#Know Your History

[jasondamien93]

[blackstarlineage]

"We Are Not a Monolith" – The Double-Edged Sword of Black Individualism from a Garveyite Perspective

From a Garveyite perspective, the phrase "We are not a monolith" is both true and problematic. While Black people, like any group, have diverse cultures, ideologies, and perspectives, the failure to unify around core collective interests has weakened Black sovereignty, economic independence, and political power. Other groups—despite their internal differences—are able to operate in a unified, strategic manner when it comes to protecting their collective interests.

Garveyism teaches that Pan-African unity is non-negotiable. While Black people should never be expected to think identically, there are foundational principles that require monolithic agreement to ensure the survival, empowerment, and sovereignty of Black people worldwide.

1. The Problem with the Phrase "We Are Not a Monolith"

In many discussions, the phrase “we are not a monolith” is used to justify disunity, lack of accountability, and acceptance of behaviours that undermine Black progress.

While diversity of thought can be beneficial, the problem arises when Black people:

Reject collective responsibility and act as individuals rather than as a unified group.

Use individual success as a reason to ignore the need for community empowerment.

Defend harmful behaviours or ideologies that weaken Black advancement.

Fail to mobilize collectively in the same way that other groups do to protect their interests.

In contrast, other communities understand that while internal diversity exists, certain principles must be universally upheld to maintain collective power.

Examples of Groups That Balance Internal Diversity with Collective Unity:

Jewish Communities – Despite differing religious and political ideologies (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Zionist, anti-Zionist), Jewish people worldwide have a strong collective identity, mobilize to protect their historical narratives, and ensure economic, political, and cultural security.

Chinese Communities – Whether from mainland China, Taiwan, or the diaspora, Chinese people prioritize economic nationalism, investing in their own businesses and keeping resources within their community.

Arab and Muslim Nations – Even with sectarian differences (Sunni, Shia, secular, religious), they unify on key geopolitical, economic, and religious matters that affect their global standing.

White Europeans & White Americans – Though divided by nationality, they collectively uphold Eurocentric dominance in media, finance, and global governance.

Garveyite Takeaway: Other groups disagree internally but understand when to be monolithic to protect their collective interests. Black people, however, often lack this level of strategic cohesion.

2. What Black People Must Be Monolithic On

While Black people do not need to think alike on every issue, there are fundamental principles where unity is non-negotiable for the advancement of Black people worldwide.

1. Economic Power & Self-Sufficiency

Black communities must prioritize economic cooperation instead of being dependent on external systems.

Black money should circulate within Black communities before being spent elsewhere.

Black-owned businesses and industries should be protected, supported, and expanded.

Example: Koreans, Chinese, and South Asians dominate the Black beauty supply industry, yet Black people still spend billions supporting non-Black businesses.

Garveyite Takeaway: No other group allows outsiders to control their economic infrastructure—Black people must be monolithic in reclaiming economic independence.

2. Control of Black Narratives & History

Black history should be taught and controlled by Black people, not by outside institutions.

The false narratives of colonialism, slavery, and the distortion of African history must be dismantled.

No Black person should excuse, justify, or downplay historical oppression or defend anti-Black forces.

Example: Jewish people have laws against Holocaust denial. Meanwhile, Black history is constantly rewritten, downplayed, or erased.

Garveyite Takeaway: There should be no “different perspectives” on whether Black history deserves preservation.

3. Political Unity & Collective Agenda

Black people must vote and organize based on a collective interest, not party loyalty or personality politics.

Any Black leader, organization, or system that does not work toward Black self-determination must be held accountable.

No Black person should support policies, laws, or politicians that harm Black people globally.

Example: Many Black people support leaders who have done nothing for Black communities, while other groups vote based on group interests, not individual preferences.

Garveyite Takeaway: Politics is about power, not emotions—Black people must move strategically, as other groups do.

4. Pan-Africanism & Global Black Unity

The division between Africans, African Americans, Afro-Caribbeans, and Afro-Latinos must be eliminated.

Black people must reject tribalism and national divisions that prevent global economic and political cooperation.

African resources must be controlled by Africans, not foreign nations or corporations.

Example: The European Union operates as a bloc despite national differences, yet Africa remains divided and exploited.

Garveyite Takeaway: Black people globally must recognize that their struggles are interconnected and unite accordingly.

5. Rejecting Anti-Blackness in All Forms

Black people should not excuse, tolerate, or participate in anti-Black behaviour.

Colourism, self-hatred, and internalized racism must be eradicated.

No Black person should support media, policies, or ideologies that degrade Black identity.

Example: Other racial groups do not tolerate internalized hatred, but in Black communities, self-hate is normalized and even rewarded in mainstream media.

Garveyite Takeaway: There is no room for “diversity of thought” when it comes to rejecting anti-Blackness��this must be a non-negotiable principle.

3. The Consequences of Not Being Monolithic

The failure to unify on non-negotiable principles has led to:

Continued economic exploitation (other groups profit from Black spending).

The loss of Black political power (disorganized voting, supporting leaders who do nothing for Black people).

The control of Black narratives by non-Black people (history distorted, culture stolen).

Global disunity between Africans, Caribbeans, and the diaspora (which weakens Black global leverage).

Conclusion: Balancing Individual Thought with Collective Strategy

From a Garveyite perspective, Black people do not need to think alike on everything, but they must be monolithic on key issues that determine their survival, power, and liberation.

Economic self-sufficiency must be prioritized.

Black history must be controlled by Black people.

Black people must act as a political and economic bloc.

Pan-African unity is not optional—it is necessary for global strength.

Anti-Blackness must be rejected universally.

While internal diversity is inevitable, no other group allows their differences to keep them from controlling their own destiny. Until Black people realize that collective unity is the key to sovereignty, the cycle of disempowerment will continue.

Garveyism teaches that we must rise above individualism and unite strategically, just as African kings, queens, and revolutionaries once did. Anything less is self-destruction.

[addamatic]

Watched this today (thank you for the recommendation bluesky person!) and it was indeed extremely good. Available on YouTube (German with subtitles, will link in reblog). This woman preserved so much of what nazis and fascists tried to destroy.

[img reads “Watched a doc on Charlotte von

Mahlsdorf - a trans woman who survived the Nazis (beat her own Nazi father to death!), survived a brutally homophobic regime in East Germany, and then had to survive skinhead attacks, but never stopped finding and loving other queer people, and creating her own worlds.” With a photo of her at the bottom. End ID]

[thevampirechr0nicler]

once and for all... settling yet another debate (REBLOG FOR SAMPLE SIZE)

(FROM A REBLOG I MADE): I also think you guys are misunderstanding the fact that without IWTV there would BE no Buffy so through that, you have to be voting for the one that changed/transformed culture the most, also the person talking about the first lesbian scene on TV is also forgetting that Anne Rice was writing bisexual/gay vampires in 1976. I'm upset to hear that so many of you are voting for things that you only like, especially the Buffy fans that are doing so without consideration.

These reasons (and more) are meant to be considered before you make a final decision, and I truly think that some of you are not looking at the bigger, overarching picture.

Take a moment to think and then decide, you cannot keep blindly voting because you "like one of them more".

Thank you.

[dreadfuldevotee]

its insane how many people there are who think gelphie is like some brand new phenomenon, like wicked hasnt been a gateway drug to lesbianism since it was off-broadway

[walkergirlsposts]

They never quit with this lie. "Ratings were dropping." LMAO No, they weren't. They were pretty steady all season. They actually dropped when cas came back and went even LOWER after that! KNOW YOUR HISTORY!!!! LMFAOOOO

[seashellronan]

the rage i feel when americans think the jonas brothers wrote year 3000 and miranda cosgrave wrote about you now, put some respect on busted and sugababes name

[garthnadermemestash]

Deny, defend, depose

[jasondamien93]

You can’t erase history. There is no LGB without the T! 🏳️‍⚧️✊🏻

[theminionjcfucked]

Is Chelsie a recruit? She keeps saying two women have never made it the end together and that is Danielle/Lisa, Jun/Allison, Maggie/Ivette, Jordan/Natalie, and Rachel/Porsche erasure!!

[meerawrites]

Gen z queers who are ‘antis’ are so laughable. You ship but you hate people for shipping on the basis of your own discomfort. Read about the AIDS crisis and the time the kinksters and lesbians saved the entire queer population (basically), or read any old gothic literature and learn how monster/other was shorthand for queer people to communicate.

You’re masquerading as queer if you go after people who saved our community, furthermore if you’ve never been an outcast for existing I don’t want hear it.

Gothic horror writers/dark fiction creators and kinksters I am blowing you all a kiss (respectfully).

[mehlsbells]

well

do they?

[hellochildrenoftheatom]

Obsessed with this fan letter from Gambit #15 (2000)

Hope this queen Wendy Ina Maurer is doing well and knows Rogue and Gambit got married eventually

[aestariiwilderness]

He's right. You don't need a degree in history to understand this conflict and see who's right (Israel) and who's wrong ("Palestinians", Gaza, Hamas, Hezbollah, the 22 Arab ethnostates surrounding Israel, the antisemites around the world, etc.). You just need to listen to what they say and see how they can't keep it straight even to themselves. Post below: It’s been a while since we did a round up of all the absurd lies people believe about Israel. Here’s the thing. You don’t have to know history. You don’t even have to know facts. You can think whatever you want. It is just pure logic. These lies contradict each other. The anti Israel narrative is full of contradictions, and you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that. Let’s get started. - Gazans: “Israel was an open air prison before October 7th. That’s why we attacked. To resist the Israeli occupation of Gaza!” Also, Gazans: “Gaza was paradise before October 7th. Look what Israel did to it!”

- The “Pro Palestinian” (Oops, I spelled antisemitic wrong.) crowd: “Hitler was right. We wish he would have finished the job.” Also, “The Holocaust never happened.”

- “Globalize the intifada!” Also, “Ceasefire now.”

- “From the river to the sea…” Also, “Two state solution.”

- “The Zionists are starving Gaza! There’s no food!” Also, “Oh stop with the propaganda! The hostages are fed well!”

- “All we want is a state of our own!” Also, “Thanks Israel for giving us Gaza on a silver platter, now hold my beer while we burn it to the ground and elect a terrorist organization as our leadership!”

- “I’m not antisemitic. None of us are. We are just Anti Zionist!” Also, “Let’s attack every Jew on the internet and on the streets whether they support Israel or not, even if they’ve never stepped foot in Israel!”

- “Israel made up October 7th. It never happened!” Also, “Look at my amazing high resolution footage of October 7th. It was the proudest day in our history!”

- Putin: “We call on Israel to pull out of Israel and stop the aggression.” Also, Putin, “Excuse me while I continue to invade and bomb Ukraine back to the stone ages!”

- The Iranian regime: “The Zionists must stop their violence against the Palestinian people!” Also, “We will obliterate Israel and kill all the Jews and then we’ll come after America and the rest of the western world.”

- The UN: “Israel is spreading lies about us and our organizations! We have nothing against Israel!” Also, “Let’s pass more resolutions against Israel than all other countries combined including countries with genocidal evil regimes that murder their people indiscriminately!”

- Israel defending itself? “Genocide!” Gazans murdering, raping, and burning thousands of people? “Resistance!”

- “If only Israel would end the occupation and go back to the 1967 borders, there would be no Arab aggression!” Also, 1967: “Let’s attack the Jews!”

- “The only reason the “Palestinians” attack Jews is because of the occupation. End the occupation and the terror will end!” Also, 1927: “Let’s massacre Jews in Hebron. Who cares if the state of Israel doesn’t even exist?”

- “Israel is ethnically cleansing the ‘Palestinians’!” Also, the ‘Palestinian’ population has grown exponentially since 1948!”

- “Israel is committing genocide and bombing Gaza indiscriminately!” Also, “Israel has to take its foot soldiers (Who Israel sends in and puts at risk as opposed to bombing from the air and causing accidental innocent deaths.) out of Gaza!”

- Protesters and parliaments worldwide: “Israel is committing genocide! They must be stopped!” Also protestors and parliaments worldwide after mass graves were found in Syria: Crickets…

- Gaza: “We voted for Hamas and 70%-80% of us support October 7th. In fact, many of us proudly participated in the massacre!” Also, Gaza: “Gaza isn’t Hamas and Israel is killing us for no reason!”

- “Israel stole Arab land and that’s why there are so many ‘Palestinian’ refugees who just want to return to their home!” Also, “Let’s make sure more and more ‘Palestinians’ call themselves refugees year after year.”

- “Israel occupied an Arab Palestinian state that existed for thousands of years!” Also, “I can’t name a single Arab Palestinian before the Egyptian named Arafat hijacked the world Palestine, which was Israel.”

- “So what if there is endless archaeological evidence that Jews lived in this land for thousands of years and there is not a single shred of evidence that Palestine was ever Arab? The Jews stole Palestine from the Arabs!”

- “Israel is an apartheid state!” Also, “Please give me work permits and let me come into Israel so I can have a better life!”

- “Israel is trying to occupy Syria illegally and they must stop immediately!” Syrians: “Thank you for liberating us. Here, take Assad’s weapons and destroy them.”

- The world: “Give the Palestinians a state. That’s all they want, to live alongside Israel!” The ‘Palestinians’: “We don’t want a state. Israel offered us one countless times. We just want no Israel and as many dead Jews as possible!”

- “Islam is a religion of peace!” Islam: “Kill infidels wherever you find them!”

- “Israel is trying to take over the world!” Radical Islam: “We want to take over the world!”

- Arabs in Judea and Samaria: “Israel is oppressing us. We don’t have freedom here. Why is Israel doing this? Why the check points?” Also, Arabs in Judea and Samaria: “Let‘a build a second Gaza here, a hotbed for terror, and let’s send suicide bombers into Israel and try to commit as much terror as possible!”

- Gaza, Iran, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria: “Let’s attack Israel non stop and try to kill their innocent civilians!” The world: Silence. Israel: “We need to defend ourselves against Gaza, Iran, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria so we need to retaliate!” The world: “Those evil Zionists attacking everyone!”

- Antisemites worldwide: “Israel is committing another Holocaust!” Also, “The Jews are milking this Holocaust lie. It never even happened!”

- Hamas: “We know exactly how many innocent people Israel has killed!” “Hostages? We have no idea how many there are or who is alive. How would we know that?”

- Hamas: “Israel is killing all of us. They must be stopped!” Also, Hamas: “We are winning!”

- “Israel has the iron dome and bomb shelters, we don’t! It’s not fair!” Also, “Let’s use the billions in foreign aid to build terror tunnels and weapons!”

- “People are dying of dehydration in Gaza. There is no water!” Also, “Let’s use all of the water pipes in Gaza to build rockets to attack Israel!”

- The world in 1940: “Get out of Europe. Go to Palestine. Build your own state!” The world in 2024: “Get out of Palestine and to back to Europe. You don’t deserve your own state!”

Honestly, I can continue, but these lies exhaust me and even writing them sucks all the energy out of my brain, so I’ll stop here. What would you add to the long list of hypocritical lies being told to villify Israel and the Jewish people? - Hillel Fuld

[ometochtli2rabbit]

African Moors from North Africa conquered and ruled Spain for 781 years! They ruled Spain from 711-1492.

They passed through Morocco and crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to enter Iberian Peninsula, Spain.

African Moors built universities and mosques in Spain. They also made huge contributions to Mathematics, Medicine, Chemistry, Philosophy, Astronomy, Botany, Masonry and History.

[jasondamien93]

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