WAR

War. It is a powerful word that invokes thoughts in people of guns, bombs, tanks, planes, more bombs, and death.

Historically, there has been two ways people have overcome oppression: war or negotiations. I believe it is time for Black people to do a reality check. Consider our circumstances and how we got here.

We were murdered, kidnapped, packaged, and shipped to foreign lands to labor in the fields of White Americans. Four hundred years without wages. The Emancipation Proclamation declared us free. Share cropping left us cheated, abused, and without wages. Jim Chow isolated and discriminated against us, excluding us from social and economical advancements, without wages.

Since the day we arrived, we have been treated like animals, property, and as something not worthy of inclusion in the White man's Land of the Free. Despite having fought and died in all of his dirty wars. Our blood, sweat, tears, and deaths are directly responsible for his success. Yet, even today, we cannot find decent wages.

Red-lining: the practice used by banks to realign our districts to exclude us from bank loans. Or Jerrymeandering: the practice of reshaping our ghettos to limit our voting majority. The war on drugs declared a war on our communities which begs the question: why are we still isolated and living in ghettos after a hundred and fifty years of freedom? The wages of the White man's sins replaced the wages that should have been paid to our great grandparents and grandparents. It is time we collect what is owed to us.

There is a "new Black movement" afoot calling themselves Black Lives Matter.

I cannot say that I fully understand the agenda of this movement because I have no access to a computer. Just another exclusion from the mainstream. However, I have heard no discussions surrounding the topic of economic justice or WAR. Not the kind that invokes fear and death. W: wages for past transgressions, A: atonement of sins committed against us, R: reparations as a means of addressing past sins. WAR: Wages, Atonement, and Reparations.

We are entering a critical era for African-Americans in this country. We are being targeted and murdered by law enforcement in all the places we live and congregate. Even our churches aren't safe anymore. Singing songs, praying, and lighting candles cannot be a substitute for real and practical solutions to increasing violence being perpetrated against us. It is time to face the truth: The United States of America, supported by the majority of the privileged White Americans, has intentionally, or unintentionally, committed egregious crimes against us that has left us crippled socially, mentally, and economically. It is time we demand social and economic justice through reparations.

WAR. Whenever Black people start talking about reparations, the first thing people say is, "We don't owe you anything. Those things happened in the past, hundreds of years ago." These are people who have benefited from inheritances and White privilege, and believe that they have "become successful" on their own merit. Ignore them.

The second group will ask, "How would the money be distributed? If we give Black people a bunch of money, they will rush off to the Cadillac dealers." These people don't own Cadillac dealerships. Ignore them.

The Black Lives Matter movement must use its notoriety and influence to reach those in this government who can affect change and demand reparations that look like this:

There are approximately 50 million descendants from slaves in America today. 100 million will be placed into a trust. Each descendant is automatically worth 2 million dollars from the date of enactment. Parents can withdraw child care funds from their trust. Upon completion of 10K (age 16) a child can deduct the cost of a car, car insurance, and yearly maintenance. Upon K-12 graduation, college funds are deducted. In the alternative, completion of trade school, a small business start up can be deducted. Upon completion of higher learning, AB, BA, Masters, or PH.D., additional funds are deducted for career building and business opportunities. Seniors are automatically eligible for their full 2 million to cover health care, retirement housing, and leisure and travel expenses, or to leave as an inheritance to their children.

Prisoners who serve out their sentences and are released must have their criminal records expunged and their voting rights restored. They are eligible for re-entry funds: housing deductions, car, insurance and maintenance, food, clothing, and all necessary expenses to re-enter society. Upon completion of college or other training, small business deductions can be made.

By making each Black life worth two million dollars upon birth, Black lives will matter to any right thinking capitalist who is trying to make a living.

By creating an incentive driven reparations agenda, we encourage Black people to participate in their own rehabilitation and restoration, and, by ensuring that three to four hundred-thousand dollars is in that account when we reach age 65, we guarantee our retirement and ability to better our families' future. This we can build upon. Only then will we begin to appreciate one another for the kind, generous, spiritual people that we are. And when we can love and respect each other, they will have no choice but to respect us and appreciate us for what we bring to the human experience: WAR.

Kenneth Earl Gay
D-15601 2-EB-101
San Quentin, CA 94974