Seek higher ground

October 26, 2002
By Bukka Rennie

Of the criticism that Harry Belafonte made of Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, what was sensationalised in our press? The fact that a house-slave analogy was used to describe Colin Powell.

Obviously, that aspect of the criticism was merely illustrative to colour the main point that was being advanced. Harry Belafonte was demanding of both Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice, Mr Bush's National Security Adviser, that they show some "moral backbone" and seek to attain "commitment to higher principles than those projected by their boss."

Belafonte was being critical of two people, particularly two people who have lived the African-American experience and whom he felt were, therefore, by dint of that very experience, well placed to put the burning truths about all the key issues squarely on the agenda before the eyes of the whole world.

The fact they both seem incapable of independent conscience, of ploughing through the weeds of illusion and standing in principle head and shoulders above the agenda of their boss, Mr Bush, proved indeed painful to the likes of Harry Belafonte whose humanitarian and philanthropist activities in this context are unmatched.

The unwillingness to grasp one's own identity, to interpret for one's own self and to stand apart and deal with each issue on merit and on the profundity of one's own truths, brought the house-slave analogy.

It was Malcolm X who described the house slave as the kind of person who would go the master's sick-bed and say: "What happen, Massa, we sick?" And as poignant as that analogy may be, it is not the crux of the matter.

The crux of the matter is about getting African-American social leaders in top positions to stop betraying their own history... and to build up pressure from below to get them on the right track and stay on the right track. But we missed that point altogether.

One commentator here even went off on the fact Colin Powell stated openly that Sparrow was his favourite and the best calypsonian and seem to wish to suggest that that may have been the underlying motivation for Belafonte's criticism of Powell since he, Belafonte, harboured deep desires for such accolades.

But while all this was going on, another well-known African-American was doing quite the opposite to Powell and Rice, but our press here did not pick it up. In fact, what our press was picking up on super-star Michael Jordan was the scandal of some love affair, rather than the fact he had begun to take principled political positions and had begun to wear a black armband in support of worldwide resistance to imperialist domination and exploitation of the poor and the weak.

Read what Sue Doughnem had to say on this matter:

"...When pressed by reporters to explain what the armband represented, Jordan continued: 'Well, a variety of things, actually. Number one, I'd like to express some solidarity with the people protesting against the IMF and World Bank. I mean, read the stories in the paper - they all talk about what the protesters are doing, and not why they're protesting. So I thought I could draw some attention to that.'

"...Jordan went on to say that he supported the Palestinian struggle and was firmly against what he called 'US imperialist antics' in the Middle East. 'What are we doing there? Come on, y'all. Oil. Oil, and old scores to settle. That's it!' Jordan said.

However, it was Jordan's scathing words for his employer, Nike, which were most surprising. His voice rose and he counted his reasons on his fingers as he spoke. 'You know, most of all, I feel bad for dealing with Nike, for so many reasons. It bothers me that they are still using child labour. It bothers me that they have inundated the Third World with billboards advertising their high-priced shoes made for pennies by little kids. And I'm talking about the Third World in the US, in the inner city, as well as in Asia and South America, you know?'

"...Jordan also said that he felt some responsibility for speaking out since he had been employed as a Nike spokesperson for so long.

"...When asked what would happen with his current Nike contract as well as his millions of dollars in assets from Nike endorsements, Jordan paused and rubbed his head before replying: '...I'm not sure yet. I've been thinking about setting up a foundation or fund that would grant this money to non-profit and other grassroots groups fighting hard on these issues. Something's gotta be done with all this money, that's for sure. I want to support the worldwide resistance'."

Of course we expect to hear now that MJ is, or was always, anti-Semitic, the usual clap-trap. But wouldn't it be great to have Colin Powell bounce ball and MJ advise Bush on world affairs?