The digital airwaves are filled with #GeorgeFloyd. George Floyd being the latest, highly publicised, caught-on-camera case of police brutality against black people in America. This case, unfortunately, led to the death of an unarmed man who was pleading for his life. George Floyd, like all of the Almighty’s creations, was special, but he was not special in his circumstances. He is among a long list of brutalised and murdered black people at the hands of white police officers who were oppressive and racist.

Donald Trump’s presidency — for whatever reason you would like to give — has seen the rise of a new Third Reich in America. Adolf Hitler’s legacy is strong and thriving! The fascists, racists, and crazies have come out like never before!

The times also make me think of the expression “The south shall rise again!” A phrase which was associated with the desired return of white supremacy and the domination of blacks in America after the defeat of the Confederates in the American Civil War. As unbelievable as it may seem, there are many who still carry a grudge over this defeat. A defeat that ended the systemic enslavement of black people.

Let’s bring ourselves back to 2020. The world has changed dramatically, there have been great advances in technology and education, and America’s president before Donald Trump was a black man. Who would have ever thought! However, it almost seems that Donald Trump is a deliberate counter-narrative to try and extinguish the fact that the “White House” was occupied and led by a black leader.

What has changed in America since the days of the Civil War, Hitler, Jim Crow, and the reign of terror by the Ku Klux Klan, etc? I argue that, although much has changed, much has remained the same. Blacks and other minorities in America are under an existential threat. The machinery of the United States is still well oiled towards the oppression and murder of blacks. The police in America, arguably America’s biggest gang, is also debatably one of America’s biggest weapons against blacks.

The George Floyd situation, as is the case when these rather unfortunate incidents are highlighted, also puts a spotlight on many other related incidents that are just as serious or heinous that have taken place in close proximity to one another. Can you imagine how many of these cases/incidents did not make the news or were covered up? It is scary to imagine. It is also scary to imagine myself visiting America as a “person of colour”. I fear for all my family, relatives, and friends in America who also fit into this category. It is clear that no person of colour is truly safe. Innocence, education, and economic status are irrelevant. “Once a n*gg*r, always a n*gg*r” is a chant that the white supremacist holds dear.

What have our brothers and sisters and the anti-racist supporters learned in America? I am not convinced that they have truly learned from their history/historical data. Here’s what I mean. Where in America’s history have blacks got any rights through discussion alone? America’s abolitionist movement and the American Civil War was won through blood, sweat, and tears. Many gave their lives, both black and non-black, to achieve freedom from oppression and brutality. During segregation people had to fight and die.

The life of George Floyd and the countless others like him must stand as a rallying cry just as is happening now. However, I want to remind both my black and non-black brothers and sisters in America that the true revolutionary must be prepared to give their life for the cause. In America, now, it is true revolutionaries who will define the moment and change history.

Let us look at history as a whole. Where in history has a subjugated, dominated, or trampled on people been able to free themselves from oppression by only discussion, protesting, boycott, and legislation? History is filled with examples of people from different parts of the world who have had to fight for their freedom — South Africa, Bosnia, ancient Rome, Haiti, Jamaica, ancient Egypt, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ireland, and the list goes on and on.

My mother — after sharing with her an excerpt from this article — said that I must be careful with this piece of writing. I asked her if it is because I should be concerned about the Trumpists taking away my visa to go to America? She said yes. I said to her that advances in technology, transport, and shipping allow me the luxury of not stepping foot in America for the truest value it has to me — shopping! At the click of a button, because of services like MD Courier, CheckOut Shipping, ShipMe, and countless others, I can get all that I desire right where I am in Jamaica. My closest family and friends (in America) are all from Jamaica, Guyana, and the Caribbean, and they can always return home. So I would see them! Martin Luther King Jr was one of the greatest men that ever lived, but the current times call for Malcolm X.

In the same conversation with my mother, she put to me that if all the blacks and minorities on whose backs America was built had put the same efforts and energies into building their ancestral homelands, these places would be the economic powerhouses of the world. We are blessed in Jamaica not to have to face these racial challenges like in today’s America. God bless the spirit of Nanny of the Maroons and may her revolutionary legacy stand watch over our island.

However, I have long heard a rumour that there are white Jamaicans that live here and harbour anti-black sentiments. White Jamaicans are a rare breed, but do exist. I have never had any encounters with any I know to be racist, but it was confirmed by a very close friend that they are out there and make these displays in private among themselves. This is the only place it will remain. This country will never tolerate that openly. Never! Jamaica — and some may disagree — is a black country where black no longer reflects just the majority of the people in this country, but it is a consciousness held by almost all.

I am a great representation of what the Caribbean is. An amalgamation; a mix of races and nationalities that proudly includes African ancestry. However, I do not consider myself a black nationalist. I am staunchly an internationalist! As such, I see the plight and suffering of all people, no matter where they come from, their background, or economic status. As such, I see the fight for freedom against oppression — and in this case black oppression — as the world’s fight. There are people of all ethnicities and circumstances under tyranny and oppression in many quarters of the world. Like Jamaican reggae artiste Junior Reid put forward in his 1989 classic hit One Blood, I, like him, believe that no matter who we are or where we come from we are of one blood.

It is said that over the next few generations “demographic destiny” will fundamentally change America. That blacks and minorities will no longer be the minority. This will fundamentally allow a shift in thinking and the way people are treated and how laws will be made and changed. However, they must survive until that time comes!

So what does one do until then? Only my American brethren and sistren will know the answer to that. And whatever the answer is, looting, destruction, and wanton violence that affects, hurts, or kills the innocent is not the way.

The thoughts in this article, although inspired by current happenings in America, are applicable to many races and ethnicities in the struggle the world over. I end with this quote by Che Guevara: “I’d rather die on my feet than live on my knees.”

Nicholas McDavid is mobiliser, creative services provider and solutions finder at Ideas Hub. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or nicholas.mcdavid@gmail.com.