by C5Damani (old head of the movement)
“How refreshing to consume words that have meaning and depth. In the great and honored tradition of wisdom literature and if there is anything that could be called instant wisdom, ‘nigga notes & quotes’ fills that void. This book may be the finest book of quotes, anecdotes, sayings and sage bromides any people struggling for human dignity and liberation will ever read.”
Tanomar Akili Muumba
Black Poet Activist (Rest in Power)
when describing “nigga notes & quotes”*
– day four –
So about the Amber Guyger conviction and the resulting emotional eruption of anger and outrage. Was this outrage about the lenient sentencing of the convicted murderer? Was the outrage about the unfair and unequal justice given to black defendants? Was it even about another black man killed by a racist cop? To all three questions, I answer; for some maybe, for most, sad to say – Not at all. The outrage, anger and hostility was mainly or entirely about the response of compassion and/or forgiveness by the family, the presiding judge, and even the deputy in the court.
“…few are qualified to help, none are qualified to condemn”.
author forgotten
1) the family – when murder victim Botham Jean’s brother asks the judge could he step out his chair (where he was making an impact statement) and hug the murderer of his brother, people, mostly, especially black people lost their collective minds, calling him an uncle Tom, a coon, a house nigger, a sell out, a brainwashed fool, even insinuating that their might be something romantic or sexual between him and Ms. Guyger. Why? Because he acted out of his conscience and forgave the person who murdered his brother. Outrageous! Yet, how many of these black commentators spent any time helping the family through their grief and sorrow, their anger and pain. I would guess, none. And, if I’m correct in my assumption, how does this attack on the family help their recovery from this tragedy? It doesn’t. It only adds to their suffering. Most of these angry commentators are not concerned about the feelings of the family, only about their own feelings of revenge and some subjective concepts of how the family should have responded with the appropriate sense of shared righteous anger. They (the outrage commentators) feel betrayed and aggrieved, hence they lash out at the family for not being sufficiently outraged as they are. They (the outrage commentators) have become no more than…
“…little men (and women) with big grudges, equally divided between their hate for the enemy and dislike for each other”.
author forgotten
2) the judge – next to the family, the attack on judge is most vicious. Why did she get off the bench to hug the convicted murderer? It was totally inappropriate, they said. How many black murderers has she hugged? Her motives were then questioned. She’s running for re-election and is endorsed by the Dallas police department, that’s why, they opine. She’s a house nigger, (“what’s the matter boss, we sick!?”). Sad, sad. However, the reality of what she really did paints a completely different picture. What actually happened is that she got off the bench to commiserate with the family and hugged and cried with each one of the family members. On her way back to the bench, in her emotional state, Amber Guyger reached for her arm and she gave her a hug in return. The full story should, but probably won’t, temper the outrage.
“…we must be careful of what we say that antagonizes, alienates, isolates and divides us from each other.”
Dia Damani
3) the deputy – not much anger thrown her way, she’s just an add-on to bolster the case that black people are psychologically damaged and have a slave mentality which leads to a worship of white people and a white God (Jesus). Despite all protestations to the contrary, we really have little faith in our people. And faith in our people is the indispensable quality we need, to continue our struggle against our oppressors. Without that faith we will not be victorious.
“…we must remember that the people are one mystery and that the person is another. A failure to respect the person so dangerously limits one’s perception of the people that one runs the risk of betraying them and oneself, either by sinking to the apathy of cynical disappointment, or rising to the rage of knowing better than the people do, what the people want.”
James Baldwin
*Since most of these quotes were collected prior to 1985 it means some of the authors of these quotes, I have simply forgotten… blame old age! (Ha) When the author is known, I will indicate it. When an author is not indicated, please forgive me and understand. Furthermore, this collection of quotes was first started as a personal endeavor never meant to be shared publicly thus the reason why some authors may not be indicated.