Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination Quotes

Quotes

“Most black people believed there was an order higher than the Constitution. Psalm 68, verse 31 of the Bible had promised redemption for the black world: “Princes come out of Egypt. Ethiopia stretches forth her hands unto God.” This passage was as important to Pan-Africanist and emigrationist sentiment as the book of Exodus, becoming the theological basis for what became known in the nineteenth century as Ethiopianism. Ethiopianism spread throughout the black world, from the Americas to Africa, calling for the redemption of Africa by any means necessary.”

Robin D.G. Kelley

Alluding to Psalm 68 inspired blacks to fight for their liberation from oppression. Moreover, using Exodus to justify the emigration of blacks equates America to an exile land where blacks would never exploit their freedom. For the blacks, America is equivalent to the Biblical Egypt where Israelites were repressed under bondage. The Bible is supreme to the constitution because it empowers the blacks in an extraordinary manner which surpasses the constitutional provisions. Black Christians would identify with the theological rationale for fighting for their freedom.

“The story of the shift from civil rights to “Black Power” has been told so many times, in books, documentary films, in African American history courses all across the United States, that it has become a kind of common sense. It usually begins with the murder of Emmett Till, quickly followed by Brown v. Board of Education in 1954—both events spurring an already hopeful, if not angry, black community into action. Black anger and hopefulness are traced to black support for the Good War against fascism abroad a decade earlier; blacks were, after all, loyal to America, and now it was time for the state to grant black folk democracy and citizenship. Then Montgomery showed the world what black protest could accomplish, thus giving birth to the modern civil rights movement.”

Robin D.G. Kelley

The quest for civil liberty and black power are intertwined because Blacks’ civil liberties are subverted omnipresently. The black people’s anger which stems from denial of rights is instrumental in advance the case for racial equality in America. They participate in remarkable protests which advances civil rights. In the absence of the protests and the black’s powerful reaction, America would not make noteworthy progress in matters of civil rights. Blacks are at the forefront of the movement because they are burdened with the lack of rights due to their race. Therefore, the fight for civil rights is tantamount to fight a fight against racism.

“While China’s own history on the Woman Question is pretty dismal, Mao’s dictum that “women hold up half the sky” as well as his brief writings on women’s equality and participation in the revolutionary process endowed women’s liberation with some revolutionary legitimacy on the Left. Of course, Maoism didn’t make the movement: The fact is, women’s struggles within the New Left played the most important role in reorienting leftist movements toward a feminist agenda or at least putting feminism on the table.”

Robin D.G. Kelley

Mao is a unique male feminist who endorses feminism by appreciating the women’s potential. He encourages women to partake leadership positions despite their gender. Mao’s dictum implies that women are material in the endurance of the human race; hence, they should not be suppressed. He offers women a platform to leader in politics which is significant in advancing gender equality courses. Mao’s ideology on women affirms that males can be feminists too.

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