Resisting Oppression: From Kunte Kinte to Malcolm X - Paperback

by Abu Jamal Teague (Author)

This book constitutes a comprehensive study of the history of oppression, its objectives, nature, progression and consequences from the initiation of slavery in Africa to the introduction of this unique form of slavery to the Western world to its festering in the heat of the Southern United States. In a companion analysis, this study details the incessant confrontation taking place vis- -vis oppression, occurring at the individual and collective level, and the unrestrained actions of the oppressors to counteract resistance. This resistance began when the first African killed a European or lost his life to avoid enslavement. The examination proceeds through a process of resistance, from the enslavement of Africans, through the Middle Passage, through American Slavery, through what the study calls the War of Variations on an Ideological Theme - the Civil War - through the period of Reconstruction (of Oppression) to the Civil and Human Rights movement at the time of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Since resisting oppression involves change, the examination begins with analysis of the process of change, resulting in a theory of change with three components: exigency, articulation and action. After exploring the causes and initial consequences of the European slave trade, the study describes the European attempt to effectively implement an oppressor-oppressed relationship by redefining both parties (and reconstructing the oppressed) to fit the unnatural objective sought. This is characterized as a perversion of reality. The study then observes how some Black people permitted their reconstruction, with the concept of the "free Negro" as the enticing illusion. Black Nationalism, defined as "The Reality" is posited as a response to this attempt to pervert reality. The concerted and continuing attempts to co-opt Nationalism are discussed, revealing its continuing historic presence. Considerable narrative is devoted to exploring the concepts advanced by Malcolm X, with the clear implication that these concepts underlie a successful process of resisting oppression. Kunte Kinte gave us the idea and Brother Malcolm perfected it. The study posits that theological beliefs can counteract oppression. It details the initiation of Liberation Theology in Latin American, accompanied temporally by Black Liberation Theology, as well as Minjung Theology from Korea and Dalit Theology from India. This examination ends with an assessment of the inherent opposition to oppression by the Islamic Belief System and the efficacy of this system in resisting oppression. One profound issue remains, however. Positing that the historic Black Nationalism which Brother Malcolm espoused - emphasizing Black control of the social, economic and political forces which define our destinies - is the key to resisting oppression and further posit that the Islamic Belief system - which only differentiates people based upon their piety - contains the theological basis for this resistance, the question emerges: are they consonant or dissonant? The last chapter of the study provides the theoretical and theological basis for the reader to answer this question for herself or himself. The book is dedicated to two sisters who outstandingly typify the successful resisting of oppression. Harriet Tubman freed herself and then - with eminent success - dedicated herself to assisting others in achieving their freedom. Rosa Parks, through an act of extreme courage and self-sacrifice, set in motion a sequence of events which mobilized a community and resulted in the overturning of an oppressive system of segregated transportation. These sisters profoundly establish that resisting oppression is everyone's job, not just a man's job. Again, it is everyone's job; it is not just the job of the oppressed. Martin Luther King, Jr. expressed it best: "The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good peop