The World is My Canvas

Kwame Toure, formerly known as Stokely Carmichael, is a man that is often unheard of and rarely spoken about. Born in Trinidad,  at a very young age he knew the importance of education. He moved to New York at the age of eleven, where he would eventually be accepted into the prestigious Bronx High School of Science with his outstanding Academics. After Graduation, he attended Howard University which changed his life. While in school, he began to become very active in Black organizations and was a huge advocate of Civil Rights. His life is very interesting because at first he was a huge supporter of Martin Luther King’s Non-Violent Philosophy. He joined the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and participated in Freedom rides all over the country for the next 3 years. During his time in the group, he was arrested over 29 times for his efforts to register Blacks to vote. The Police and many other Whites were brutal to young Kwame and he was often viciously beaten, spit on, hit with cans, and sometimes even lit cigarettes. It was these experiences that caused him to change his philosophy.

Kwame now believed in self-defense and said it was a god given right of man to defend himself.“In order for nonviolence to work, your opponent must have a conscience. The United States has None.” He then joined the Black Panther Party but did not stay long. He did not agree with the Panthers allowing Whites to help them. He believed that White aid would erode Black Self-Reliance and agreed, wholeheartedly, with Malcolm X that White activists should organize their own communities first. He later joined Kwame Nkrumah’s All African People’s Revolutionary Party, where he spent over 30 years as a devout leader. The reason he changed his name was to honor his mentor Kwame Nkrumah and idol Sekou Toure. Kwame Toure is revolutionary that should never be forgotten. He dedicated his life to his people and liberating their struggle. He was the first to coin the term “Institutional Racism” so when you hear the phrase, you are looking at the legacy of this genius. In time, he would die from cancer and in his last words he would shout, “Organize, Organize, Organize!!!!”

When the Black Panther Party went to the state capital in 1967, open carrying their weapons, which was legal. California, backed the NRA passed the Mulfurd act and it was signed into law by Gov Reagan. The NRA and GOP have no problem with gun control when it comes to African Americans but white boys who shoot up places, nope we can’t do it.