The BROTHERWISE DISPATCH, Vol.2, ISSUE#6, DEC/2012-FEB/2013
ONE PEOPLE’S PROJECT engages in a type of emancipatory praxis which is invaluable because of its stated socio-historical trajectory in confrontation with western imperialist power as biopolitically constituted through ‘white’ supremacist organizations and neo-fascist ‘hate groups’.
By exposing functional political connections, countering biased media coverage and tracing any financial support which binds racist mainstream neo-conservatives to grassroots fascist networks; the underlying ideological unity of ‘whiteness’ as a functional socio-ontological construct of lived power relations between ruling power elite and bewildered herd becomes more and more evident.
BROTHERWISE DISPATCH - Directly confronting western imperialist power by consistently kickin' @ss and takin' names, ONE PEOPLE'S PROJECT remains "an online resource for those on the frontline fighting fascism, especially those who don’t play nice" even in the face of the current ideological euphoria proclaiming a new era of 'postracialism'. How have you maintained your focus at a time when people are seriously questioning the very relevance of the type of emancipatory praxis you engage in?
Daryle Lamont Jenkins - At this point, we just ignore any questions about the relevance of the type of work we do. We have to be like that unfortunately because a lot of that comes from some fear of blowback to an activist should they engage the opposition too hard. We know that when we press on, our work gets appreciated. You don't hear too many people ask us “Was that really necessary?”, after we expose a school principal in the Bronx of being a white supremacist. We all know the problems that are still out there, but a lot of us have not prepared ourselves properly to deal with it. That needs to change.
BD - Dealing precisely with that last statement you just made, for anybody who feels like they “know the problems that are still out there” but are definitely overcome with that “fear of blowback” you mentioned; what exactly does preparing “ourselves properly to deal with it” entail?
DLJ - It is always said that knowledge is key, and that is especially true when it comes to knowing who are the actual players trying to prevent us from advancing, and how. They are actually more afraid of us than we are of them and that's because when they get exposed and called out, all their efforts fall apart. They are benefitting from any ignorance we may have about them, even the slightest, because they can exploit that and go on a campaign against us to discredit anything we say no matter how true it is. That's a trick Sean Hannity likes to play. Last week he had some liberal on who called out the right on its racism and demanded that he tell him on the fly of an elected GOP official that ever said anything racist about Obama. One, Hannity nuanced the question, limiting it to elected officials when he knew it was more than just them. Two, the liberal couldn’t even answer that question on the fly, so Hannity turned that into so some rant about how this proves that none of us know what we are talking about. Now when he slips up and someone comes on that meets him on his BS, interestingly that person is never seen on the show again.
BD - So how should that liberal have answered the question and is there anything ONE PEOPLE’S PROJECT unearthed about Sean Hannity and his connections with ‘white’ supremacists which would be helpful for someone planning on calling him out while appearing as a guest on his show?
DLJ - There's a healthy list from the birthers like Rep. Paul Broun to elected officials in California and Tennessee that emailed racist pictures depicting the Obama family as monkeys, but I would have immediately called him on the game Hannity was playing because if he has seen it relevant to make a big deal about say, a schoolteacher in Colorado that might have said something off color about ex-President Bush, he can most certainly suck it up if the thing about his friend Ted Nugent's BS of swinging an M16 around on stage saying then Presidential Candidates Obama and Hilliary Clinton can "suck on my machine gun" - a move Hannity defended.
And to that end there is a lot of things about Hannity that suggests he is playing a very dangerous game with hate politics. It is known that we broke the story of his friendship with white supremacist Hal Turner. New Black Panther Party leader Malik Shabazz was a regular on Hannity's program who used him to undermine any concern of racism black people would raise. That stopped when Shabazz called him out about Turner on his television program. Shabazz hasn't been on the show since. But there’s other curious things that he pulls, like using his show regularly to defend white people using the N word. No one has ever called him out on that one.
BD - So what’s the meaning of your latest discursive Molotov slogan “Anti-racists don’t need code words” and is there a specific incident you had in mind when you adopted it?
DLJ - That is in response to a whiny little thing cyber nazis came up with, that they have encouraging every neo-Nazi on the Internet post on whatever forum or comments section they are on, calling it their "mantra": "Anti-Racist is codeword for Anti-White". Frankly, I like the idea that we have beaten that crowd down to the point that they collectively cannot come up with an original thought and have to resort to some whiny so-called mantra that basically is them telling us to stop picking on them! So we have that little response to them as a way to screw with them more. We regularly change the tag line, but we have decided to keep that one up semi permanently.
BD - I don’t know if you remember the extremely lively and warm reception you received at the LEFT FORUM while participating on a panel The BROTHERWISE DISPATCH organized on Black Liberation Theory a couple years back. I found it especially moving because in a lot of cases, grassroots activist freedom fighters such as yourself: who have clearly sacrificed and contributed so much to the dynamic struggle for human liberation, rarely get the proper recognition for their efforts. However, I would argue that the recognition you receive in the form of concerted attacks from racist mainstream neo-conservative eunuchs and fascist ‘white’ supremacist bastards is an even truer indicator that the trajectory of your own particular brand of human liberation praxis is hittin’ oppressors where it hurts. What words of encouragement or advice would you like to give to those who are just beginning to be awakened to the Real of structural-inert racist dehumanization which accompanies advanced neo-liberal capitalist globalization and seek to engage in emancipatory praxis and resistance but are spiritually discouraged by the overwhelming odds we face?
DLJ - We are winning this thing. The foundation of fascism and oppression crumbles with each generation that rises up against that, and we are a few generations from the days of the Civil Rights Era. As I was just alluding to, we now have those that have always championed those days when they were able to keep their boot on us and the freedoms we are supposed to have now, openly saying that they are losing and have to change their way of thinking. There is still much to be done. We are still fighting wars around the globe that have no business being waged. We still have those fascist elements trying to fight and regain what they lost. And we unfortunately have problems within our ranks from those who are afraid to go forward, or want to take the opportunity to attain power for themselves. To that I say we cannot fall into the same traps as generations past. Too many people have suffered greatly to get us where we are, and we owe it to them and to ourselves to not make the same mistakes. But we are a stronger people, and I don't believe we will.
This has been another one of our BROTHERWISE FIVE interview series, during which The BROTHERWISE DISPATCH interrogates intellectuals, artists and activists with five probing questions to the delight of our readers.
On behalf of Daryle Lamont Jenkins and The BROTHERWISE DISPATCH,
Peace.
-A. Shahid Stover
(this interview of Daryle Lamont Jenkins for The BROTHERWISE DISPATCH was conducted by A. Shahid Stover through email correspondence from Jan. 27th – Feb. 2nd of 2013)
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