People spend so much time looking for leaders, and someone to show them the way, but we all have that spark within that can ignite that flame of revolution against that which we know to be wrong, unjust, inhumane, or tyrannous. It starts with the realization that we indeed have the power to stand against these things.
H. Rap Brown said, “The status quo is never attacked by the comfortable people–the people who profit from it.” You won’t find the individuals who benefit from the hierarchical structure of this society’s class system fighting to change it. Sure, they might make statements about how things need to change, and they might give to the poor, but they will never make moves that will cause them to relinquish their own wealth or resources to the point where they are on par with the common man.
We all know deep down that something is wrong. We, also, know deep down that if we continue on the path laid out to us, meaningful change will not and cannot occur.
Under the current system we demand concessions from those in power. A concession is nothing more than throwing a bone at the people who are upset with the way things are run. Those bones are to pacify us and keep us temporarily comfortable while the status quo remains. Once that pacifier wears off and we, again, become angry, another bone is thrown. That is how they keep their power. That is how they are able to maintain the status quo–by keeping the same system in place and offering small concessions that do not truly challenge their power, authority and legitimacy thereof.
H. Rap Brown said, “People have to get out of the idea that individuals lead movements.” The people we may see speaking on behalf of a movement apparently have a platform from which to speak, but this does not mean that they are the revolution or that the urgency they feel is any more than supporters of that movement. As he said, “The revolutionary is the person who is on the other side of that camera.” It’s you!
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