Author: jbrought

This week we read Huey P. Newton’s Revolutionary Suicide. The excerpt from the film, A Huey P. Newton story was the most fascinating part of this section to me. The actor did an incredible job portraying Huey and there was an incredible artistic and emotional weight that came through each shot, sometimes with historical footage superimposed behind Huey as he spoke. I’m not sure what the rest of the film was about, but this alone was incredibly powerful and gave me the most insight as to who he might have been. The book’s anecdotes and rhetoric was compelling and interesting, but to see an interpretation of Huey’s mind brought to life through film was incredible. It got me thinking about the mind of a revolutionary. Throughout the class, we’ve seen into the minds of revolutionaries through different means. This book in particular though showcased the thought process, motivations, and upbringing of an impactful rebel. Huey P. Newton believed in all power to the people, and unlike how the media attempted to depict him, he was not uneducated or hellbent on violence. In the part of the film we saw, Huey reflects on his life as a revolutionary and describes the thought process behind the 10 point program. His gesturing, mannerisms, and way of speech reveal to us how passionate he was about bringing justice to black America. They also reveal how his many years of perseverance through oppression and revolution have affected him. His energy is nervous and he often stutters or stumbles for words. When we look at the way that 1968-69 has affected other protagonists and figures throughout our readings, it’s no surprise that Huey would be troubled in this way. However, it’s possible that Huey was already somewhat erratic and this led to him being such a powerful revolutionary. Maybe it takes a revolutionary mind in order to lead people into cutting edge progressivism. His ideas and programs for the youth, homeless, and jobless showcase the way in which he cared about his community, and yet his group was targeted by the government and media. Though Huey is a standout, there are many similarities between him and other leaders that we’ve read of. The particular aspect that speaks the most to me is their desperation.

The reading that we’ve done on the Catonsville Nine and the Chicago Eight has been insightful on the social climate of America at the time. Getting these personal stories on the actions these people took has been helpful in understanding what motivated the radicals at the time. This also ties well with the radicalism seen in Ireland. People were willing to do extreme things or commit violence in order to make a statement or stance against oppression. In Ireland, it was The Troubles, and in America it was the racial tension and war in Vietnam. In the case of the Catonsville Nine the people didn’t want to do violent or radical things, but felt as though they had no other choice in order to grab the attention of the system that was killing people through the draft. The act was done on the basis that the war was unjust and was resulting in needless killing. In a corrupt system, these people believed that breaking the rules became acceptable, if used to strive towards a more beneficial system. It can be argued that even those who committed violence believed the same, but simply lacked even more hope. Desperation causes fight or flight tendencies. There’s no doubt that people in 1968-69 were desperate. 

For whatever reason it was much more difficult for me to understand the parallels between 1968 America and Ireland through our previous readings. Uptight and the Informer had similarities, but I couldn’t help but feel a great juxtaposition between the two conflicts. Some of the major themes held true, but I still had reservations about them being drawn together. Mojo Mickybo helped me to realize this much better though. Perhaps it’s due to the accumulation of knowledge I’ve had at this point in the class, or maybe it has something to do with the text itself. The characterization and ongoings of the plot somehow better clicked for me. I think a big piece of what made things more clear is how Mojo Mickybo depicts the oppression of Irish Catholics. The two opposing sides of Belfast have many similarities with the efforts of civil rights in America. Having seen the movie and read the play, I think I’m much better equipped to understand the whole of the situation and how these two events are quite connected. Our most recent reading, The Pentecost, even makes direct reference to MLK and the ongoings at the time in America

In class this week we discussed The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr. I found these readings to be very interesting. I always studied MLK in terms of the civil rights movement, but what many students brought up are thoughts on his person-hood and character, which aren’t really things I put that much thought into. The thought that he evolved as a person and changed his message is very fascinating. Especially if his outlook was becoming more dark. I’ve read a few of his writings before and they’re all written beautifully. MLK has a rhetoric and style that is unique and compelling. I wish there was an individual or specific group that people could rally behind in today’s protests and efforts. I think things became chaotic very quickly, but as we said in class, this anger and frustration is difficult to sustain when left unguided. Regardless of ones views of non-violent protest though, there’s no doubt that having MLK speak eloquently on behalf of the movement helped greatly. I wonder how things might be different if there was a figurehead leading the protests going on today. 

I found the reading and lecture for class Monday to be very interesting. I’ve known about the narrative of white slavery for a while now, and in more recent times, its been used somewhat frequently. Before now I just chose to ignore conversations where the concept was used. Thanks to this reading though, I now have a much better understanding of what people are referencing when they bring up white slavery. I also now understand how unfounded a lot of the claims about white slavery are. In the reading, I learned that there aren’t a lot of primary sources about the difference between slaves and servants. However, the lecture and reading has made it clear that servants were systemically altogether different. When people bring up white slavery, it’s usually meant to undermine the difficulties of slavery against blacks. Considering how different white servants in Barbados were treated though, the argument that black people should “get over” oppression is a great misunderstanding.