November 3, 2021
Thomas Smith was the owner of one of the South's largest plantations. He once boasted that he owned more slaves than he did chickens, "The evil Black wenches hatch more children than the damn hens." To Smith, a Black woman possessed no humanity, she was simply a thing to be had and used; a thing that was taken from nowhere, that meant nothing, and only served to satisfy his pleasure or production. As a result of her status, her children were not her own, they were Thomas Smith's capital, no more than chattel to be bartered and devoured like an ignoble delicacy.
To men like Smith, it was nothing to think of the Black man as no-thing. He was the reflection of his woman and she the reflection of him. He was powerless, in fact, Smith believed that the majority of Black men were not intelligent enough to understand the superiority of whiteness. The Black man was too feeble to realize that the Black woman was made to satisfy her master's every whim. Thomas found it astounding that some of the Black brutes would watch, in what he thought was awe, as Thomas had his way with their women. Others he forced them to watch, he forced them to witness his power first hand. He let the Black man know that his presence meant nothing, that he would never be able to protect the Black woman.
One day Richard, a large Afrikan approached Thomas with his head bowed and toes tracing the dirt. He begged for his master to have mercy on him and to refrain from raping his wife.
"C'mon Richard." Thomas reached up and latter the huge man on his head. "Now we both know that you can't trust a nigger wench. What am I to do? Am I not a man? If she seduces me is it my fault?"
"She say it be you," said Richard.
"Richard, I know you see her using her womanly ways to stir me?"
Richard bit his tongue.
"Next time I'll have your skin for questioning me—you hear me boy?" He moved closer to Do Richard's face, "Don't risk your hide for a woman that doesn't want to be saved."
What exactly does a healthy Black relationship look like? Do you have any examples of a healthy Black relationship? In order to consider that question, you would first have to possess the ability to determine for yourself what healthy entails and then you would have to understand the function of relationship. America has maintained a rate in which over half of marriages end in divorce. Therefore, if we measure healthy relationships using America as the standard, dysfunction and destruction will be our norm. Unfortunately, these things are the norm for our relationships.
The generational trauma of slavery is not isolated to affecting individual Blacks, it also has detrimental effects on interpersonal relationships with the complimentary sex. The vast majority of Black marriages are nothing but imitations of whiteness. A healthy Black relationship is rooted in Blackness and its intent is to produce that healthy blackness and not the imitation of whiteness. Therefore, a healthy Black relationship isn't based on the ownership or control of the Black woman, it is a true and spiritual union.
I am often amazed at our ability to acknowledge that humanity originated in "Mother Africa" yet conveniently devalue and denigrate the Black woman. Her devaluation is not a product of happenstance, it is by design. In order to understand this design, it is imperative that we understand the intent of whiteness and recognize it as the foundation upon which racial hierarchy is built.
For thousands of years and prior to the invention of whiteness, Black was a concept held sacred by our ancient Afrikan ancestors. Due to the fact that Blackness predated the invention of whiteness, it did not exist as the opposite of whiteness and therefore, it is not dependent on the existence of whiteness.
"A long line of highly intelligent scientists studied their own essence and discovered a hidden doorway to their souls and spirits; a doorway to advanced laws and rhythms that span the universe. They discovered universal laws rooted in blackness, and all things possessed a memory of their collective ancestors. Blackness, the universal solvent of all, was seen as the one reality from which life's loom spun. All colors, all vibratory energies were a shade of black. Black was the color of the night sky, primeval ocean, outer space, birthplace and womb of the planets, stars and galaxies of the universe; black holes were found at the center of our own galaxy and countless other galaxies. Black was the color of carbon, the key atom found in all living matter. Carbon atoms linked together to form melanin, the first chemical that could capture light and reproduce itself. The chemical key to life and the brain was found to be centered around black neuromelanin."
—Dr. Richard King, "The African Origin of Biological Psychiatry"
As you can see, Blackness is much more than skin color because melanin is more than pigment. However, because we live in what Tupac called, "The White Man's World," Blackness is confined by limits by which whiteness defines things. It is through the lens of whiteness that much of the Black struggle has been defined and consequently, it has been erroneously perceived. The European has equated the rise of Blackness with the fall of whiteness. This is because they understand the hierarchal nature of whiteness and therefore, believe that Blacks want to replace them in said hierarchy. To them, and many of us, the focus of Black power is the destruction of so-called white personhood. This perception is misguided the idea is to destroy the hierarchy and the first step in doing so is working from a Black center and not from a white pedestal.