Pasadena Black History Month Magazine - February 2024 | Pages 7 & 8
POLITICAL GUMBO: BE THAT LIGHT
WRITTEN BY ANDRÉ COLEMAN
MANAGING EDITOR
It's no wonder J. Edgar Hoover, Gov. Ronald Reagan and others considered them one of the greatest threats to the system of that day.
Of course, infighting and efforts by undercover FBlagents working within the group decimated it by the early 1970s, and like some of the post-Civil War days, several of them ended up in Altadena where I grew up.
But it wasn't just the Panther's guns, King's oratory, or X's fire that instilled fear in racists and those who opposed change across the country.
Dr. King, X and the Panthers understood the laws of the land and the way the system works.
That education allowed them to reach others and it resonated. Get smart and get some education.
If you want change, it takes understanding the same system many of you still say you are fighting against.
As the Greatest Muhammad Ali once said "It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it's the pebble in your shoe."
Remove the pebble and take another look at the mountain.
Harriet Tubman understood the laws of slavery and freedom and knew the Underground Railroad.
John Lewis was a voracious reader who tried to read everything he could get his hands on at a time when libraries were segregated in the south. That led him to Dr. King, a lot of "good trouble" and eventually to Congress.
All of these people called for tolerance in their own way. Muhammad Ali never asked for equality, he knew he was already equal in mind, body and spirit. MLK preached a nonviolent path of judging character and not the color of a man's skin and Malcom X although he preached "By any means necessary," he also "ignorance of each other is what has made unity impossible in the past. Therefore we need enlightenment. We need more light about each other. Light creates understanding, understanding creates love, love creates patience, and patience creates unity. Once we have more knowledge (light) about each other, we will stop condemning each other and a United front will be brought about."
Our differences are not that great. All men and women are created equal. It does not matter if they fly the American flag, the African flag or the Pride flag.
Be tolerant, and learn to respect all cultures, all people.
Happy Black History Month.
OUR DIFFERENCES ARE NOT THAT GREAT. ALL MEN AND WOMEN ARE CREATED EQUAL. IT DOES NOT MATTER IF THEY FLY THE AMERICAN FLAG, THE AFRICAN FLAG OR THE PRIDE FLAG.
[This column originally ran in 2022, there was a lot more to it at that point about public comment. Those comments have been removed as the issues have been deliberated and decided by the City Council. Additional commentary has been added.]
BLACK HISTORY MONTH MAGAZINE 2024