?????? social media did not shape my ideologies. it was being gifted the autobiography of malcolm x by my uncle at 23
im not overcompensating. this idea that folks hop out the womb with a revolutionary politic is wild lmaooo
futhermore at 31, im happy to have the ability to see things for what they are. ive grown and learned a lot along the way
Not a shot, dig, or anything like that towards you, but my stepfather started teaching me when I was 3, so there are folks out here that got that education at a very young age.
But...
That was the mid-70's, The Panthers and US had been successfully dismantled, AIM, Storefront, and other groups were being targeted and systematically being taken down by COINTELPRO, the message went nationwide with the ideologies of the Panthers and other groups front and center and my stepfather was one of the community leaders across the nation that took up that mantle and fought for our equality for decades.
I'm different in this regard, I acknowledge that much. Only elders in our circle of friends and associates taught their kids about Black Greatness and we, in turn, tried to teach our friends at school. What we were taught as children could have been the blueprint for Black America, and indeed the people I grew up around tried hard to make that happen, but it never took off and by the late 80's much of it had fallen by the wayside.
So for you to have received that book at 23, kinda makes sense... But at the same time it doesn't. It should have been required reading in at least jr high or high school. It was required reading for me in the 6th grade at a predominately white school in the district's "gifted" program. I would have expected Philly would have done something similar. You should have grown up with that knowledge.
