Can we trust white people’s involvement in the African Movement?

BY SIMONE J SMITH

“Now I say, if this should be the condition of you and yours, you would think it hard measure, yea, and very great Bondage and Cruelty. And therefore consider seriously this, and do you for and to them, as you would willingly have them or any other to do unto you….. were you in the like slavish condition.”  George Fox

Toronto! Welcome back to another edition of A Better Tomorrow. What does a better tomorrow look like to you? Is it better housing? More money? Less division? However it looks like to you, you must do your best to create that better tomorrow for yourself. My better tomorrow resembles a place where people are emotionally, spiritually, and psychologically balanced. This may seem like a utopic idea, and I agree it is, but my purpose on earth is to create this tomorrow by sharing ideas –others and mine – in a way that educates and empowers.

Each week I have something planned, and then something happens which completely changes all of my thoughts. This week I am going to incorporate some of what I learned during my time in South-Western Ontario, and reactions that were received when I had a guest on my show Hear 2 Help You, which airs on Tuesday at 5:00 pm on MyTCNTV Network. We had a dynamic, and compelling conversation with Penny Hess, the Chairwoman of the African People’s Solidarity Committee (APSC), an organization of white people working in white communities under the leadership of Chairman Omali Yeshitela and the African People’s Socialist Party. The APSC focuses on educating other white people on the oppression of African and other colonized peoples based on slavery, genocide, and colonialism. They have continued to organize other white people to participate in building the movement of white reparations to African people.

Dave and I knew that having this guest would polarize people, and low and behold, we received some comments from individuals who were not impressed with the idea of a white woman, or any white people getting involved in the African Movement. Depolarizing yourself in this day and age is a difficult task, and the only true way to do so effectively is to find ways to educate YOU. So, this week, I would like to take this time to go back in history and rediscover the movement of a group of white people who not only fought fiercely against colonization, and slavery, but also fought for the rights of criminals, and those who were considered mentally impaired. I would like to take this time to introduce to you, the Quakers.

The Religious Society of Friends also referred to as the Quaker Movement, had their genesis in England in the 17^th century. The name “Quaker” was actually seen as a derogatory nickname for George Fox, the founder of the movement, and for others who shared his beliefs. Fox and the other early Quakers were persecuted for their beliefs, which included the idea that the presence of God existed in every person, regardless of their race, culture, class or creed. During this time, beliefs like the ones held by the Quakers were persecuted and eventually pervasive societal groups estranged them.

The beginning of the Quakers’ opposition came in 1657, and around 1727, the Quakers began to express their official disapproval. From the 1750s onwards, a number of Quakers in the American colonies began to oppose enslavement. They boldly visited slaveholders and lobbied the English Headquarters for action. By 1761, the Quakers were full-blown abolitionists and all Quakers, on both sides of the Atlantic were barred from owning slaves. Any members who did not comply were disowned and cast out of the community. Activists like: William Southby demanded a ban on slave ownership and impartation, and James Wright of Haverhill, who was one of the first British businessmen to refuse to sell slave processed sugar, are examples of white people who took a stand against the atrocities that were occurring with Africans, Aboriginals, criminals and the mentally impaired at that time.

This article is not meant to sway anyone’s opinion, or even attempt to displace ideologies that have become a part of someone’s life; this article is meant to open one’s thoughts to another way of thinking, to aid in depolarizing the polarized.

References
PBS
The History Channel
The Abolitionist Project
http://abolition.e2bn.org/people_21.html