Capitalism/anti-black racism use 'Black celebrities' (especially in the entertainment industry), to promote false notions of Black progress, success or excellence, and to ensure Black young people remain politically unconscious, by promoting a life style that is fuelled by the insatiable urge to accumulate as much bling as possible (not accumulate knowledge of self).
Why is this the agenda of capitalism/anti-black racism, in this connection? Black young people are the most important resource of the Black Race and once they develop the proper historical and political consciousness, they will pose the greatest threat to the system of capitalism/anti-black racism, as we know it.
So, to avoid this possibility, what does the system have to do? It has to ensure that as many Black young people as possible (especially young Black men), dream of nothing else but a life of bling, where Black existence revolves around rapacious accumulation, public and infantile displays of what others call bling toys.
A lifestyle where there are primarily two interconnected outcomes: premature physical death or jail. Some of the people we revere as Black celebrities today, are (knowingly or unknowingly), key instruments in this project of numbing the political and historical consciousness of Black young people.
I am also conscious of the fact that, to make this point publicly, in an atmosphere where Black celebrities enjoy the status of deities-is to risk all manner of attacks, including being accused of being jealous of the 'success' of another Black person.
If measured against their total value to our Race, what exactly is there to be jealous about? We have a debilitating social and political crisis as the Black Race and being accused of jealousy is nothing compared to the crisis we face. We Blacks are dying every day (many forms of death) because of a socioeconomic set up that enables lifestyles that are violently against us.
We need to honestly, deliberately and radically review this fatal social trajectory and put in place community socio-political interventions that will put Black young people (especially Black young men), on an authentically pro black psycho-social trajectory.
Bakithi, there are many toxic social habits that we as Black people have normalised (especially we as Black men), which habits contribute absolutely nothing to our rise and advancement as the Black Race.
In fact, these habits enable the system of capitalism/ anti-black racism, and undermine every effort to build the required capacity for our rise and for us to enjoy a dignified existence as the Black Race. We need an honest, in-ward looking Blacks-only conversation. Asikhulume!
