profit Mass profit profit for euro-americans While colonized people are left fighting for crumbs colonized people is left fighting each other And then we have to take a personal responsibility as people who do want change as people who do understand the conditions And encourage people for change for positive Uh, revolutionary development, uh, to where we're actually, you know, I'm saying, uh, attacking, uh, the spider You feel me who's developed this web of oppression? Rather, we is just attacking ourselves And we ain't taking the web out in its entirety. We ain't taking out the the center of the exploit of the exploitation, you know So it's important for us to ground ourselves And the reality of the situation if we is truly invested in transforming the condition of our neighborhoods Transform the condition of the people, uh, to where all people have the right to food Housing water education, you know fit for human beings I think we harp so much on making sure people have a proper understanding and proper definition and proper analysis because If you aren't able to define your world, how are you going to be able to change it? Right and we can see that there's been a clear disconnect between how we've come to how the masses of people Let's just say an oak enough come to understand how we arrived at this point versus how we've actually gotten here, right? And so until we can actually I think uh, yaki says in his book meditations On a register of the earth, he says, you know, we should study everything we can about Uh class struggle, you know, I would urge our listeners to study everything they can on capitalism Right, like understand how this amoral system can only breed in a moral reality can only breed in a moral people Right, you just mentioned, uh The oppressed always get blamed for being a for being oppressed, right? So like Why wouldn't This city looked the way that it does why wouldn't people rob steal? kill When they are bred of an immoral system of capitalism that says, you know, y'all can do all this work And not reap the benefits of that work That says that we can take resources from wherever we want and then subject to people this nation was built on subjecting Uh indigenous people subjecting Africans to the way of life of europeans That's that's that's the same economic economic system that this country was founded on is the same economic system that governs it today houselessness burnt up cars robberies. This is just the manifestation of Pan-Europeanism of the euro-american ideology and practice in the 21st century That's all it is the same ideology and moral that allowed them to kill the indigenous people Put them on missions and then put us on slave ships and bring us here. That's what makes Healthcare not free. That's what makes thousands of people sleep on the streets Although there are thousands of our vacant units in Oakland. That's what makes uh, opd have a 700 million dollar budget For 2023 to 2025 and youth in parks and wrecks and youth development only has a 40 million You got an eight million dollar ground to a rapid housing fund. What if we just took Just 100 million from the police Like just 100 million head Royce Which is the affluent school in the oakland hills of uh, yeah the oakland hills Alone just last year alone. They spent 40 million On their school just last year alone In one year they spent 40 million on their students We we talking about spending eight million on an entire on the on the entire youth of oakland And it's mostly black and brown kids who come up through the youth in park wrecks Shit in Oakland where I used to go to center on line eight right, so it is again, uh until We actually form an analysis on how this thing this economic social economic political system we live in Uh creates all elements of our reality will continue to miss the head and one of the things that has coming up Based off the some of these videos like what are the city? What is the city doing the city is involved? So hate to break it to you. They're on it They're in on this thing the city is the one that decided the eight million dollars goes to rapid housing fund 40 million goes to parks and wrecks 700 million goes to the pigs The city decided that Our elected officials, you know like and so we can say that the people decided that the people who voted you decided that right We we we put them in charge we about what to happen by not transforming the condition You know what i'm saying like that's where I say right we have to have that personal responsibility Right because a lot of times Because of the way the society has indoctrinated us to believing in it What we do the first thing that we do is we mimic our oppressors Right you're talking about robbing stealing and killing. What do our oppressors do? At the highest at the biggest height of it all that rob They steal and kill Right at a level that the oppressed do not do obviously, right? But in many ways we mimic that uh through our conditions, right? So when you talk about ideology Right and why we harp so much on being being able to identify our conditions and having a proper understanding Is because we understand that thought predates action You feel me we have a colonial mentality Which is why we're treating each other shit in a terrible way You feel me that's why we have to transform from a colonial mentality to a revolutionary mentality Where we see and identify the problems and then be able to take a responsibility For the problems then once we take that responsibility Then it's incumbent upon us to make the change that we want to see in the streets So okay now I know better. So what am I going to do? I'm going to work to do better and transform the conditions. You know what i'm saying So I think it's very important that we have Again that proper ideology and why we stress You know, I'm saying this essentially a lot of times what we talk about is like having that What does that revolution look like to rid that colonial mentality into develop a Revolutionary mentality that is Guided by communalism that is guided by egalitarianism that is guided by Loving yourself and loving your brother and loving your sister and wanting to see The liberation of the human family You know like we really have to get and to develop a certain ethos A certain code, you know, I'm saying if we talk about pop and thug life You feel me was developing a certain ethos a certain culture and a certain code Uh between crypts and bloods, you know, I'm saying so that there's a Uh a standard operating procedure of how you conduct your business You know, I'm saying we got to get back to The roots of that and create certain codes in the community to where there's ways that we handle things You know where that becomes a part of A revolutionary culture that is being developed that is combating the ways that european Euro-american colonization settler colonialism and imperialism has indoctrinated us and to becoming human beings Not even human beings to becoming human beings who were then essentially cattle like cows in These european cowboys come up and put us in a certain direction and say go over here Now go over there now go do this now go do that now go work here now give us all your profits Now you ain't done that. Oh now we're coming for you here. You went against the code now you're getting locked up here Now you're working making sense on the dollar so It's important for us to engage in uh a personal transformation if we don't engage in that personal transformation Take personal responsibility. How are we going to engage in some type of social transformation of our society? Which we all want to see happen. You know I don't know. I mean with it being an election year. I do know. I think we should uh, we talked about the causes, right? inhumane ideology inhumane economic system Bad budgets, right? We talked about the problems now. I think we should talk about solutions and with it being an election year We should approach this as if you was on your campaign So what do you propose as the solutions to addressing some of the inequality the inequities and inhumane Manifestations of capitalism. Well, you see here my dear brother You got to vote you got to pick yourself up by your bootstraps about now, but uh Realistically we have to Again, it's kind of repeating some of the points that we had earlier. We have to have an understanding of self or understanding of history Uh to be able to understand who's for us and who's against us What is for us and what is against us, right? So if we understand what is for us, it's the people, right? It's the masses of people Developing revolutionary consciousness to be able to transform their abilities and to be able to essentially become our own liberators to where we have full political social economic Military control of our own livelihoods and of our own communities We understand right now that we don't have control of our own communities We're in an election year a presidential election year where we're essentially having to vote for two evils Either joe biden or donald trump right Poison is poison evil is evil The decision is already being made Uh by the powers that we don't even have any type of voice any type of uh choice To be able to choose who becomes the so-called commander in chief The so-called president of the united snakes of america self economy. We have no Uh, quote-unquote democratic participation in choosing who becomes the next leader It's a fact. So the question then arises is how do we have daily participation? Because that's what politics is is a daily participation uh in a society that transforms Either it could either transform or deform your way of life You know for us as revolutionaries as uh revolutionary humanists as people who believe in egalitarianism We want the people to become and control their own destiny We want people to be able to control and seize their own destiny Which means that we have to control the land We have to free the land and free the resources from this hyper exploitation of this technocratic state that we is in of this State that is taking all the resources all the natural resources and exploiting us You feel me to where we're having people are having to work in this gig economy And you feel me work hours upon hours Uh, and there's new factory that's on your app to where you sign up and now you're become a gig economy worker You feel me wall, uh, you feel me the corporate elites is just making the mass profits. So ultimately we have to decide A if we Transform city council. What does that what does that mean? You know at least in the basics of Oakland I would say for me I always go back to When bobby seal was running from there Right Bobby seal did not get elected. That was at the height essentially the height of The black pen the part of being in Oakland, right? Of being able to develop black political power quote unquote through the electoral realm that failed That was you feel me that was decades ago. So if that failed then why do we think that? Joining this system That is committing genocide against black brown and indigenous people Will be the vehicle for social change Instead we got to understand that the vehicle for social change Must be the people must be the masses Of people living in oakland deciding how our day-to-day reality is going to be governed The system of settler colonialism and their bourgeoisie institutions will never be for the people It was never designed for be to be for the people we're living under a government Of european american slaveholding white men who had the teeth of enslaved africans in their mouth Who are dictating the day-to-day agenda Of this country still hundreds of years, you know over a hundred plus years later still dictating it Right, so that is the foundation Of our oppression than the people and a mass movement of people Revolutionary humanists deciding that it is our human right to be free We must be in our communities developing actual autonomy actual infrastructure to where we say we collaborate this block in west oakland here Everybody is fed there's child care. There's groceries. You feel me Water's being you feel me there's education right where we can free that block then we say, okay Now we free this block in north oakland now these two blocks is cooperating with each other You feel me we might have a bigger farm here and they might have aquaponics over there We giving them more lettuce. They're giving us more shrimp They're giving us more salmon. We're giving them more chickens and we have that spirit of cooperation Because we want for our brother what we want for ourselves We want for our fellow human being what we want for another human being right then we take that liberated zone There you're freeing land here freeing land there And then being able to protect our communities You feel me where we developed that revolutionary code You know and we begin freeing other other neighborhoods, you know, I'm saying and then it becomes this natural positive force Uh to our other neighborhoods like hey, how do we get a part of this? You know, so it's uh And ain't an easy solution It's gonna require hard work And dedication, but all of it's feasible if we is truly committed to uh Seeing the best of humanity So as someone you know for you being here your whole life and having uh generations of family, you know here in oakland um Yeah, what does it mean for you to keep Keep the faith, you know, despite seeing this condition of oakland and having this historical understanding Of the history of oakland I'm not when we do like the tells of the town screening you you talk about it a lot in terms of uh One one understand history um and what people have gone through uh App let's say like africans have gone through historically like how could we be like jaded or Become pessimistic around our conditions right starts to feel like what you say is like a speck of sand, you know and so when I Pair that with the fact that like I just have a faith in humanity. Thus I have faith in oakland You know, I I really don't know where all this pessimism came from, you know, maybe it's what happens when People have been subjected to these conditions for too long, right? Um But statistically speaking like we have seen worse, right? Um In 2012 we have 4338 robberies and 127 homicides In 2006 we had 145 homicides and at that time, you know, I was on a bus in bar to back and forth from shit damn near deep east oakland to Berkeley for school every day walk around on the functions all this shit And I never felt scared when I was outside and I don't remember like my family being scared, you know, like It's just I don't know. Yeah, like we've seen worse, right? But I think like that kind of fear and helplessness Is what happens when the people forget who they are and that's why we talk about history being so important, right? Like black people have clearly forgotten that uh When we wanted to see a change in oakland We've organized and fought to see that change, right? We ain't wait on the city and we for damn show ain't wait on the pigs, right? Uh, and I think What I hope we can do with people with people's programs and start to help lend to like that spirit of self-determination back You know really embody what jaleel says and in terms of us being our own liberators Uh, right when black kids we talked about the breakfast program in a previous episode, right? But when black kids were starving going to school starving and uh, that impacted their ability to learn what the black practice They fed them When kids were getting ran over at busy intersections with the black panthers do they put up stoplights when the black panthers realized that the Groceries being provided being the welfare programs are not enough to satiate the diets of the communities What do they do they organize free breakfast programs? um This is what we have to get back to right, um But it ain't just enough to have a dozen progress It ain't just enough to have these programs because there are a dozen of them, right in oakland Dozen hot meal programs dozen grocery programs Right. Uh, we need the correct analysis and ideology, right? And so, um Just by seeing the way that our organizations just by seeing the way that you and I have grown as individuals Uh, seeing the way that our organization has grown as a collective in the way that the members of this collective and volunteers of this Collective have grown. How could I not have like I've seen change happen every day You feel me like I've seen change happen every day How could I not have seen yourself being a part of it and you seen yourself? Come on. So how could I not have faith? right, uh But I think when you have faith mixed with a real scientific strategy and analysis Then this is where we can get to what you're talking about having like a liberated community and a community that's um steeped in the respect for human life and That respect being embedded In the institutions and organizations that govern our community, right? Uh, so yeah, just having that faith and now we got to just do a much better job of reorienting and reeducating our people Because when people Are still relying on a city that has told you year in and year out first comes the police Then comes everything else. It's time for us to take heed to what they just the age Oh, say it when somebody shows you who you are who they are the first time believe them They've shown us over and over the city has where their allegiance lies It's just I made that just crazy like been doing this since the town was found quote unquote founded by The settlers, you know, and so I think uh, we just You know what I'm always saying it's the organization's fault It's anybody who claims to have an understanding of the dollar Whoever who who claims to have an understanding of material reality It's the personal responsibility that we got to take, you know And so I say like if we want to see some change, you know, we got to continue to build the organization To organize and struggle my shit is frozen. But hopefully there's like some uh dope little Graphics that Jacqueline can put over this. Yeah, uh, but yeah, that's that's what I was saying So I just encourage people to not lose the faith if you are actually devoted Start thinking about how you can get involved like get offline tweeting and complaining all day Get off instagram get off bay area state of mind get off oakland state of mind and get into the streets And do something like put your state of mind in the streets And I'm gonna be right there with you at people's programs, you know, if you you know, so That's that's what I propose to sign up come volunteer come build with us people's programs.com you feel me Yeah, support the people building Building these programs for the people and you know, there ain't a organization like people's programs in your old cal Hit us up You feel me and we'll give you any advice that we have and Creighton it and the manual analysis y'all manuals also We are our only brothers by Jolene Winterkeem. He wrote it all down for us Please you feel me then we got a part of that science To our reality day in and day out, you know, I'm saying Reclassed struggle in Africa by Kwame and Kuma too if you want to just get like a little basic understanding of capitalism And some of the morals and values and the systemic processes like just read that we're gonna move to those Episode 153 soundcloud apple podcast patreon. Please please please go support our patreon. You know, could we hold a dollar? We hold five dollars real quick support the podcast support the production of this podcast You know it costs money to do this. So uh, please support us patreon.com slash held by power for the people for your land