Policy Mandate For Black America

Today, the International Black Freedom Alliance on behalf of the nearly 50 million Black people of this nation and the millions of our ancestors who have died and were killed in pursuit of freedom and justice do assert the following.

The time where our votes can be taken for granted is officially over. As predicted this election came down to Black voter turnout. We as a voting block came out at nearly 90% for the Democratic party not only in the general election but as well as in the runoff in Georgia. Over the past few weeks though, we have watched policy after policy and executive order after executive order be passed based on symbolism and substance. Even though we delivered the Senate, Congress and White House to one political party, to some of our people’s dismay, they were shocked but we were expecting just that.

So this time demands of us to be and do something different. To ask for much more bolder policies and to be prepared for when or if we do or do not receive what we deserve.

This campaign is geared towards meeting the basic needs of all our people. Period. We start with some empowering yet passable demands. We do this to test if the Biden/Harris administration was on the campaign trial just selling our people false promises or are they actually ready to be courageous and committed the issues of Black America.

So that we are clear, we are not Democrat nor Republican and like Malcolm X said, ‘and we got sense enough to know it”. We are simply a few of the nearly 50 million victims of policies of the Democrat and Republican parties. 

In our policy mandate you will find calls to action in the areas of housing, healthcare, food and education of course. But what you will also find are calls for the release of victims of a unjust criminal justice system, demands for Black businesses districts to be developed and a call for reparations to be studied with a plan for implementation by 2022. And crazy part is that everyone of these demands are fiscally and legislatively possible. We hope by starting with simple yet easy polices that can be implemented within the first 100 days of this administration, that we can quickly get to the more substantial legislation before the midterm elections. It is our goal to get these policies passed no matter which party implements it. Though math is on the Democratic Party’s side, we will let us if they are truly serious about racial justice in America.

So that brings us to a quote from our abolitionist ancestor Fredrick Douglas “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”

We want to make ourselves very clear, that if these basic yet passable laws and polices are not implemented by May 1st, 2021 then we will be forced to do what president FDR once told A. Philip Randolph. “now Make you do it.” That we will.

See the policy mandate here

Obama STFU

Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last few months, you have heard the former president, Barack Hussein Obama, speaking on everything. He has a new book and he is doing his run of the mill interviews, but the interesting point is what he’s talking about. It’s like dude’s a whole nother person right now. The president who had tears for Sandy Hook, but none for Tamir Rice, has been very vocal on issues of race in this country. This is coming from the same guy who often spoke on the political will of the electorate, but never specified who lacked it and why, while in office.  Maybe you were speaking of the Republicans, well from 2009-2011, they didn’t matter then because you and the Democrats had the house, senate and the White House. Or, were you talking about certain Democrats who you could’ve simply told voters, like myself, which ones didn’t support progressive policies so they could’ve been moved or removed by now. Who were you really talking about? Yourself but you being you would never admit that out loud would you? You, Mr. President, the greatest Negro believer of a system that has done nothing but violate our civil and human rights since it’s inception, would never disavow your precious white liberal voters for the masses of Black people who actually put and kept you in office for 8 years. 

Your election was monumental in the fact that before this 2020 election you had the largest Black voter turnout in electoral history. That would usually mean that you would be prioritizing Black people legislatively in order to appease the base who delivered you the White House,  but of course not. You took up the mantle of every other group and excluded us. The white gay community got their precious marriage laws while our Black LGBTQIA+ and SGL community were left out, unemployment, and homelessness rates rose. The Latino community, who by the way, didn’t even give you 50% of their votes, got DACA and a Supreme Court justice. What did we get? Kumbaya bills. Yes, Obamacare was meant for all Americans, but the impact on Black people in America was insufficient. Obamacare gave Black women, who receive some of the worst maternity care and who have some of the highest maternity death rates in the world, the right to go to the same physicians who were killing them, just at a cheaper rate. Instead of addressing the wealth, housing or education gaps between Black and White Americans, we got more “rising tides lifts all ships” policies, when we all know that Black people’s boat got a whole in put there by white people. 

You appointed moderate and liberal slave owner, I mean politician, one after another like Mayor cover Rahm Emmanuel, southern slave labor champion Hillary Clinton and even northern white supremacist Jim Crow Joe Biden, who you made your vice president.

But the disrespect of Black people for White approval didn’t stop there. You went on to one of the most prestigious HBCUs in the country. THE Morehouse University and delivered a “pull up your pants” speech. Not a celebration of Black excellence speech for Black youth, who in spite of your lack of impactful funding for HBCUs, but one that characterized and generalized Black youth as a sagging non job qualifiable monolith to the potential job market.

You never had this this much to say when you were the commander in chief though.

Instead of you being this vocal when Black protestors were being brutalized and our constitutional rights violated on the daily news, you were quiet as a church mouse. Now you got all the talks. Now you on all the interviews. Now you got all the opinions on race and the movement. You even got critiques on the slogans of the movement, but none on White Supremacy. Of course you don’t agree with the slogan of #DefundThePolice, you signed the Blue Lives Matter Law just a few months after the Baltimore Uprising. A Blue Alert Law for the threat of violence against law enforcement but no Black Alert Law for the constant threats made against Black people everyday in this country. Maybe it’s because you know every phone in this nation would be bombarded with non stop notifications of another unarmed Black man, woman or child being brutalized by police or a White vigilante. Black people standing up for justice in the streets of America on your watch were called thugs, but not a nan officer who were violating our rights were called one at all. You even invited the officer who violated the rights of Dr. Henry Louis Gates to the White House for a visit, a cold beer and teachable moment. How Sway? I really want you to know what we think about you. Since I can’t call you a Sambo without alienating people, I’ll just explain it to you like this.  You like the rich uncle with the bag, you’re only invited to the cookout because we know you paying for it. No we don’t need y’all to cook anything. No we don’t need you on the grill. And no you can’t DJ right quick.  Be honest, if you knew that Barack was bringing some potato salad to the BBQ, wouldn’t you think it would be some kind with raisins in it? Think about it.

It’s like you don’t know when to sit all the way over there, quietly, and when to speak up for your people. After months of protesting for justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many others, we finally had the whole country at a stand still. We the people made protesting so cool that the NBA, MLB, and even the NHL went on strike for justice. And then, guess what you did. You called arguably the most prominent pro athlete in the world, LeBron James, and basically got him and everyone else to shut up and dribble. You had people’s heroes talking about voting in an election that was over two months away. Imagine if they would’ve said “we’re not playing until these people get justice.” Man, all the families would’ve got justice by the next morning. But somehow you didn’t know that, or did you? Maybe you are one of those “can’t do nothing in this country unless we vote for it negroes.” Maybe you were never here for Black people at all. Or maybe, you are just the Wall Street funded and Ivy league school manufactured Negro sent here to convince to our people to integrate into a burning house once again.

Here’s what I, the movement and the majority of Black people, most of which voted for you, want you to do at this critical time in history. Shut the f*ck up!

Black Lies Matter

I ain’t trying to hold you family, but we gotta rap real quick. This is between me and you. And by you, I mean chapter members, so called “global members,” grassroots activists and organizers, and every Black supporter out there. 

Are y’all going to continue to let them play y’all like this? I’ve read every statement, press release, article, and Twitter thread about what they (BLM Leadership) are doing to y’all at the bottom. We stopped having that problem years ago here in Ferguson. Shoutout to Mike Hassell, Chrystal, and King D Seals (rip) for banning them and the devil in a blue vest from the city. We decided a long time ago we couldn’t allow them to do our local movement like that. Let me break it down for you, and you let me know if this sounds familiar.

Police kill somebody. We organize the response. You look on the news and it says big as day: “Black Lives Matter” marches in *insert city here. Our response every time was IKYFL. And if that wasn’t it, then you (supporters) probably received a text or email saying “we are in the streets, so support us.” We!? They weren’t even out there. They get that bag. Just like Debo, rest in peace Tiny Lester, they tell the local chapters: “let me hold the bag for BLM, and when you need to use it, just hit us up.” And when it’s time to get yo bike back, well…, I mean you can’t even call your leaders on the phone family. One is laid up with a non Black person, the other is hobnobbing with Hollywood, while the last one is trying to get the stench of living a lie for years off them. 

Oh that’s right, we are in a movement with no leaders. I hate to break it to you, but that just means all responsibility goes to the people, and all the fame goes to them. Is this movement a leaderfull one or just leading fools? BLM’s secret leadership got Big Colonizer Energy!

They came here first on that same Shell non-profit stuff. Like Nas was talking about in “Ether,” is it Black Lives Matter, is it the Movement For Black Lives or is it the Global Foundation? These are just a few of the many satellites they go by, but all of them report to them. This is a classic Wizard of Oz type story. BLM makes their supporters believe that BLM is this vast multi faceted movement. Why? Not to just get every bag possible, but so they could become the new gatekeepers to all the negro philanthropic money. They do this while the real ones are holding this whole thing up. If, or better yet, when y’all leave their House of Cards, it’s a wrap; but I think y’all starting to figure this out already. 

We can’t let the “not so talented tenth” do our movement like this for another second. That’s why I propose everyone leave it altogether. 

I know what you’re thinking too: “But wHat abOuT thE naMe wE bUiLt aNd alL tHe woRk wE’Ve dOne?” 

To the people, everything and everybody associated with BLM looks faker than a $3 bill. Like a Rolex that ticks, you can hear the phony in BLM from a mile away. And I ask, do you really want to willingly be associated with them knowing all this? Does that little name mean more to you than the love of the people?

Leave that funky name right there and go build the very thing you know will get us free. A real grassroots Black Movement. Leave them over there begging they daddy for a White House invitation. I mean Black Lives Matter ain’t even a hot name. It’s a five at best. It was cool in the beginning, but we all know that Black Lives Matter was the beginning of a sentence that must end in Black Liberation. 

Remember the spirit of Ferguson gave birth to this movement. Ferguson gave BLM life. Some of you came to Ferguson and felt that energy. But I’m here to tell you, that spirit that moved you to join the struggle was already inside you. All we did was awaken it. Just like I did in 2016, the time has come to leave BLM as a philosophy, organizing structure and movement, for something that cultivates that energy for good. Now is the time for all of us to join forces and give that life, love and revolutionary spirit to the people in a new and fulfilling way. In a new global Black Liberation Movement that works from the bottom up. 

For me that was joining/creating a new organization, The International Black Freedom Alliance. We are working on creating that global Black Freedom Movement with brothers and sisters from all over: North America, the Caribbean, Africa and beyond. We out here. From hoods to universities, to breakfast programs and protests. If it produces Black Love, Black Unity, and Black Power, we are organizing it. 

We are guided by this philosophy, theory without practice is empty and we don’t want to be empty negroes. 

And always remember that your big brother from Ferguson where it all started is just a call or dm away. 

Peace

Tory Russell was a lead organizer of the Ferguson Rebellion, former founding member of the Black Lives Matter Policy and Strategy team and currently serves as the Mission Director of TheIBFA.org. A global organization dedicated to bring forth freedom for Black people in our lifetime. This is an excerpt from his upcoming book Ferguson Taught Me: Lessons from a 21st Century Black Uprising

Pain of Questioning Our Potential

“Do you believe that you can be great? Have you recognized your own potential but had others question you? ”

The IBFA is currently in the middle of #DecolonizeDecember and healing and reflecting in preparation for 2021. As an organization, we are calling our members to take the rest of the year to reflect, get rid of all the distractions around us and start the process of healing. We believe that Black healing is foundational to Black freedom. #DecolonizeDecember is a social media campaign the IBFA is doing where we are putting out Black information that addresses White thinking. Basically, White thinking is all the stuff we learn in school and see in media. White thinking is pretty much anything that does not uplift Black people, or if it does, some kind of way, Whites get the credit. This article will explain how White thinking limits Black people’s potential.  As the Director of Political Education, it is my job to do all that I can to make sure we get as much of White thinking out of our minds as possible. My role is connected to the bigger goal of the IBFA, we want to cleanse Whiteness out of every area of our being: our minds, our bodies and our souls. Within this context, this article asks Black people to get yo mind right by getting that White thinking about what you can do out of your head. We declare that it is time to heal from the pain by recognizing our full potential.

White Supremacy's goal is to stop Black people from discovering their full potential. It does this a number of ways: by keeping us unaware of our great history, by placing value on potential based on money, and, ultimately, getting people to think that Black people are not really capable of being great. George James, in Stolen Legacy: Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy, shows that technology, philosophy and many dope contributions to world civilizations that are attributed to Europeans are actually the work of Africans. While we hear about Plato, Socrates and others, we learn nothing about Kemetic philosophy. Although Africa is the birthplace of humanity, we are the original people, we have the longest history, have made the most contributions to world history, have had the longest ruling kingdoms and on and, not only is that information kept from us, we are told the opposite. This old White dude that is well respected and taught in many universities around the world, Georg Hegel, said Africa “is no historical part of the world; it has no movement or development to exhibit.”

Think about it. How much of our education, media and all the things that give us information present a similar idea about Africa to the world? Not to forget about the violence and acts of terror and trauma inflicted onto Black people. When we bring the stereotypes from White Supremacy together with Black trauma, it begins to make sense that other Blacks would think less of us and that we would think less of ourselves. 

Now we understand why those three people could not or did not fully recognize my potential. Most importantly and first of all, Black human, do you recognize your own potential? Do you see yourself in line with a great people who built pyramids that are still standing today? Do you see yourself inventing, creating or doing something that could change the world? Malcolm X asked, "who taught you to hate yourself?"There are times when others can see the potential inside of an individual but we all need to come to a point where we recognize our own greatness. This is why some of our ancestors and our own people say we need to recognize the God inside of us. 

With a recognition of our own greatness in place, we can now begin to understand the pain of having others limit our potential. When those three people asked me what I was doing, they could not imagine me doing something that was that important. I do want to be fair to them. When the first one asked, it made perfect sense to ask a former professor with a PhD who was not teaching what he was doing. The next two times were rooted in a similar thought pattern, but the reason the continual questioning bothered me was because I have the potential to be so much more than a college professor. As the Director of Political Education for the IBFA, I can play a role in freeing millions of Black people and creating new paths for our future generations. We have a clear vision within the IBFA with practical steps to get our people free. I have a glimpse of my potential and it hurts when those closest to me do not think that is possible. 

If you have recognized your own potential and others do not affirm that, I am here to affirm that feeling. It is not you. You are not off. Yes, you are feeling the pain of others not seeing what you can see. If you do not recognize your own potential, take some time the rest of this year, get rid of the distractions in your life and reflect on your passions and dreams. There is greatness inside of you Black human. Lastly, this is for all of us, we need to affirm the potential in our Black family. I am pretty sure that when those three questioned me, they did not intend to harm me. When I scroll through social media, I see the opposite. I see Black people tear each other down. we rarely see Black people fulfilling their potential. It is on us as a collective community of Black people to affirm the potential inside each other.

Director of Political Education

Dr. Travis “Hood Scholar” Harris

I was on the verge of tears when I hit up our Mission Director, Tory Russell. The third time in less than half a day someone asked me "what are you doing" and "what do you have to do?" The third time hit my soul. A deep sense of pain swelled up within me. The first person who asked was a Black academic, someone with a PhD. These questions were rooted in me not teaching. If you want to know more about me no longer teaching, here is a quick overview. The other two came from two immediate family members. When the question was asked the third time, it was the combination of being asked back to back and being asked by people who are close to me. These were not the only reasons why they were so painful, they hurt so bad because they did not fully recognize my potential and the importance of my work. They did this while I have a glimpse of what I can do. I believe in myself, I recognize my potential and I will be great. Do you believe that you can be great? Have you recognized your own potential but had others question you? Have you ever had someone close to you limit what they think you can do in their mind? This article names the pain of others not recognizing your potential. This is the main point and take away. The IBFA affirms your pain. We believe you. Black people, if others are dissing your potential, peep this quick article. 

“We want to cleanse Whiteness out of every area of our being: our minds, our bodies, and our souls.”

“Technology, philosophy and many dope contributions to world civilizations that are attributed to Europeans are actually the work of Africans.”

Built in 2500s bc AND STILL STANDING TODay, thE “GREAT PYRAMID.” FOR 3-D MODEL, VISIT http://giza.fas.harvard.edu/gizaintro/

“It is not you. You are not off. Yes, you are feeling the pain of others not seeing what you can see. ”

Let’s build each other up and let’s get free.

From Black Lives Matter to a Black Liberation Movement Official Launch of the IBFA

For press release date of July 7, 2020

Ferguson, Mo. --- Black people are facing an unprecedented moment of oppression at the hands of White Supremacy. Along with the 500 years of injustice, this contemporary moment consists of the disproportionate killings of Black people due to COVID-19, heavily covered police and vigilante killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd in the media, and at least 5 lynchings. In response to the overt and covert destructive actions of White Supremacy against Black people, a world wide declaration proclaims that Black lives matter and that the world needs to change. While the world chants “Black Lives Matter,” the popular narrative incorrectly identifies this contemporary movement as the Black lives matter movement. With some of its founding members coming out of Ferguson, the IBFA is an international organization that will shift the narrative to focus on a pan-African movement for freedom by African peoples all over the world.

Now is the time to build a global freedom fighting organization that is strong on the ground with the general masses of Black people. The IBFA believes that the revolution must happen at the grassroots level, not with celebrity activists or those who profit off of Black people’s pain. They have the blueprint and the organizational structure to bring together Black freedom fighters around the world in order to dismantle White Supremacy. This Black led and Black operated organization believes that Black people have the skills, talents and abilities to obtain their own freedom.

The International Black Freedom Alliance started to take shape at a pan-African conference in Africa in 2016 when a group of elders challenged freedom fighters to build a global movement. After returning back from this conference, an attendee brought the challenge to freedom fighters in Ferguson, MO. The organization fully formed after several additional meetings in the diaspora and on the continent in South Africa. Their mission is to bring together the masses of Black people around the globe, to push for internationally recognized and respected rights, for Black people everywhere. It is not another non-profit 501C3 or Black social organization, rather the IBFA is a freedom fighting alliance that will dismantle White Supremacy.

The IBFA is calling out those who are ready to get to work and other Black freedom organizations and groups. Let us unify and fight together in the Black freedom struggle. The Director of Black Power, “Mama Julia” Davis says it best: “we must rise together.” 

Let’s rise together and let’s get free.

CONTACT: AskTheIBFA@gmail.com