Black People : Individualism

The power is not in having choices. The power is in creating choices. I can give you a choice between killing your baby or raising it in poverty and you will think I have given you freedom because you have a choice. But if you ever ask me why these are your only choices, if you ever ask me why you can't raise your baby in prosperity, at that point you will see where the touchstone realljy is.

I did not quote Giovanni with any focus on the word individualistic. I realize this word has a precise meaning in the social structure of the Black movement. I think Warriorprincess is correct in saying Giovanni's use of the word is broader than its precise social meaning. How else could she say Douglas' escape from slavery and Garve'ys coming to America were individualistic?

I don't know how anybody can get wealthy writing poetry alone. When was the last time you bought a book of poetry? Cosby, well if all he had going was being funny he might make millions just like these gangsta rappers out here are making millions but without an education millions don't mean anything. It's just money to be spent on everything except what will lead to real power. You can have a million dollars and still not have the power to create choices for yourself or anybody else, but especially not for anybody else. And that is something both Cosby and Giovanni have done.
no arguement here dear heart, but to clarify my point both Douglas and Garvey emphasized the need for the "African Asili " of colective unity,

a system that we embraced for over 30 thousand years in African culture and paradigm,
where the ills we see today amongst our people would be unimaglanable!
 
no arguement here dear heart, but to clarify my point both Douglas and Garvey emphasized the need for the "African Asili " of colective unity,

a system that we embraced for over 30 thousand years in African culture and paradigm,
where the ills we see today amongst our people would be unimaglanable!

Dumb question #357: What is the African Asili?
 
Sometimes a person acts as an individual in a politically progressive fashion, but at a different time, that person can act as an individual in an opportunistic fashion. It comes down to whether the objective is to advance the best interests of the masses of people or simply to get some cheese just for one's self.

agreed.
 
Here is a fairly recent interview by Nikki Giovani. I think that her ideas here may be related to the original quote

The Authority of a Writer: An Interview with Nikki Giovanni
By Jan McDaniel

I do a lot in remembrance. I was asked recently what makes me an Appalachian writer. I was trying to think about it because this is actually not a term I would use--I think of myself as an urban writer. My Appalachian roots come out because of my sense of independence. My Southern roots come out because of my sense of remembrance, and I do see the difference between how Appalachia and the South handle independence . . . or individuality, I should say . . . and remembrance.

There is very little individuality in the South. There is such a herd mentality, you wish you could just crack that egg and break it through. There is such a fierce, personal independence in Appalachia. I do see how that works in a black girl from Knoxville, Tennessee, who grew up in Cincinnati. It's what you're constantly dealing with . . . remembrance but also what is your individual responsibility.

http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/jul00/giovanni.htm
 

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