After they killed Dr. King, the white power structure decided one thing: never again. They looked at the 1960s — H. Rap Brown, Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, the Panthers, SNCC, the SCLC, the Freedom Rides, the sit-ins — and they saw America brought to the brink of disintegration. They swore there would be no next wave of Black revolution.
They changed the strategy. Instead of fighting our leaders in the streets, they dismantled the infrastructure that made leadership possible.
Phase 1: Economic Strike on Black Men
In the 1970s, they went into the high schools of Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, and across the country — and ripped out the industrial and trade programs. No more carpentry, plumbing, welding, roofing, or electrical work taught to Black youth.
Seventy-five years ago, our grandparents could graduate high school with a skill that paid the bills. They lived better without college degrees than many of us do now with them — because skills meant independence.
At the same time, they pulled industries out of Black neighborhoods and replaced them with prisons. This made the Black man economically irrelevant to the Black woman. And just to seal it, they pushed welfare programs that rewarded households where the man was absent. It wasn’t about helping Black women — it was about breaking the Black family.
Phase 2: Social & Chemical Warfare
In the 1980s, they dropped off the crack — take it or sell it, either way you’re headed to prison. This set the stage for Bill Clinton’s 1994 Crime Bill — the Democratic president who locked up more Black people than any Republican ever did.
Phase 3: Spiritual Strike
By the 2000s, George W. Bush rolled out the “faith-based initiatives” program — offering federal money to Black churches. The price of the check? Stay out of the struggle.
Many churches that once fought gentrification, police violence, miseducation, and economic apartheid retreated to the sidelines. In some cities, pastors even became informants, feeding the FBI information about community activists. The church — once a cornerstone of Black liberation — became a tool for keeping the peace in our oppression.
Phase 4: Divide & Conquer Gender Politics
This all fed a wedge between Black men and Black women. Brothers, stripped of their ability to provide, faced social irrelevance. Sisters, encouraged to “do it alone” by the system, were told they didn’t need their men.
A house divided cannot stand. If Black men and Black women are fighting each other, how can we fight white supremacy? This is an old colonial tactic: divide and conquer, separate and rule.
The Global Connection: Pride Comes from Power
I’ve seen this not just in America, but across the African world. In Jamaica, there are people who say they weren’t from Africa — not because they don’t look African, but because they don’t see African identity as a badge of pride.
It’s the same in South Africa. There’s a population called “coloureds” — mixed race — and they’ll tell you straight up: “I’m not African.” Why? Because African identity has been stripped of its dignity and power.
But here’s the truth: the minute Black South Africans take back the diamond mines and the gold mines, the pride will return overnight. Nobody brags about being on a losing team, but win a championship and suddenly everybody wants the T-shirt. Until Blackness equals respect, many will run from it. Once Blackness equals respect, they will run to it.
The Path Forward: From Survival to Victory
This is why, I want to teach our boys to love who they are — not from a speech, but from seeing that being African is a badge of honor backed by achievement.
As Africa goes, so goes the African world. None of us — in America, the Caribbean, or Europe — will rise to our full potential until Africa rises to hers. We have to make Africa great again. We have to make African people great again.
And that starts with rebuilding our economic power, uniting our families, and taking control of our own resources — both here and in the motherland. Pride will not come from talk. Pride will come from power — from victory — from building something our people can point to and say, “That’s ours. And we made it great.”
Turning History’s Wounds into Tomorrow’s Infrastructure
We can’t just identify the attacks — we must build the counterattack. The Black Infrastructure Trust (BIT) is our blueprint to reverse each phase of this 50-year disempowerment strategy and rebuild collective pride through power.
1. Economic Strike → BIT Workforce Cooperatives
They removed skills from schools.
We restore them through BIT-run Trade & Industry Hubs in every Collective.
- Welding, carpentry, electrical, coding, farming, and other high-demand trades taught at no cost to members.
- Apprenticeships and cooperative-owned contracting companies that keep the profit in our community.
- Members who work in these co-ops build equity shares, just like owning stock — meaning they gain wealth while working for the community.
2. Social & Chemical Warfare → BIT Health & Recovery Networks
They flooded our neighborhoods with drugs and criminalized addiction.
We counter with community-run Recovery & Wellness Centers funded by BIT.
- Holistic addiction recovery programs with mental health care, not incarceration.
- Nutrition and fitness programs to restore health and fight preventable disease.
- Youth outreach to replace street economy with paid skill-building jobs inside the Collective.
3. Spiritual Strike → BIT Civic & Cultural Institutions
They bought off churches to keep them silent.
We create independent Civic Centers funded by member dues and cooperative profits.
- A place for political education, organizing campaigns, and voter protection work.
- Space for African-centered cultural programs — dance, music, language, history — to root pride in daily life.
- Elders’ councils to guide youth and mediate community disputes without police involvement.
4. Divide & Conquer Gender Politics → BIT Family Empowerment Model
They pitted Black men and women against each other economically.
We heal this by making both essential to the Collective’s survival.
- Equal voting rights for all members, regardless of gender.
- Family-based membership incentives — child care, housing priority, and healthcare for households where both partners are BIT members.
- Dispute resolution and relationship counseling offered free to members to strengthen family stability.
5. Global Pride Deficit → BIT Africa-Diaspora Exchange
They made African identity a “losing team.”
We change that by showing visible wins here and on the continent.
- Business partnerships between BIT Collectives and African cooperatives for direct trade (coffee, cocoa, textiles, tech).
- Annual member delegations to African nations to exchange skills and resources.
- Investment pools that fund African-owned industries so profits come back to BIT members.
Why This Works
The attacks on our people were systematic — but so is this solution.
BIT isn’t just about talking unity — it’s about building the physical, economic, and cultural structures that make unity inevitable.
When we own our own housing, run our own schools, teach our own skills, control our own food, and link directly with Africa, no government program or corporate fad can pull us apart again.
Pride will no longer be a speech.
Pride will be a daily reality, backed by wealth, health, and power that belongs to us.
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