I will admit in advance that John Lewis was a hero of mine for the sacrifices he went through and the struggles he overcame on behalf of equality and justice. And in a way, what I am writing about John Lewis today is not so much a condemnation as it is a reflection of the very meaning of justice and how we can fight for it. Not too long ago, when my idea of standing against injustice was pontificating from a distance, I used to view justice through the prism of “my people”. But what I have experienced these past two years showed me that no one can claim a monopoly on pain and that if we want to attack the root of injustice, we have to do so through inclusion and with the spirit of togetherness.
After seeing the broken masses in endless states who suffer without regard to color, ideology, or the ceaseless labels we put on ourselves, I can no longer in good faith go around advocating for justice through the narrow lens of identity for the identity that we all have in common is this very thing we call humanity. If a day ever arrives where there will be peace on earth, it will be when we can concurrently celebrate our differences but honor above all what it is that we have in common. I understand it now, we the people are the ones who contribute to our own oppression because we keep letting the powerful divide us and pit one against the other. Only unity can overcome the throbbing blight of injustice that afflicts many and destroys countless lives throughout the world.
It is precisely because of this reason that I have shed the blinders of labels and instead use the abilities I have to write and speak of our common struggles and common hopes. This lesson of unity and togetherness thus awakened me to the deception of politics and in the process has led me to a revelation of how some are using the pains of the masses to advance themselves. There is a cottage industry of people on all sides who cater to the pains of people and demagogue incessantly all the while getting paid by the very source of injustice they rage against. In this light, I see the Congressional Black Caucus no different than I do the Tea Party and the endless grievance groups who have perfected the art of leveraging the suffering of the people they supposedly speak for to make fortunes and live like royalty.
While I am not about to paint John Lewis in the same light as the charlatan Al Sharpton, I have nonetheless reassessed the way I view John Lewis for one simple reason. I do not make this judgement without a clear-eyed analysis, John Lewis—who once fought at the forefront for Civil Rights—has now become a stage prop for the Democratic Party as he carries water for the duplicity of the DNC. Anytime the Democrats in DC want to use “black folk” as political pawns, they trot out Lewis to present the Republicans as an abhorrent and malevolent lot as they cast themselves in the most altruistic light. This is what the Democrats do, every four years they tread on the pains of their most loyal base only to ignore them the very second the last ballot is cast. We become nothing more than stepping stones for shysters feigning outrage; frothing at the mouth ranting against racism only to go to DC and drop their buckets into the very ocean of injustice they preach against on TV.
In reality, the Democrats and Republicans are equally malignant; where the GOP impoverishes the masses with monstrous fiscal and monetary policies, Democrats do their part to cripple the victims of Republicans into a life of dependency. Both parties are co-dependent in the economic terrorism which has been declared on “we the people”. Both sides pay lip service to cater to their base only to turn around and shove the knife in all of our backs the minute the camera lights are turned off. This is how the game is played and sadly John Lewis is part of the charade as he presents injustice from a partisan podium all the time instead of actually speaking truth to power and speaking against the corruption and duplicity that is done in DC in our collective names.
But then a conundrum arrives which makes me ponder if there is actually a way to solve injustice. Not too long ago, I was an associate at Booz Allen Hamilton where I was an IT consultant for various Civil and Defense agencies. The rationalization that went on in my mind, I was concurrently protesting the excesses of the military-financial complex all the while getting paychecks and earning my keep from the same industry I was ranting against. So there is a part of me that wants to say I understand, to give allowance to the endless duplicity of the CBC and the countless grievance groups as they take part in the same policies which are gnawing and tearing at the seams of their constituents. After all, if I was able to justify working for one of the preeminent defense consulting agencies in the world all the while speaking against defense contractors, well then maybe I should be more forbearing to those who lose their bearings and go to DC to have their legacies inverted by the system. We are all slaves of the system in this way I guess, either we submit to the beast or the beast will relegate us to the sidelines or find ways to silence us.
But there is a difference between the common man who is doing what he can to sustain a living and those who hold positions of power and perpetuate injustice. So as much as I...continued
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Post script: it is my hope that we can respect divergent opinions. I was once a true blue Democrat, but I’m independent now for a lot of reasons, chief among them being that I see ideologies as prisons that enslave us to the ideas of the powerful. Don’t take me being against the Democratic party being for the Republicans. I am for the people and nothing more for I am with the people, the least among us as I reside with the broken and the “invisibles”. I hope in the space of Daily Kos those who are passionate about politics don’t let the 10% of the issues we disagree upon overwhelm the 90% we are all in agreement on. Humanity above all, may we one day get to a point of universal justice without regard to labels that shatter us. Peace. ~ Teodrose Fikre editor of the Ghion Journal