"If America Fails?: The Coming Tyranny" ::: Examining "The Handmaid’s Tale". . .the fictional story that explores the real potential of the U.S. as a failed state.
@ASoulAFire @JaniceOCG @Thom_Hartmann gives excellent comparison between public policies in the U.S. and Germany, and questions why #amerkel57 is seen by American media as conservative.
“Angela Merkel Governed Germany to the Left of Bernie Sanders: Why Don’t Americans Know? If Angela Merkel has governed Germany for 16 years as a ‘conservative,’ there are probably a lot of Americans ready to adopt the label. Why Doesn’t Every American Know About the Trump Coup Memo?”
@ASoulAFire @JaniceOCG @MrGerrenalist & @QueenSqueakz of @DearCulturePod by @theGrio explore possibilities of modern Pan African movement. Characters in @HandmaidsOnHulu had a place to go. Do we? Join “If America Fails?: The Coming Tyranny,” Thursdays at 8 pm ET, beginning January, 2022.
How much thought have you given to the idea of going back to Africa or leaving the United States for points anywhere? Would the borders be open in your desired destination? Would you be welcomed…cared for…loved?
Of course we see in the fictional Handmaid’s Tale, the warm welcome U.S. citizens escaping the tyranny of Gilead receive in Canada. That’s TV. In real life, we are still processing the images of Haitians arriving at the U.S. border, and the most unwelcoming reception they received.
In the TV show, getting out of America was more than a notion. The borders were closed and Americans literally had to escape.
If you believe the U.S. is currently on the brink of collapse, in real life, and moving with all deliberate speed toward the tyranny of fascism, what is an appropriate response? Should we get out now, while we still can – or take our chances that things are not as bad as they sometimes seem? Do you see repatriation as a viable option? The discussion below offers food for thought. — LMO
Highlights from the discussion include the following:
The Motherland is calling; are you ready to answer? This week on the Dear Culture Podcast, our hosts, Shana Pinnock and Gerren Keith Gaynor, dig deep into a growing conversation about Black Americans returning to Africa.” — Dear Culture
Gaynor begins the discussion by acknowledging Ghana’s “Year of Return” initiative, and reviewing some of the key forefathers and thought leaders of Pan Africanism, including Martin Delaney, Alexander Crummell, and Edward Blyden, who believed “Black people could not prosper alongside white people;” W.E.B. Du Bois, who described our double consciousness; and Marcus Garvey, who founded the Black Star Line. He also discussed the importance of Black entrepreneurs learning to do business in Africa, referencing “Prosper Africa,” a U.S. trade and investment initiative. He believes given the rising extremes of white supremacy, Black people of the diaspora should recover the Pan Africanism explored heavily in the 1960s and 70s, but lost in the quest for assimilation, learn our history, and decide what a new “Back to Africa” movement could look like.
“If it’s not all of us, it’s none of us.”
Pinnock notes the high degree with which Asians are currently engaged in business enterprises on the continent, and does see some hopeful signs for a new “Back to Africa” movement among Black Americans, including response to the release of the Black Panther film. Ultimately, she believes Pan Africanism might be a dead idea because “we divide ourselves in really gross ways.” Her concern is that differences among us, such as sexual orientation and physical ability, are exaggerated and “If it’s not all of us, it’s none of us.” Pinnock is also concerned that Pan Africanism and capitalism cannot co-exist.
“I would love to see and feel that kind of collective movement and love and ability to fight this terrible, terrible insidious notion of white supremacy and colonialism in general,” said Pinnock, “but I think we are so busy trying to be like white people that we can never really learn how to love just Black people.”
Gaynor discussed the difficulty pinpointing a central source of Pan Africanist activity today. He observes that while social justice protests related to the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement have sparked global conversations and awareness among Black people across the diaspora, the politics of economics and power under capitalism mean a utopian world is not likely. He also mentioned the work of Joseph Tolton of Interconnected Justice, which “is a global platform connecting people of African descent for collaborative action in the areas of policy and advocacy, media and culture, education and economics,” but notes this is the work of one organization. In his own social circles, Gaynor sees more blending of African and African American cultures.
“For us to really have liberation,” said Gaynor, “we have to have some type of return to Africa – whether that’s through tourism or whether that’s through immigration…just leaving America altogether…I do think that there’s a way to have a new movement for Pan Africanism, even if it’s not in the way that our forefathers had envisioned.”
“For us to really have liberation,” said Gaynor, “we have to have some type of return to Africa – whether that’s through tourism or whether that’s through immigration…just leaving America altogether…I do think that there’s a way to have a new movement for Pan Africanism, even if it’s not in the way that our forefathers had envisioned.”
Pinnock has several friends who have moved to Africa and does see hopeful signs in the Afro Beats movement and spiritual experience and sense of connection we have through music, such as Beyoncé’s “Black Is King” using many artists from the continent.
“At the end of the day,” Gaynor said, “I just really challenge us…as in Black people across the diaspora, to reconnect with our roots, to understand that we are all in this together, and I just really want to imagine a different, better world for not just the world at large, but specifically for us, because I think we were robbed of the opportunity to truly be free and to truly love each other in harmony…I also think it’s about time that we stop looking to America for solutions to the problems we are perpetually facing. This country has proven time and time again, that they do not have our interests at heart. It’s possible that something as simple as power consolidation in Africa could re-imagine the allocation of global resources, as well as unleashing…psychological and political assets…that would unsettle social and political power structures in the Americas.”
“…I just really want to imagine a different, better world for not just the world at large, but specifically for us, because I think we were robbed of the opportunity to truly be free and to truly love each other in harmony…I also think it’s about time that we stop looking to America for solutions to the problems we are perpetually facing.”
@ASoulAFire @JaniceOCG @kbennhold reports on neo-Nazi infiltration of German police forces for @nytimes in chilling overlap of developments in that country and the U.S. Join “If America Fails?: The Coming Tyranny,” Thursdays at 8 pm ET, beginning January, 2022.
This is the first of two articles Dr. Karen A. Ritzenhoff shared with her honors students in a class on “Terror, Trauma and Identity” as they watched the films “BlacKkKlansman” by Spike Lee and “If Beale Street Could Talk,” based on James Baldwin’s novel, adapted by Barry Jenkins. — LMO
Here are a few excerpts:
“Death threats linked to police computers and the discovery of far-right chat groups in police departments across Germany have fed concerns about far-right infiltration…
“Far-right extremism is resurgent in Germany, in ways that are new and very old, horrifying a country that prides itself on dealing honestly with its murderous past. This month, a two-year parliamentary inquiry concluded that far-right networks had extensively penetrated German security services, including its elite special forces…
“Policing was fundamentally overhauled in West Germany after the war, and cadets across the country are now taught in unsparing detail about the shameful legacy of policing under the Nazis — and how it informs the mission and institution of policing today…
“Still, Germany has been besieged by revelations of police officers in different corners of the country forming groups based on a shared far-right ideology…
“The 31 officers in Mr. Reul’s western state were suspended in September for sharing images of Hitler, memes of a refugee in a gas chamber and the shooting of a Black man. The unit’s superior was part of the chat, too…
“Penetrating state institutions, especially those with guns, has been part of the party’s strategy from the start.” — Katrin Bennhold | The New York Times
@ASoulAFire @JaniceOCG @Dee82442012 #JusticeForRonaldGreene LA State Trooper #CarlCavalier is soon to be fired after going public with allegations of brutality and racism within the department. Listen to clip of @rolandsmartin @RMUProduction #RolandMartinUnfiltered Join “If America Fails?: The Coming Tyranny,” Thursdays at 8 pm ET, beginning January, 2022.
The Handmaid’s Tale @HandmaidsOnHulu is replete with examples of punishment and death for those who attempt to resist oppression. So is America. For example, Louisiana State Trooper Carl Cavalier who revealed an ongoing pattern of brutality toward Black motorists and accused colleagues of murder, will be fired for blowing the whistle. He needs our support.
“LA State Trooper is soon to be fired after going public with allegations of brutality and racism within the department; Black farmers file motion in battle over $5B in debt relief for farmers of color; Michigan looks to replace all of Benton Harbor lead pipes in 18 months; Boston to pay over $1M to a black man who was arrested for being drunk, but he was really having a stroke; DOJ investigates physical and sexual abuse allegations in Texas’ Juvenile Correctional facilities.” — Roland Martin Unfiltered
LISTEN TO 4:10 to 21:55 | “LA State Trooper whistleblower speaks; Black farmers fight back in TX; DOJ Texas prisons abuse probe” | Roland Martin Unfiltered | 10/15/2021
@ASoulAFire @JaniceOCG @mikiebarb @henryfountain & @MrOlmos reflect on extreme heat in Pacific NW for @TheDailyNYT @nytimes. Warnings by @MargaretAtwood #Octavia Butler, Mother Earth & more, issue warnings we cannot afford to ignore. Join “If America Fails?: The Coming Tyranny,” Thursdays at 8 pm ET, beginning January, 2022.
When writers like Octavia Butler and Margaret Atwood incorporated themes of global warming into their dystopian volumes, several decades ago, it was clear, at least among scientists and visionaries, the track we were on as a species with the damage we were doing to Mother Earth. The artists, authors, scientists and others have been speaking on behalf of the planet – warning us of the worst possibilities – and beseeching humanity to course correct – for decades.
Well, here we are in a new century – and Mother Earth is speaking for herself. Are we listening?
It’s cool outside now in NYC. We can breathe, and hopefully, think more clearly than we are able to do in the debilitating heat. Do we remember the temperatures some parts of our country experienced last summer?
My son told me when he was in Kuwait about 10 years ago, the temperature got up to 129 degrees – and even higher inside his U.S. Army uniform! I really can’t even or don’t want to imagine what that feels like. I am certain I would not survive. I don’t even see myself surviving the high temps we saw in this country last summer. Have you forgotten? Here’s a reminder. May we be inspired to do the work Mother Earth is calling us to do. Keep cool. — LMO
“The heat wave that hit the usually cool and rainy American Pacific Northwest was a shock to many — Oregon and Washington were covered by a blanket of heat in the triple digits. After the temperatures soared, a group of scientists quickly came together to answer a crucial question: How much is climate change to blame? Guest: Henry Fountain, a climate change reporter for The New York Times; and Sergio Olmos, a freelancer for The Times.” — The Daily
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@ASoulAFire @JaniceOCG Repression in education is visible in @HandmaidsOnHulu & also evident in the U.S. today as #JanineJackson of @FAIRmediawatch & Stevana Sims of @BLMAtSchool explain in this article. #TeachTruth Join “If America Fails?: The Coming Tyranny,” Thursdays at 8 pm ET, beginning January, 2022.
Dan, a character who plays a gay college professor in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” is hung from a pole. The character Emily, herself a former college professor, was told by her boss, Dan, that she would not be teaching the following semester at the university, to give her a lower profile and avoid attracting criticism for her sexual orientation. Dan is later seen hanged with the word “faggot” painted underneath him. (See Season 2, Episode 2, “Unwomen”).
Reading by women is made illegal in “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Serena lost a finger for violating this vile law. When she proposes that girls be taught to read only from the Bible, and reads from the Bible to make her point, she is punished by having a finger removed. (See Season 2, Episode 13, “The Word”).
The power of ideas is very threatening to people who seek to control the thoughts of other people. They seem to realize that people may object to having their thoughts limited and controlled – and are desperately attempting to repress thinking from grade school through college.
At all levels of America’s educational system, the battle is on. — LMO
These points were made in the CounterSpin interview with Stevana Sims on anti-racist education:
“Legislators in some 27 states are trying to require teachers to avoid what are termed ‘divisive concepts’ in classrooms and curricula, an extremely thinly veiled effort to force teachers to propagandize about US history rather than teach it, and to punish those that don’t toe the line… It’s deeply disturbing. But it turns out teachers don’t take kindly to being told to underserve their students by distorting historical and present reality. A major campaign is underway to push back, and reassert the importance of critical education and the professional judgment of educators… The American Association of University Professors, the American Historical Association, PEN America—a number of really mainstream, respected organizations are sounding the alarm that these bills around the country are an infringement on the right of faculty to teach, and students to learn.” — Janine Jackson
“The American Association of University Professors, the American Historical Association, PEN America—a number of really mainstream, respected organizations are sounding the alarm that these bills around the country are an infringement on the right of faculty to teach, and students to learn.”
— Janine Jackson
“It is a direct attack on our K–12 teachers. It is to the point where teachers are getting fired and losing pay. It is to the point where there was a teacher who had a Black Lives Matter flag in her classroom, and was asked to take it down. And because she refused, she was then removed from her position. There was a principal in Texas who was also accused of teaching critical race theory within his school, and he was removed from his job. It’s coming to a point where threats, violent threats, are being made against teachers and educators who are teaching the truth and teaching education. It is scary, honestly.” — Stevana Sims, Black Lives Matter at School
“It’s coming to a point where threats, violent threats, are being made against teachers and educators who are teaching the truth and teaching education.”
@ASoulAFire @JaniceOCG @TangiSalaun & @IngridMelander of @Reuters reported on recent revelations that more than 200,000 (mostly boy) children were sexually abused by French clergy of the Catholic church, over the past 70 years, prompting me to wonder about the boy children of Gilead and the roads we travel in pursuit of power. Join “If America Fails?: The Coming Tyranny,” Thursdays at 8 pm ET, beginning January, 2022.
Where are the boy children in Gilead? Thus far in “The Handmaid’s Tale” we have not seen much about the boy children. Perhaps we need another show to highlight the atrocities to which boys and all children may be subjected. The real world, as always, provides much stimuli from which a story could be crafted. Recent revelations of the sexual abuse of mainly boy children by French clergy, for example, could be used as a starting point.
As I was reading about the indifference of the Catholic Church in the article linked here, I was reminded of a comment by the character Commander Joseph Lawrence. While trying to coerce June into revealing the location of runaway handmaids, by warning her that her daughter Hannah would be hurt, June said, “No. Gilead would never hurt a child. That’s all they care about.” Lawrence responded: “Gilead doesn’t care about children. Gilead cares about power. Faithfulness, old-time values, homemade bread – that’s just a means to the end – a distraction…” (See Season 4, Episode 3, “The Crossing,” 34:40).
“Gilead doesn’t care about children. Gilead cares about power. Faithfulness, old-time values, homemade bread – that’s just a means to the end – a distraction…”
— Character – Commander Joseph Lawrence
What other reason than power could there possibly be for the blind indifference of Catholic leadership to the abuse of children in their midst? — LMO
“French clergy sexually abused more than 200,000 children over the past 70 years, a major investigation released on Tuesday found, and its authors said the Catholic Church had turned a blind eye to the ‘scourge’ for too long.” — Tangi Salaün and Ingrid Melander | Reuters
@ASoulAFire @JaniceOCG The issue of accountability has been a consistent theme of @gaslitnation hosted by @sarahkendzior @andreachalupa, as in this episode. If America hopes to avoid its descent into a world depicted in @HandmaidsOnHulu, insurrectionists at all levels must be held to account, for starters. Join “If America Fails?: The Coming Tyranny,” Thursdays at 8 pm ET, beginning January, 2022.
I wish The Handmaid’s Tale showed more about how the U.S. was overtaken by Gilead. I think it could help Americans more clearly see connections between seemingly unrelated events, and perhaps increase our sense of urgency around fighting fascism. For example, it may seem unrelated to our daily lives, but the issue of accountability is key to how smooth or rough is the road to fascism.
Some attention, though hardly enough, is being paid to holding people accountable, at the highest level, in events that transpired at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. However, if Congress and the DOJ allow witnesses to blow off subpoenas regarding these events, insurrectionists will learn there are no significant consequences to attempts at overthrowing the U.S. government. They will try again. One day they will succeed.
Perhaps as citizens of the U.S., our role is to alert decision makers of our interest in seeing justice served. #AccountabilityMatters — LMO
“It has now been over nine months since the January 6 attack on the Capitol, and none of the key perpetrators – Trump, Bannon, Flynn, Stone, etc – have been held accountable. And now they are dodging and defying subpoenas! What the Democrats are showing is that you cannot fight hate speech with weasel words, and you cannot fight accelerationism with inertia. This whole gang is running out the clock – the GOP and the transnational crime syndicate that backs them.” — Gaslit Nation
As we observe a systematic attack on voting rights and election integrity, it’s good to know, at least, the nature of the enemy – their motives, goals, strategies and tactics. For those who want to preserve and promote democracy – who believe every adult should have a voice in how we are governed – who want to fight back while we still can – we must identify the targets.
In this important conversation, Nick and Jared discuss The Claremont Institute that seeks to destroy democracy and bring in strongman leadership so that those they consider to be more intelligent can rule the world for those they deem lessor beings. These are the people, said Jared, who are “working overtime to overthrow” our right to vote. Take a listen. — LMO
“Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman…turn their focus on Krysten Sinema and Joe Manchin, two senators hellbent on holding up the process of passing Joe Biden’s agenda.” — The Muckrake Political Podcast
If America Fails? 