"The Power of Money, the Fight for Equality, and the Truth They Don’t Want You to Know"

Whenever the topic of Black history comes up, I tend to feel ashamed of not knowing all the facts. It frustrates me that I don't know, without searching everything our ancestors did so I can now sit here on this train while others stand. It's time I do my own research.

What led me here was hearing and understanding that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968 while addressing those gathered outside his hotel balcony in support of sanitation workers striking. Now, I knew that, please give me some credit. But then the conspiracy surrounding his death came up. I mean, I knew that too. But what I didn't know was that his assassination came at a time when he was organising his Poor People's Campaign. Dr. King had begun speaking more and more on economic equality and justice, encouraging Black Americans to withdraw from businesses that did not respect the rights of their workers and instead pour into Black-owned companies, alongside much more. It’s insane that I didn’t know the specifics.

Don't judge me, I just think that when it comes to the greats, I have focused on the changes they enforced, the evolution that occurred, and then the anger at the opposing side, forever feeling threatened by our greatness, which, let’s be real, hasn’t really changed.

Dr Martin Luther King JR

This reminds me of the earlier destruction of Black Wall Street, burned down in 1921 because white Americans saw it as a direct threat to white-dominated capitalism. We should all understand that the love of money is the root of all evil and power struggles. When power is concentrated in the hands of those who see class, colour, gender, and religion before first acknowledging the human being, it is a recipe for disaster. We have visual proof of this in the form of the current leaders of the West and beyond, and even closer to home; those in positions making daily decisions about whether you get that job, how you will be treated in said job, who is teaching your children, who is delivering your healthcare, and the list goes on.

If the greed for money were removed completely, what different choices would be made? I'm not sure much would change, instead, something else would just take its place.

Black Wall Street in flames.

Status. Something many of us are striving for, whether in our chosen fields, homes, friendships, or workplaces, because status means respect, and respect comes with perks: words of affirmation, material gifts, money, and the authority to make key decisions. We put so much emphasis on the negative aspects of what status can bring and rarely focus on the individuals and collective groups that use their status and earned respect for the good, like the Dr. Kings of our time. 

Effective communication is imperative in every relationship, personal or not, and the way we as a society currently choose to communicate is troubling. Using the term freedom of speech to hurl hate and nonsense would expose the culprits' stupidity, if they weren’t hidden behind a miscellaneous name and a dog profile picture. Now, certain history has become offensive to those who are offended by truth, and with the ongoing enforcement to remove history from learning materials, one thing is certain, it cannot be removed from our minds. This is why independent research is encouraged.

This is not to live in the past but to understand why so much of today is the way it is. To understand how privileged we are to do the things we take for granted. To know what was being fought for, why it was fought for, and how we can continue that fight.

Why?

For the next generation and the generation after, so that, like us, they won’t have as much to fight for.

Money isn’t bad, money isn't evil. Having a large amount of money is exceptional but only in the hands of those that stand for equality, change and light.

Do you care enough about what is going on in the world to do something about it if it doesn’t directly affect you? Most of us, if honest, would answer no.

But what if I told you that the choices you make on a daily basis not only keep us in a state of stagnation, one that many once fought to change, but also have a direct negative influence on world current world affairs? Would you care then?

Written by: Marina Townsend