by Tyson Amir
Hypothetically speaking we could make every politician a black radical, and we would still encounter similar institutional practices because the financial power is still concentrated in the hands of those who are invested in this system functioning the way it does. We would end up with a situation like the Republic of South Africa. South Africans won the battle of apartheid and gained control of the government but whites, who constitute a minority of less than 10 percent of the South African population, still own the majority of all the land and resources. Equality is not simply a ceremonial gifting of rights on paper. It has to be supported with access to quality education, jobs, housing, resources, and strengthened with an infrastructure that puts money behind securing those opportunities for all.
Those with the land and the power and the resources will have to give up some of what they have, and this is something I believe we will never see in this society. It will have to be taken by force. This is also why establishing independent institutions is such an important survival mechanism because the existing institutions are predatory and not interested in equity. They gorge themselves on the labor and money of black and brown folks the world over. This is why the drive for the Garveyites to develop independent institutions appealed to Wright so much. He saw the value in that effort because he viewed it as a means of combating a repressive system.
Here we are, some 42 million of us, and we find ourselves 400 years into the life and times of black people in a land now called America. We are a strong, beautiful, creative people; so much of our power emanates from a place deep in our souls. This power is something we've inherited from those who came before us. We do not always see eye-to-eye, but we all suffer for the same reason whether we accept it or not. Be we atheist, agnostic, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Catholic, Buddhist, Muslim, Nation Of Islam, Five-Percent Nation, Nuwaubian, Moor, Sovereign, Black Jewish, Mormon, Scientologist, hipster, Afro-Centric, Afro Punk, socialist, communist, capitalist, black radical, vegan, Rastafarian, black Republican, black Democrat, anarchist, Crip, Blood, Piru, Vice Lord, Peoples, Folks, Gangster Disciple, Black P. Stone, Black Guerilla family, Kumi, East Coast, West Coast, Midwest, South, rich, middle class, poor, male, female, young, old, heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, or gender neutral, it doesn't matter how we define ourselves, for better or for worse this land is our home, and we are black in this land. Yes, Africa is our motherland, and some of us have been blessed to visit our long-lost home and bathe in the sun and the moon of our people. Not all of us will get that chance. Thus, we must fight for freedom and liberation where our people are and that is here in the wilderness of North America. We are all we have. We are as diverse as we are glorious; there is no victory for our people unless we are able to stand together and confront the evil that has set out to destroy us.
The one lesson that should be painfully clear to us by now is that America will not voluntarily give us our freedom and liberation. Two of our greatest warriors, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X differed on many points but one they were unified on is the fact that our oppressor will not voluntarily grant us our freedom; it is the right and responsibility of the oppressed to secure their freedom. In the words of Dr. King, "We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." In the words of Malcolm, "We declare our right to be a man, to be a human being, to be given the rights of a human being … which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary!"
Man, woman, or however you identify, you have to bring it into existence. We have to manufacture it or else we will get more of what our experience has been for the past 400 years.
This is what I know. This is part of what I have to offer my people. I am committed with every fiber of my being to the fight for the freedom and liberation of us all. I see the problems that we as a people are faced with daily. In the light of those problems I know that we are the foundation of any solution. We have to build our present and our future if we want something different for black people in America. It won't be an easy fight but there is no path to freedom and liberation of black people that doesn't include the majority of black people directly fighting to make freedom and liberation our reality.
Black Boy Poems is part of that purpose, and part of the purpose of my life. It is one of the many things I was meant to give to my people. This collection represents my words, thoughts, heart, soul, feelings, and everything else I possess as a man displayed proudly upon the battle field leading to our freedom. I have pages and pages of words that describe our pain, hunger, our need to unite and fight, and I will write them and stand in them with all the ferocity I can muster until I am either no more, or I hear the appropriate response from my people. There is no turning back for me. The only question is what will you do? I'm listening very carefully for that response, for when I hear it I will know that my brothers and sisters are ready to join me on the frontline. Our time is now! For our sake and that of our children, don't keep me waiting too long.
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About Tyson Amir
Tyson Amir is a freedom fighter, educator, author, activist, emcee, and poet in possession of a powerful pen that allows him to speak directly to the heart and soul of his generation. Being born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area in a time when America essentially escalated its war on the black community has dramatically shaped his politic and outlook. He's the child of revolutionaries, and in his three decades he has witnessed the birth of hip hop, the U.S. sponsored crack epidemic, the war on drugs, his home state of California becoming a murder capital, the school to prison pipeline, and the emergence of the prison industrial complex. During a more than ten year span encompassing his elementary through high school years, California averaged more than 3,400 murders a year.
These political, historical, social, and economic forces permeate his writing along with the spirit of rebellion that's been passed down the branches of his family tree. This spirit is ever present in his catalogue of music, his collection of poetry, and now in his debut offering as a writer, Black Boy Poems. In his most recent work, Tyson skillfully weaves his knowledge, experience, artistic genius, politics, and philosophy to form what can be considered one of the most revolutionary works of literature since the Autobiography of Malcolm X.
At times his analysis will bring you face to face with his scholarly side represented by a masters degree in education, a double major/triple minor, and an in-depth study of black revolutionary literature. His poetry and lyrical dexterity clearly displays a mastery of the hip hop art form. The power in his metaphors and vernacular demonstrates the learned experiences of attempting to survive America in black skin. In many ways he's a reporter firmly embedded in the cross sections of every major American problem stemming from the abuses of capitalism, racism, and hatred.
The more you experience his writing the more you're able to witness the degree of commitment to his struggle. His authenticity comes from the fact that he actually lives and breathes what he writes. When he speaks on police violence and brutality, it's punctuated by the fact that in the past 18 months, three of his former students have been killed by law enforcement agents and one was savagely beaten to the point that his hands are now paralyzed.
Tyson has taught in California jails and prisons for more than 13 years. He's said about his experience as an educator behind bars that, "every day is a matter of life and death. This system is eating my people alive, and the effects are felt by families, neighborhoods and the community." Like his teaching, his writing is a weapon which he uses to strike at the heart of the system. The goal is always to win, and that victory means the liberation of his people.
A world traveler but eternally a California boy, Tyson Amir resides in Oakland, CA. where he writes, raps, teaches, organizes, and struggles for his people. You can learn more about his work at TysonAmir.com and BlackBoyPoems.com.
