Fredrick Douglass was born a slave, educated himself, freed himself and went on to become one of greatest African-American freedom fighters. He used his intellect to outsmart slavers and was a part of the Underground Railroad which worked to help fugitive enslaved Africans escape to the north and freedom. He was not anything like modern day Republicans. He was the searing conscious of America.
Fredrick Douglass was also associated with the Abolitionist movement and it was Douglass who had access to President Abraham Lincoln, that put the most pressure on Lincoln to allow former slaves fight in the Civil War and later the emancipation of enslaved Africans and their children.
The Black Panther Party during the sixties and seventies was a symbol of pride, power and purpose. It was reportedly founded by Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton on October 15, 1966 and the organization initially set forth a doctrine calling primarily for the protection of Black communities from police brutality, a problem that persists to this day.
Other than Booby Seale and Huey P. Newton, other notable members included Angela Davis, H. Rap Brown, Stokely Carmichael, Assata Shakur, Mumia Abu-Jamal and Fred Hampton.
The organization started social service programs in the communities they were active and their free breakfast program for impoverished children is credited with later being copied and implemented by the U.S. federal government. They also operated free clinics.
The Black Panther Party would ultimately become undone by the FBI's notorious and brutal COINTEL program instituted by the cross dressing and reported closet homosexual FBI Director J Edgar Hoover.
As Africa and Arab nation rebel against their oppressors, some, not many, are asking if the black community is prepared to rebel against the oppression, enslavement and brutality that it still faces in America. Right wing extremist and their House Negroes continue to assault the Black community with coded and not so coded racist propaganda. They are openly hostile to a black President who has done very little to address the oppression and discrimination afflicting Blacks and Latinos and has continued some of the policies enacted under Republicans and George W. Bush in the so-called War on Terror.
While all of this going on, while police murder Black men and black babies, while right wing groups murder Latin American immigrants, while they threaten a revolution because a Black man is President, the majority of 21st century Negroes are doing nothing to prepare for what may come.
Tonight Black Talk Radio looks back at a true freedom fighter, Robert Williams, a Black man from North Carolina who dared to pick up a gun and argue for violent self-defense against violent oppression. Sharing audio excerpts of the PBS Independent documentary "Negroes With Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power."
Pastor Omar Wilks dropped by Black Talk Radio to discuss Black History as it pertains to ancient Egypt and civilization's "Father of Medicine", Imhotep. Imhotep is not only known as the first "Father of Medicine" but was credited with being among the first engineers and architects in world history. Egypt has recently been in the news, located in the Northern part of Africa; the modern people of Egypt recently toppled its American backed dictator of 30 years. Pastor Wilks says it is from ancient Kemet, the original name of Egypt, that we derive the concept of civil rights.
"The ancient Kemetui had a system that was deeply imbedded in truth, justice, and righteousness. It is from these ancient concepts that we get civil rights, a system that was deeply rooted in truth, justice, and righteousness. It is from these ancient concepts that we get civil rights." - Pastor Omar Wilks
Pastor Wilks will also touch on the life of Medgar Evers, a black American who gave his life in the fight for truth, justice and righteousness before being assassinated by a member of Klu Klux Klan and The White Citizens Council which was recently praised by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour (R-MS), a potential Republican presidential candidate as an organization that opposed the KKK.
Pastor Wilks is currently engaged in a campaign seeking justice for Aiyana Jones, a 7 yr-old child shot and killed by a Detroit SWAT team that was being featured by the A&E COP show "First 48".
Rev Wilks has done extensive work with ministering to prisoners and people no matter what their status. He is a community organizer known for his involvement in local, national, and international affairs. Rev. Wilks has courageously gone to jail for various social justice causes like Darfur, Amadou Diallo, and Sean Bell. From 1995-2001, Rev. Wilks worked and trained under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Al Sharpton and formed the first college chapter in the United States of the National Action Network on the campus of York College. Rev. Wilks also was a founding member of the National Religious Leaders of African Ancestry Concerned about Darfur (NRLAA) and Co-Founder of the Street Organizing Coalition (S.O.C). He now serves as President of the Clergy Alliance for Justice International (CAJI), Chairman of Urban Development Collective (UDC), and member of the African American Clergy and Elected Officials (AACEO).
