Module 6

Discussion

What these three quotes mean to you:

"...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." - Mandela
The Black Consciousness Movement "was less of a movement than a philosophy and grew out of the idea that [B]lacks must first liberate themselves from the sense of psychological inferiority bred by three centuries of white rule. Only then could the people rise up in confidence and truly liberate themselves from repression." - Mandela
"The first phase of liberation is the decision to reject the image of himself which the slave-owner has painted, to reject the conditions which the slave-owner has created, to reject his own existence, to reject himself as slave." - Angela Davis

@Oct 12, 2020 7:11 PM

1. Mandela was a very smart person who understood the workings behind the enslavement and the segregation situation. He understood that one is not free unless they have freedom and complete control over their bodies, actions, and decisions. But he also understood that the person who restricts someone else from having those natural, basic, and universal freedoms, that he himself is enslaved by hatred too. It is a testament to how much compassion and understanding this man had while fighting for one of the most revolutionary causes ever.

2. This is a powerful and actionable quote. It circles back to the idea discussed in Module 5 about PTSS. Black people should not forget to use their passion to liberate themselves from the inside as well. Indeed, the idea of psychological inferiority must be dispensed with immediately, especially in the new generation. No child deserves to grow up with the slightest idea of being inferior due to their skin colour or anything else that is completely irrelevant to their self-worth and that is out of their control.

3. Again, I really like the actionable quotes. Rejecting such an image has been, and is going to be difficult for most people. It will most likely be accompanied by an identity crisis. Its a difficult transition but the most liberating of all. It is a battle that must be overcome in each person's mind.

@October 18 at 7:05 PM

Good afternoon ___,

I truly enjoyed reading your thoughts on each quote. Especially when you emphasized on the importance that Black people should not forget to liberate themselves internally and how not one child should have to grow up to the idea of being inferior due to the colour of their skin. This hit me. As someone who hopes to be a future educator, that is the absolute last thing I want any child of colour to feel. I know what that feels like, and it starts so early in age. Self hatred, confusion and frustration of self identity... I am still reminding myself that I am not inferior to anyone and always try to break free from certain ideas that are influenced by society and its stereotypes. That is why I believe that it is so important to educate younger ones to respect each other equally, and to treat one another with kindness. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts!

___

@October 19 at 8:04 PM

Thank you ___!

I applaud your courage for sharing that! And I can tell you that I went through something of that nature not too long ago. Self-liberation is the way to go!

@October 26 at 3:01 PM

Hey ___!

I loved how to unpacked each quote. You really captured the essence of Mandela when it comes to his intelligence on true freedom and his compassion. I agree with you on the fact the people who restrict basic human needs are enslaved to hatred. Mandela's quote shows us that both the opressed and opressor need to be librated because they have been robbed of humanity. He also had the compassion to speak on this and to take action to change the system. I think the first quote makes anyone humble when they truly understand why both sides need to be liberated.

@Oct 18, 2020 6:54 PM

I believe all three of these quotes interlap with each other in one way or another, as I noticed that the word “liberation” is repeatedly used throughout. I’ll try my best to answer what these quotes mean to me and I look forward to reading what others have said as well!

1. "...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." - Mandela

I think what this quote by Mandela means is that just as how BIPOC is just as we are taught that we are lesser than white people and are to integrate into a societal system that primarily gives them advantages and privileges, white people are also taught that they are superior by the constructs of society. Therefore, no one is born feeling inferior or superior. It’s all from our environment. Like the oppressed, the oppressor must unlearn what they were taught.

What I understand from this quote is that Black people need to free themselves psychologically first. I feel like it is the opposite of the first quote, in a sense. That it is important for Black people to unlearn and throw away what society has been teaching them since the day they were born; that they are inferior. And only then, can Black people truly fight against the repression. Thus, to fix this broken system, there must first be the liberation of the mind.

Similar to the first two, BIPOC must break down and destroy the negative images and thoughts that have occupied our minds. Why? Alarmingly, almost everything that we’ve thought about ourselves can be influenced by White people and their oppression. If you think about it, even beauty stereotypes are based off white people. If you don’t have a slim nose, a tall nose bridge, big eyes, etc. You are deemed unattractive. I know that I personally still deal with self-esteem issues because I was raised to understand that my flat/wider nose isn’t pretty. It is important to liberate, create and build a new image for ourselves.

@October 27 at 12:39 PM

Hi ___,

The point that you mentioned about the oppressor also needing to unlearn the socially constructed ideas they are taught (being the superior race) is very strong. It can't just be the oppressed that must unlearn these ideas placed on them because if the oppressors don't also do this then the cycle will just continue and these false ideas will still be passed from generation to generations. What do you think?

@October 27 at 10:59 PM

When you pointed out the connection between toxic and negative thoughts BIPOC are haunted by and the influence of the rule of white people, it made me think. When you pointed out how the beauty world revolves around white beauty being 'the beauty standard' made me reflect on my childhood. When I played with the famous Mattel Barbie dolls, which were these skinny, pale, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, super model proportioned dolls. Undoubtedly this caused the manifestation within myself that I wasn't traditionally "beautiful" because I didn't look like one of those dolls. I spent a long time trying to be confident but I never fully got there in my pre teen years because deep down, I still felt less than, for not possessing Eurocentric features.

@Oct 25, 2020 9:05 AM

In my opinion what I believe Mandela is saying about the oppressor and the oppressed must both be liberated is because the oppressor is also not free. When an individual is taking away freedoms from other people the too are not free because they are within a system of hate. This system of hate and prejudice towards a group of people does not make the people within the system free, the system is forcing these hateful ideas. You need to break free from the oppressive system in order to be liberated.

The quote on the Black Consciousness Movement I believe is touching on the idea that People of Colour shouldn’t internalize the ideas given to them by their oppressors. What I mean by this is that when the oppressive system they are in tries to make them believe they are inferior in any way (for example, intelligence) they must try to understand this is just the white ruling placing the ideas in their head. In a way they are brainwashing People of Colour to try to think something of themselves that is not true and is just trying to be used by the white ruling to further oppress and gain more power over them. In my opinion I believe the third and final quote by Angela Davis is touching on the same idea of rejecting what the oppressor is trying to pin on you.

@October 26 at 9:53 AM

Hello ___,

Thanks for sharing. I agree with everything you said. It is important for BIPOC to break free from these internalized thoughts of hatred and inferiority, if they haven't already. From history textbooks to social media, so much in our lives point to these superiority vs inferiority ideas.

___

@October 27 at 9:42 PM

Hey ___,

I completely agree with your responses. The first quote response where you addressed how the oppressor isn't free as they're in a system of hate I totally agree with. As they may be physically free they aren't mentally, as a lot of them grew up around their parents forcing ideas onto them about race creating a mind of evil. In order for social change I feel like the oppressor needs to be freed before anyone else as they create the unkind world for the oppressed.

well done!

@October 28 at 9:11 AM

Hi ___,

I like to this of it as a cycle, if society or parents continue to implement these racist ideas on people then it will continue from generation to generation which is why the cycle must be stopped.

@October 27 at 11:47 PM

Hi ___

The perspective you've stated about the oppressor also not being free because they are in a prejudicial system that has interwoven racist ideas, is a great point of view and one I wish I thought of myself as I wrote what the quotes meant to me. As I read your first paragraph, the term ACAB also came into my mind as well. Not every single police officer has a racist mind, but the system they work under instills those ideologies of oppression, and the officers upholding those systems creates racial prejudice.

I really enjoyed reading your post!

___

@October 28 at 9:08 AM

Hi ___,

I believe the example you have given about police officers is a really good one and gives more perspective to this idea.

@October 28 at 4:31 PM

Hi ___!

I agree that both the oppressed and oppressors are within a cycle of hate. I also think that Black people have to understand that the inferior ideas pushed on them by White people are inaccurate and false. I also believe that White people were brainwashing Black people into believing they were inferior in an attempt to gain power over them. This is why it is going to be a hard fight for Black people to overcome the internal ideas that have been ingrained for so many years.

@Oct 25, 2020 8:49 PM

1. To me, this quote means that just as the oppressed need to be liberated from the restraint of the oppressor, the oppressor must also put an end to their role for true and complete liberation. This is because if the oppressor is still actively upholding their roles, racist ideas, and racist policies, there will be a constant clash between the efforts of the oppressor and the oppressed, between ideals of superiority and ideals of equality. To change the world for the better, just as the oppressed strive towards liberation, the oppressor must also rid themselves of their own pedestal.

2. This Mandela quote is about the importance of Black people outgrowing the psychological inferiority they have been enduring for so long. This is the result of racist, untrue ideas created by the oppressors to sustain a hierarchy in which they are on top. It is only when Black people realize their actual value, their actual worth, and their true identity that they can rise up against opposition in confidence and strive towards liberation.

3. I believe that this quote corresponds with the previous one. For centuries, White people have created terrible conditions for Black people to endure and have promoted a negative image of Black people as inferior and mere slaves. Since these depictions have existed for so long, it has been engrained into many Black people and their identity. Angela Davis states that to be liberated from the ties of oppression, Blacks must first reject these oppressive ideas of what they have been conditioned to believe about themselves.

@October 26 at 11:04 AM

I am impressed that you mentioned about how the oppressor must remove themselves from the pedestal in order for liberation to occur. It also makes a lot of sense when you said there would be a clash of efforts if both parties are not on the same page because, at the end of the day, Black people fighting for Black people is like preaching to the choir - everyone has to be a part of the movement in order to make that social change.

I agree with the points that you made about the second quote. I would like to take what you said a step further and mention colonization. In most African countries, colonization took a major toll on the country - especially its citizens. To this day you can see many alarming residues that colonization has left in the minds of the oppressed. After living in a country that was previously under British rule (Nigeria), I can say that a lot of people still believe the horrible things that were put into their heads generations ago - it's a psychological cycle that needs to be broken.

It's interesting how you said that the feeling of being inferior has made its way into being a part of many Black people's identity. I never saw it that way because I don't think it's something that many people realise. So good job on mentioning that solid point.

@Oct 25, 2020 11:46 PM

Mandela explains how people cannot be lovers of freedom as they are denying freedom to others. In an excerpt from his memoir, Long walk to Freedom, he points out that the oppressors themselves are prisoners "of prejudice and narrow-mindedness". In other words, he realised that they achieved the freedom to be free and the right to not be oppressed. However, I think that to be free is to not just cast off one's chain but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. By robbing someone of their humanity through violence and despair, I think that you are not truly free in comparison to when someone else steals freedom from you. In hindsight, we can never be truly free. From the acts of the defiance campaigns and Sharpville massacre in the 1950s and 60s to the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, we have a long road to freedom and while there were triumphs, there were missteps too. However, we too in the end can be victorious in having freedom while respecting the freedom of others.
I think that while the movement helped as Mandela said "fill a vacuum for young people", its main advocacy was to have a non-racial society, and yet they excluded white people from playing a role in helping achieve that. This was evident when the movement developed into an idea of Black Consciousness where Black people could define and organise themselves and determine their own destiny. While I see how this philosophy helped redefined “black” as an inclusive, positive identity, I agree with Mandela on how first Black people have to set themselves free of centuries of white oppression before they can truly stand against freedom from oppression. This ties together with my first answer on respecting freedom of yourself and others.
This statement entails how the slave is actually in fact conscious that freedom is not a fact or a given but it is rather something to be fought for. The slave-master, on the other hand, doesn't realise that they experience freedom as a fact and that it is inalienable since they too are enslaved in their own system. As the slave-master feels himself free because he is able to control the lives of others, the slaves experiences the freedom of the master in its true light. This is because they understand that the master’s freedom is limited freedom to suppress other human beings. Thus, I agree with Angela in saying the slaves should be actively conscious in eliminating the condition of their slavery as it shows how slaves have feel the necessity to abolish oppression as a part of their journey.

@Fri at 7:38 PM

Hi ___,

I really enjoyed reading your depiction of the third quote. I like how you used point of views from the slave-owner and the slave to further define what this quote means. Thanks for sharing!

@Oct 26, 2020 10:50 AM

When I read this quote, I think about the true message behind it. From my interpretation, I think this quote is trying to talk about how the oppressor needs to also break those racist or discriminatory barriers created by society to the same extent that the oppressed do. It’s one thing to fight for equality as the oppressed but it’s another bigger thing to see the views of an oppressor change. Both are equally as important and both lead to social change.
Although this was a lengthy quote, it spoke a larger volume. I think for a lot of countries that have experienced colonization and oppression, the idea of being inferior becomes so deeply embedded into the system of thinking in the native people. This mindset is passed on generation to generation, this leads to people not feeling the need to combat oppression - just to accept it. When Black people are unchained by the centuries of being restrained from equality, they are able to view the world from a different unjust angle - this blossoms into a movement of society.
A powerful quote to say the least. This quote shows how change does not happen overnight. The oppressors let the oppressed believe whatever they want them to believe in the sense that they tell the oppressed what to think, how to dress, what to do and how to feel (or not to feel at all). The oppressed must reject that amount of control first in order to be freed of the social construct. In a lot of cases of liberation, self-image places a huge role, you will never feel the need to fight for a cause until you realize your worth.

@October 28 at 7:51 PM

Hey ___!

Your comment regarding the second quote, "...it spoke a larger volume", you're absolutely right! I mentioned in my thread how it was a lot to process and took me a while to thoroughly digest it. It's very powerful.

I like that you mentioned how it's deeply embedded and passed from generation to generation, that's so important for people to understand in our society today and why advocacy is so relevant.

@October 28 at 9:11 PM

Hi ___,

Great discussion points. I agree the idea of being inferior has become so embedded in these systems that it ends up becoming internalized in the oppressed identities. It is a dangerous psychological cycle and it is incredibly powerful to be able to reject that.

@Oct 26, 2020 1:42 PM

When Madela says the oppressor and oppressed must be liberated It means they both have to be set free. This is because the oppressor and the oppressed have been robbed of humanity. The oppressor is traped with the mindset of hatred and can only see things from a prejudiced view. Their perception of another race is skewed by what they were taught and that is white people are superior to other races, especially anyone in the Black community. The oppressor would have to recognize their shortcomings and their privilege. In the videos " Struggle to Freedom," we can see that South Africans were only asking for basic human rights. Something that should not be denied to anyone but they had to protest for it. If the oppressor was liberated from the lens of prejudices and had the compassion to change things then there would be no violence. A peaceful protest should never result in lives being taken away. This is why the oppressor needs to be liberated because they are losing their humanity by trying to keep the Black community oppressed.
2. "[B]lacks must first liberate themselves from the sense of psychological inferiority" This to me reminds me of the story of people who were trapped in a cage. When one person could see a bird flying out of the cave where they were trapped that person realized there was more to that cave. The rest did not know they were trapped. You can't free yourself if you don't know you are being trapped. Mentally Black people would have to change how they view themselves after centuries of being a condition to believe they are inferior. Black people will have the confidence to demand their basic human's rights and love themselves unconditionally. This will happen when they are liberated from the psychological inferiority that was feed to them by three centuries of the white ruling.
3. Rejecting the idea that you are subordinate to the race that enslaved you people liberates you from being oppressed. I believe Black people were not just slaves but they were enslaved and it is not their full history . There is more to African history and who they were and what they accomplished before colonialism changed things. The slave owners gave Black people a broken self-image they forgot who they were. Black people will have to rebuild not only their identity but their legacy. There have been many things taken out of western history that would only show how intelligent courageous Black people can be. The truth always comes to light. This is why movies like " Hidden Figures" are being released now. This movie shows how three Black women played significant roles in helping the first man get to the moon. Black people need to reject the idea that they are slaves so they can continue to play significant roles in history and be monumental figures for the Black youth to look up to. This starts by recognizing the value within themseleves and being the change they wish to see within their community.

@October 27 at 9:53 PM

Hi ___,

I liked how you respond to the last quote, as you gave good examples for explaining your overall thoughts. I liked how you gave the example from the movie "Hidden Figures", as I completely agree with your statement, as seen in a lot of films I believe having a Black actor, play significant roles can help people of color and youth especially having someone to look up to.

Overall, great work :)

@October 28 at 9:19 AM

Hi ___,

Thank you for your kind words :)

@October 28 at 5:12 PM

Hi ___!

I agree with you that White people, the oppressors, are trapped in a mindset that has a strictly prejudiced view, not allowing them to see Black people as equal to themselves. I also think that without the oppressor being liberated, violence will continue as they are losing a sense of humanity as they continue to oppress Black people.

@Oct 26, 2020 6:38 PM

Nelson Mandela justifies how taking away the rights of someone else, you are not innocent, almost as certainly as being not innocent when ones own liberty is stripped from them. I think this quote by Mandela pinpoints how the oppressed individuals as well as oppressors are deprived of their dignity. I do not think that one is personally free as in contrast to when someone takes freedom from you. Living off of the rights and freedoms implemented the person who forbids someone from possessing certain universal freedoms is oppressed by hatred as well.

Living with inferiority due to the colour of your skin can ultimately affect in how you handle and react to a situation. This mentality is embedded in society as individuals do not have the desire to challenge injustice, but to allow it. PTSS also plays a factor as it engraved into their community and there needs to be assistance or support to challenge repression. Agreeing with Mandela, on how Black people must first set themselves free of white oppression for centuries before they can actually stand against freedom of oppression. This requires acknowledgment and awareness as PTSS can be true factors in how a society will be raised from generation to generation.

Rejecting the image of self is formally hard to do and can challenge how there is a conscious that freedom is to be fought for and pursued rather than given. Colonists ultimately dominated society and showed power, in the sense that they tell the oppressed what to think, the oppressors make the oppressed believe whatever they want them to believe. This was a social construct and class theory that formally governed society. In order to be liberated from the social construct, the marginalized must deny the amount of power first. In removing the state of their slavery, slaves should be consciously aware, as it illustrates how the need to abolish injustice as part of their society.

@October 27 at 12:32 PM

Hi ___,

You explained the essence of these quotes very well. I really like your point about how the oppressors socially constructed how the oppressed view themselves. These thoughts still impact Black communities today because it gets passed on from generation to generation. Do you think if Black individuals had more support available to them that it could help deconstruct these negative ideas for future generations?

@October 27 at 3:02 PM

Hey ___ thanks for responding!

I think with more support will definitely be a good step in addressing and acknowledging the issue. I don't think it is enough but will help formalize the situation. Having our future generations not have these negative ideas is good but that doesn't mean what we are fighting for to be forgotten.

@October 27 at 9:28 PM

Hey ___,

I completely agree with your interpretations of the quotes. I loved how you brought in the PTSS theory as it really makes me wonder why I've never been taught about it in schools as it's very important to understand Black individuals mental health. I also agree with the last quote you responded to addressing how rejecting the self-image is difficult to do as it becomes easier said then done.

well done!

@October 28 at 2:24 AM

Hi ___,

You made a good point when you mentioned that PTSS plays a factor since it is engraved in their community. To be able to set themselves free of white oppression, attention needs to be brought to PTSS.

@Oct 27, 2020 6:33 PM

"...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." - Mandela

I think that this quote shows that the oppressor must be freed from the belief that they feel the need to oppress others. White people need to get rid of the idea that they are superior or need to fear and protect themselves from black people. In other words, they would feel no need to protect themselves from their own generic annihilation. The oppressed cannot be liberated until the oppressed lose the mindset to stop oppressing. It’s that simple.

The Black Consciousness Movement "was less of a movement than a philosophy and grew out of the idea that [B]lacks must first liberate themselves from the sense of psychological inferiority bred by three centuries of white rule. Only then could the people rise up in confidence and truly liberate themselves from repression." - Mandela

I feel as though there is a connection to this quote and the previous module regarding the PTSS theory. Not only does society as a whole need to recognize the residual trauma of slavery towards the Black community but the Black population must realize the impact on themselves. One of the lasting impacts of slavery is the feeling of inferiority. Once we begin to heal from all the past and present trauma we can find a way to heal. I definitely agree with this because you cannot move forward unless you make the effort to heal and grow from the situation.

"The first phase of liberation is the decision to reject the image of himself which the slave-owner has painted, to reject the conditions which the slave-owner has created, to reject his own existence, to reject himself as slave." - Angela Davis

Liberation starts within. If you do not see yourself as free, you cannot work towards proving that you are and fight for your rights as so. If you give in to the stereotype, you become it. I think Angela Davis is telling people that to combat anti-Black racism by ignoring it and find a new interpretation.

@October 27 at 11:08 PM

Hi ___, I like how you used this weeks module to retouch a little on last weeks PTSS module. I definitely agree that Mandela's quote does address the deeply traumatizing and unfaltering detriment to the Black community for generations to come. The Black community is still being bound by the enslavement they've experienced, however the only difference being that it is within themselves. Which personally, I think is a lot worse, because with physical enslavement, there is an escape, there is a physical way to escape. But mentally, if the individual is traumatized and conditioned to believe they are inferior, these internal chains and boundaries looms over them where ever they go, no matter how fast they run.

@Fri at 11:36 AM

Hi ___! I'd just like to touch on your point about escape.

Yes, depending on the individual, mental conflict can be worse and can have longer-lasting effects. Mental trauma is extremely serious and yes, it will and has taken years to heal. However, I do not agree with your point about physical enslavement, and there being a physical way to escape. Escaping slavery was not easy, if it was, it wouldn't have gone on for hundreds of years. There was no escape, people were hunted like animals, trapped, turned away by others when in need. Even when they did get to the "free land," they had not escaped the treatment. They were given no rights, they were segregated to great lengths, it was as if being around Black people would kill you, they had systems built against them that are still causing horrific events today; such as police, employment, education. Black people were not free from the trauma, it kept going on and are still treated horribly today.

@Oct 27, 2020 6:54 PM

1. "...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." - Mandela

To me, this quote means that the oppressor needs to stop believing that they are more superior to others. In the context of this course, White people need to stop the ideology that black people are lesser than, dangerous, deserve the treatment given and stop thinking they are better. If they don't, then they will always oppress.

This quote states that people must understand that with the centuries of the traumatic lifestyle Black people had to go through, there is no possible way for Black people to not have long-lasting effects. Reflecting back to the module about PTSS, there was/is no help for Black people to help with the suffering slavery caused. Black people need to gain the confidence to free themselves from the horrors and repression.

Personally, this quote states that in order to liberate oneself, they must disregard the repression against them. I agree, yet disagree with this quote. When it comes to certain issues, yes, ignoring people and their opinions can work, but for slavery, ignoring it does not make it go away. A slave would not be able to just ignore the fact they were a slave unless they wanted to be punished, and Black people cannot just ignore the fact that we are oppressed as a people every day.

@Fri at 9:40 PM

Hi ___,

Thank you for your feedback! You bring up a good point, liberation does not only go as far as government systems. As I was writing my post, I had the intention to talk about those who are in power to make significant differences. But you are right, the diversity and inclusivity of Black Africans should be implemented everywhere, not just limited to governments.

Have a great weekend!

___

@Fri at 9:56 AM

I liked how you referenced back to the topic of PTSS. The theory of PTSS can help explain why many Black people still believe oppressive ideas about themselves. What ways do you think Black people can regain confidence and liberation from the ties of oppression?

@Fri at 9:10 PM

Hey ___, what an interesting connection you made back to PTSS. I agree with you when you stated how "..people must understand that with the centuries of the traumatic lifestyle Black people had to go through, there is no possible way for Black people to not have long-lasting effects." I was also thinking of this point. Even in modern society there are still societal depictions of what Black people should and shouldn't be, but they're worth should not be limited to opinions/expectations.

@Oct 27, 2020 8:54 PM

1. “…the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed” -Mandela

This quote shows how the oppressed and the oppressor need to be freed and have a chance of freedom. The oppressed had little to no freedom back then as they couldn’t even sit anywhere on a bus without a White individual turning their heads and treating them as if they’re not even human. Ideally what Mandela was trying to show by this quote was the oppressor has freedom physically but not mentally. The oppressor needs to be freed from the hatred they form and force onto another, as they take extra steps just to make the oppressed lives miserable. For a better and more diverse society/world they both need to be freed. The oppressor shouldn’t be treated with pity but more so show they come from a place of evil they have yet to be freed from.

2. “The Black Consciousness Movement was less of a movement than philosophy and grew out of the idea that [B]lacks must first liberate themselves from the sense of psychological inferiority bred by three centuries of white rule. Only then could the people rise in confidence and truly liberate themselves from repression." – Mandela

This quote represents a corrupt system, the way Mandela labels the movement as almost demonizing the Black lives and telling them how they need to free themselves from inferiority before anyone including the Whites can help them. Mandela was exposing the movement and putting light on the real problem the group is creating by not ever putting blame on the Whites or even showing how they started the struggle. Black individuals have been fighting for their lives for years, yet some people will still come around claiming that Black people are doing it to themselves. I think this quote was an excellent example of how people constantly place blame onto Black lives for everything including the three centuries of White rule, which the Black conscious movement was doing.

This quote represents the idea that the first phase in freedom is letting go of the self-image slaveowners created for Black individuals and allowing them to be the person they were born as not the person that society and slave owners portrayed them as. The first step to freedom, movements, and social change is allowing yourself to be the person you are inside. This gives more strength and confidence when fighting for your rights and not letting the slaveowners take that away again and deem you as less than someone else or “property”.

@October 28 at 2:17 AM

Hi ___,

You made a good point when you said " No one is born with hate, no one is born and automatically hates someone based on the colour of their skin." I also made this point in my post because we must realize that if people can learn to hate, they can also be taught to love. You also made another good point when you mentioned that society cares more about revenge than justice because unfortunately, this does occur in many cases.

@Fri at 6:18 PM

Hi ___,

I really like when you mentioned that both the oppressed and oppressor need to be freed. I believe what Mandela is referring to is like a prison that the mind makes up of all of these ideas and I also think this 'prison', and acknowledging it is what begun the Black conscious movement because people became aware of all the thoughts brought to their head and the ideas that lived in their environment this idea of non-white and so forth. I believe the moment people are freed from this prison they become conscious. I really enjoyed your post and your ideas.

@Oct 27, 2020 9:32 PM

"...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." - Mandela

To me, this quote means, the oppressor must come to the realization that their actions are wrong and feel a sense of sympathy for those they oppress in order for actual change to happen. For example, the civil rights movement gained traction and actually made progress when white allies came to support the Black people fighting for their rights and expressed their outrage while using their privilege to help further the cause of equal rights. The main point Nelson Mandela was expressing was the person who takes away a person's freedom is a prisoner of hatred.

2. The Black Consciousness Movement "was less of a movement than philosophy and grew out of the idea that [B]lacks must first liberate themselves from the sense of psychological inferiority bred by three centuries of white rule. Only then could the people rise up in confidence and truly liberate themselves from repression." - Mandela

Furthermore, this quote to me means that the oppressed (Black people) must break through the mental chains placed on them by the oppressor and see themselves as equals first before any movement of theirs could succeed.

Lastly, this quote to me means understanding the necessity of the emerging movement for Black liberation which involves understanding freedom and societal views. Slave-owners “branded” and took advantage of slaves which created self-hate and lack of confidence for many Black people. The importance for slaves to liberate creates a view upon themselves which they themselves can learn to love and appreciate their self-worth by ignoring what slave-owners paint them as.

@October 27 at 10:43 PM

Hi ___, I enjoyed reading your post, the label " prisoner of hatred" you used was a great way to encapsulate the narrow, and close-minded perspective that these racist people possess, as their own anger and prejudice unconsciously bounds and imprisons them in ignorant views.

Also, I wanted to point out that the way your post was structured "quotes in italics" made your post a clear and concise read.

@Oct 27, 2020 10:37 PM

This quote acknowledges that not only do the oppressed need to be liberated, the oppressor as well. In both instances, the oppressor and the oppressed, are robbed of their humanity. The oppressed is robbed of their freedom, and chained and locked away by the oppressor. But the oppressor is bound by the chains of hatred and close-mindedness. Both parties are suffering, but in different ways, and both need help. It is not a comparison of who’s suffering is worse, however, it is highlighting that the liberation occurs in a different form for each, the oppressed is trapped in a prison of someone else’s making. But the oppressor is stuck in a prison of their own making.
“...Blacks must first liberate themselves from the sense of psychological inferiority bred by three centuries of white rule” Mandela is pointing out the repression that Blacks feel and experience is caused by the generations of conditioning done by white people whilst under their power. That mentally, they must first be liberated in order to confidently be free of the inferiority they feel. Without this confidence, there will always be self-doubt and second thoughts, and the suffering will not be able to break free and be truly liberated.
In order for slaves to be fully liberated, the first and most crucial step is the change of mentality/perspective. If a slave is set free physically, but he/she is still stuck in the mindset of a slave, they are not truly liberated. This quote highlights the importance of the mental role of liberation, as sometimes it can be overshadowed by physical liberation. Mentally, if a man or woman remains unchanged, in the same process and state the slave-owner has created, then they will behave and think like a slave. These are the ‘unbreakable’ and invisible chains that slavery will cause to one’s psyche. Davis’ quote reminds me of a quote by Carter G. Woodson, “When you control a man’s thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand there or go yonder. He will find his ‘proper place’ and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary.” This quote by Woodson perfectly encapsulated the causation of the ‘slave mentality’, coupled with Davis’ quote which encapsulates the first step to break free from this mindset, is a comparison/contrast of cause and solution.

@October 28 at 12:38 AM

Hey ___!

I really enjoyed your analyses and thought they were very insightful -"chains of hatred and close-mindedness" was a very powerful descriptor. Woodson's quote was not one I've heard before but encapsulates the message well.

@Oct 27, 2020 10:57 PM

The first quote means that for example, if a Man takes another mans life or freedom he is also a prisoner of their own humanity. No one is born with hate, no one is born and automatically hates someone based on the colour of their skin. People are taught to hate and learn to hate, and if people learn to hate then they can learn to love. I agree with this quote because for example, if someone murders another person, i don't believe they deserve the death penalty as it makes us no better than the killers. Both the oppressor and the oppressed are stripped of their humanities which does not push humanity in the right direction. I believe society cares more about revenge than justice in certain cases.
The Black Consciousness Movement was one of the first major movements for Black rights. An analysis suggested that to take power, Black people had to believe in the value of their blackness. That is, if Black people believed in democracy, but did not believe in their own value, they would not truly be committed to gaining power. Black people must believe that they have values and power if they wanted to be treated equal.
I both agree and disagree with this quote, if it was easy to reject being a slave and reject the conditions which the slave-owner created, intergenerational trauma would be much less severe and I feel discrimination against Black people in general would be much smaller. On the other hand, to erase ones existence would mean to erase all of the history of that person. For liberation, do people truly need to erase their existence or simply turn into a completely different person and not be proud of everything Black people have been through and overcome.

@Oct 27, 2020 11:35 PM

"...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." - Mandela

The way I understand this quote, is that Mandela was trying to state that he recognized not every White person (the oppressor) was not personally racist. However, those same people worked for and under a system that pushed for racist ideologies and perspectives limiting those that were oppressed (Black Africans). When Mandela says that the oppressed need to be liberated, to me, I believe he is referring to the inclusivity of more Black people in governments and systems that oppress the Black. This way not all White citizens will be in control and receive the amounts of backlash for lack of inclusivity. What was even more disheartening was the fact that back then White people were the minority, yet they were the ones that were the majority oppressors, despite all the peaceful protests. By liberating the oppressed, more Black people in government and systems will result in more equality and less tension and more liberty for Black people to take charge of these systems and liberate other Black Africans for a better society. In addition to this, a bigger government will create more opportunity for open-minded expressions and is ultimately better for the people.

The idea that surrounds the fact that White people were the initial oppressors of Black, and then find a way to free themselves from oppression. This sense that the oppressors have instilled this psychological inferiority, manipulating the mind of a Black person that liberation can only come from Black people when it was overruling of White men in charge of systems and psychological complexities that oppressed Black Africans.

3. The first phase of liberation is the decision to reject the image of himself which the slave-owner has painted, to reject the conditions which the slave-owner has created, to reject his own existence, to reject himself as a slave." - Angela Davis

I think this quote refers to the similar ideas reiterated in the quote above. Adding on to this notion the oppressor has created, the sense that liberation can only happen through the oppressed Black man. Rather, to be truly liberated from oppression, they must reject any physical idea that they could ever let something like the idea of “colour” belittle them in any way, and reject the image in which White people have “created” for a Black person to be oppressed. To be treated like a civilized human who has the same worth as anyone despite their race or ethnicity means to be liberated from oppression.

@Fri at 6:55 PM

Hello!

I actually have to disagree with your interpretation of the first quote. I don't believe the full extent of "liberation" is only diversity in government bodies, but I do agree that this is apart of it. The oppression of Black people runs deeper than a lack of inclusivity.

I do agree with your piece about manipulation, and which I think was the perfect term to use in describing the psychological inferiority Black individuals experience as a result of their history as the oppressed. You make an excellent point about rejecting the notion that colour makes one inferior. As we've covered in class, race itself is an oppressive concept!

Nice post!

@Oct 27, 2020 11:46 PM

"...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." – Mandela

This quote originally confused me as I was unsure of what Mandela was meaning by this. I now understand this quote to mean that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed in saying that the oppressor is already living in a world that he is not free. For his thoughts are stuck in this way of thinking that he is not truly able to live his life liberated.

This quote to me means that for Black people to feel free and liberated they need to address where it all started and the history behind it. It’s not just a movement, it’s much more than that. They need to understand that they are worth more than what they have grown up to believe and been told about from the white people. For them to truly feel liberated from repression, they must liberate themselves from their own thoughts and beliefs that they may have about themselves. After they have accomplished this they can then continue their journey of liberation from repression.

This quote by Angela Davis is very eye opening as she makes a very interesting point about the first phase of liberation. I believe that for them to see themselves for who they truly are and not just as a slave, they need to reject the image of himself that has been pushed into his mind by their slave-owner. The slave-owner put this image and what I think Davis is trying to say it that that’s all they see themselves as and for them to reach this liberation they need to complete this step to be able to move forward. They need to reject themselves as a slave all together.

@October 29 at 5:43 PM

Hello, thank you for sharing!

I like how you went over each of the quotes. I do think that there is a lot of work that needs to be done in terms of white people changing internally. Thus, it will give them a way to face the history and understand what Black people have been going through ever since. I do think that that is one way of forming an alliance to bring about change and justice.

@Fri at 10:14 AM

Hi ___,

I enjoyed reading your discussion post! I would agree that in order for Black people to liberate themsleves they need to stop seeing themselves as slaves and what white people make of them. By stopping this view point they are able to be free. They shouldn't be confined by what white people think of them but be who they are.

@Oct 28, 2020 12:28 AM

"...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." - Mandela

I think Mandela's quote is in reference to the confinement and narrow-mindedness seen in bigotry. Hatred and ignorance are restrictive in the sense that they prevent individuals from doing perception checks and dominate ones rationality. Someone who stereotypes people is not only confining others to boxes, but they are also confining themselves to one way of thinking, impeding their ability to develop and grow. For example, I have a family member who checks off all the ists and phobics. He is extremely unpleasant to be around because he is constantly spouting a hateful, discriminatory narrative, and is a miserable person because of it. I think to go through your life exerting your energy to focus on hatred is a waste, and it's sad to watch that happen. For people like this, I think education is their liberation. Bigotry for a large part is rooted in ignorance, and so there should be focus on combating it, and teaching the people who are plagued with it, otherwise nothing will change.

I think Mandela is emphasizing the significance of what the Black Consciousness Movement did for the empowerment of Black people, on top of the more tangible aspects such as the protests against the apartheid rule of South Africa. That it was not just a period in history, rather an ideology that would remain relevant and always hold significance.

I believe this quote is pointing to the question, "how can someone enslaved be free if they think, believe themselves, that they are a slave?" Your self-concept is instrumental in forming your mindset and how you carry yourself. To subscribe to the conditions oppressing you is to accept them, showing your agreement with the oppressors' treatment and derogatory views. For liberation to happen, you must be able to let go of and oppose said views/treatment, otherwise liberation would not be necessary. I do find some flaws with this -sometimes people can't help themselves so to speak, because constant abuse towards your person can easily become your reality. In the case that you have never been treated otherwise or were born into oppressive conditions and they were all you'd ever known, I would assume it could be extremely difficult to separate yourself from that narrative.

@October 28 at 6:14 PM

Hi ___,

I really liked the way you answered the third quote. How we see ourselves is so important. For Black people, they won't ever be able to see themselves as equal if they all they see if the colour of their skin and why that makes them different. In order to achieve what you really want to you have to see yourself as that thing, if you don't that reality is nearly impossible.

@October 28 at 6:44 PM

Hey ___,

I really liked how you included your own family experience. This just brings a deeper connection between you and the quote. I too myself have a family member with the ists and phobics. I'm blessed as a person to not be filled with such anger and walk throughout life without feeling a weight of untamed hate.

@Oct 28, 2020 2:07 AM

"...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." - Mandela. To me, this quote means that both the oppressor and oppressed should be treated equally. I believe that nobody is born hating a person because of their skin color and people must learn to hate but if they can learn to hate they can also be taught to love. “A man who takes away another man's freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else's freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me.” from Nelson Mandela’s autobiography helps better explain this quote.
The Black Consciousness Movement "was less of a movement than a philosophy and grew out of the idea that [B]lacks must first liberate themselves from the sense of psychological inferiority bred by three centuries of white rule. Only then could the people rise in confidence and truly liberate themselves from repression." - Mandela. The Black Consciousness Movement's goal was to raise black self-awareness and to unite black students, professionals, and intellectuals. To me, this quote means that if they want to physically liberate themselves from repression they must first free themselves from those psychological thoughts of being less than and raise their self-awareness. They should be proud of their skin color, and aware of the fact that they have their own Black history and culture. They should no longer accept being judged according to white norms and values. This means that they must psychologically liberate themselves from the "slave mentality" which was created by institutionalized racism.
"The first phase of liberation is the decision to reject the image of himself which the slave-owner has painted, to reject the conditions which the slave-owner has created, to reject his own existence, to reject himself as slave." - Angela Davis To me, this quote means that the first phase of liberation/being free is to realize who you are and realize that you are a person. It means they must get rid of all the thoughts that were created by the slave-owner and reject themself as a slave to be able to liberate themselves.

@October 28 at 6:12 PM

Hi ___,

I really like your answer to the first quote. I think the same, that none of us are born hating others based on the colour of their skin. I remember watching s documentary in highschool that was a study on how children processed other skin colours and found that children actually didn't see skin colour the way most adults do. That being said I think education on both sides on why equality is important is the solution to the problems we face today.

@Fri at 9:12 PM

Hey Harine, I really appreciate your passion throughout these modules, I love reading your discussion posts. I agree with you when you stated how "..t nobody is born hating a person because of their skin color and people must learn to hate but if they can learn to hate they can also be taught to love." Nobody is born a racist, they're taught racism from their community and environment. Its those lessons that they absorb that dictates their attitudes toward others. In this case these attitudes/ideals were fatal, and led to the unjustified deaths of many Black people,

@Oct 28, 2020 2:34 AM

1. "...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." - Mandela
When Mandela states "...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed" it means that the oppressor is oppressed by his hatred and prejudice. They are tapped into a state of hate that is holding them back from being liberated. For me here are factors in our lives that stop us from opening up our minds, but we all have the ability to change. It takes a lot of effort to confine others to racist stereotypes that can affect how you see others. As much as we all have the ability to hate, we have the same ability to love.

2. The Black Consciousness Movement "was less of a movement than a philosophy and grew out of the idea that [B]lacks must first liberate themselves from the sense of psychological inferiority bred by three centuries of white rule. Only then could the people rise up in confidence and truly liberate themselves from repression." - Mandela
Mandela is expressing that the phycological trauma of oppression Black people experience comes from centuries of segregation and the rule of White individuals. We must realize ourselves from the constraints of self-hatred and doubt that White people have conditioned and implanted. Only then can we feel liberated and free and move through our lives with confidence. We must believe in ourselves if we want others to believe in us.

3. The first phase of liberation is the decision to reject the image of himself which the slave-owner has painted, to reject the conditions which the slave-owner has created, to reject his own existence, to reject himself as a slave." - Angela Davis
Each quote manages to tie into one another. Angela expresses that fact in order to feel liberated we cannot see ourselves as helpless slaves. We must create a new image of ourselves and not live life believing what the White slave owner has conditioned you to believe about yourself.

@October 28 at 6:09 PM

Hi ___,

I like how the second question kinda goes in hand with what we did last week, that after slavery ended Black people were still facing decades and decades of trauma from these events with no help. But in order for them to have started their path to gaining more rights they had to fight through the inferiority problems that White people had bestowed upon them.

@October 28 at 7:48 PM

Hey ___,

I completely agree with your thoughts regarding all quotes. I was thinking the same thing - they all do tie in with one another. I like your last comment about "...conditioned you to believe about yourself", it's absolutely a conditioned and false perception that's been painted over time.

I also really like you comment about how we have to believe in ourselves in order for others to believe in us - that's so true and relevant, especially with this topic/quote.

@Fri at 9:27 AM

Hi ___,

Great discussion post!

I think how you mentioned that everyone has the ability to change. Even if society is pressuring you to think one thing or you learn other behaviours from people around you, if people open up their minds to the idea of change then it can happen. I believe everyone needs to be open to the idea of change in order for progress to happen.

@Oct 28, 2020 11:55 AM

What I understood from the first quote, is that the racist oppressors are also trapped in a racist mindset. When the wealthy colonialists introduced racist ideas like White Supremacy to justify slavery, they started to educate the White lower working class with all these ideas. White supremacy was made part of all segments of life, from education and healthcare to employment and housing. And this system of oppression was maintained by instilling this fear in working class White folks about Black people. Dr. Cornel West in an interview on Joe Rogan said, “There’s a fear of Black freedom because Black freedom somehow means less freedom for Whites”. This is the mindset that the oppressors are stuck in and they must be freed from it.

The second quote and third quotes are, I believe, about internalized racism. Both speak of breaking the image that many Black people have of themselves – or rather about other Blacks. The racist assimilationist idea that some Black people have about other Black people, that they need to be educated and civilized. That their behavior and “laziness” is the reason of the racial inequity. These quotes reminded me of something from Dr. Kendi’s book about assimilationist thought. “But there is a way to get free. To be antiracist is to emancipate oneself from the dueling consciousness. To be antiracist is to conquer the assimilationist consciousness and the segregationist consciousness.” (Kendi, 2019:34). During the Black Lives Matter protests there were some Black people who were criticizing the protestors for being uncivilized and violent. That’s a side effect of years racist thought. This kind of thinking is prominent in Black elites. “Racist Black elites thought about low-income Blacks the way racist non-Black people thought about Black people.” (Kendi, 2019:153).

@October 28 at 3:56 PM

Hi ___,

I like your use of Dr. West's quote about how "Black freedom somehow means less freedom for Whites." This brings us back to our lesson on Whiteness and how we discussed White fragility. That mentality of Black people being inferior to White people is a mindset reinforced by the concept of White fragility and not wanting to lose that social advantage that they have, and so, they cannot be free as long as they continue to defend that mindset.

@Fri at 10:50 AM

Agreed!

@October 29 at 3:34 PM

Hello ___!

I really appreciated your initial comment about White supremacy. I think it's extremely important to recognize the root cause of racial mindsets and establish the root of cycles of racism. Your additional quote also related very well to the three provided this week. I agree that we must never allow the empowerment of some to mean less for others. Achieving equality for one racial group does not equate to the mistreatment of others.

I also saw that the second and third quotes demonstrated a sense of inferiority felt by the oppressed. It is important for the oppressed to recognize themselves as being more than the environment that has been unjustly imposed on them. However, the cycle will only cease to continue when everyone acknowledges the unity of liberation.

@Fri at 10:49 AM

Hey ___,

Agreed! While the BLM movement has not been as effective (yet) as maybe we would like, it has made substantial impacts on the mindsets of people. Changing the perspectives of White people and empowering Black people who had been struggling. I think this will make the difference in the next few years.

Thank you for your response!

@October 29 at 4:49 PM

Hey ___!

I loved the quote from Dr. Cornel West, I had not heard it before but it could explain a lot of the hate for the BLM movement. I remember seeing that a Black Student won an essay contest in 1944, where the contestants needed to respond to the prompt "What to Do with Hitler after the War." They won the contest by saying "Put him in a black skin and let him live the rest of his life in America."
I think that many people don't support BLM simply because they are afraid of being treated the way that they treated Black people, and these quotes prove that in my eyes.

Thanks for your post!

@Fri at 10:29 AM

Hey ___,

I loved your example of the essay contest. I was really taken aback after reading the line "Put him in a black skin and let him live the rest of his life in America".

I think many people in Canada and America have become so use to racist policies that any talk of equity makes them feel threatened and cry foul. I think that's what Dr. West articulates so well in the quote I mentioned.

Thank you for your response!

@Oct 28, 2020 3:49 PM

To me, the first quote reflects the fact that liberation is needed not just for the oppressed, but for the oppressors as well (albeit in a different sense). A person who is oppressed needs to be liberated from the sense of inferiority that is imposed on them. A person who oppresses others must be liberated from their mentality of prejudice (specifically here, anti-Black racism). A closed-minded person has trapped themselves in a mental prison of their own making. They have prevented themselves from having the freedom of mind needed to explore new avenues of thought, and can therefore never truly be liberated. To me, this quote means that oppressors need to be liberated by breaking through those mental walls and adopting a more open mindset.

The second quote describes how to escape oppression, Black people must first believe that they are in no way inferior to their white counterparts. By embracing their identities they can now begin to overcome the obstacles put in place by White people and "liberate themselves from repression." Oppression continues to be possible because Black people are faced with racism so often that it has become internalized and passed on throughout generations. One cannot escape oppression while they still see themselves as inferior to their oppressors.

I see the third quote similarly to the second. To me, it means to me that one cannot truly be liberated so long as they continue to view themselves as inferior to their oppressors. By changing that mindset and rejecting the image of inferiority, one can challenge that internalized racism that prevents liberation. From there, liberation is now possible.

@October 28 at 4:11 PM

Hi ___!

I agree that an oppressor needs to be liberated from the close-minded mentality which they imposed on themselves. I also think that the fact that they have prevented themselves from having the freedom of mind plays a huge part in the fact that liberation will be difficult for the oppressors. Further, I think that since Black people are faced with racism so often, and it has become so internalized as well as been passed down through generations, that the process of freeing themselves will only be that much more difficult since there are so many obstacles to overcome.

@Oct 28, 2020 3:51 PM

Nelson Mandela states “the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed.” I think the term liberated can be used in such a way that it applies to White people, as they are the oppressor. Liberation can be defined as the act of setting someone free from imprisonment, slavery or oppression. However, White people cannot be liberated this way, in the sense that they never suffered slavery or oppression. But, using the idea of liberation and applying it to White people being ‘set free’ from the idea of enslaving another race. Liberation for White people can be learning and understanding that it is never okay to imprison a Black person as a slave or, for that matter, treat any human differently based on the colour of their skin. Looking at it this way, I believe that White people must be liberated just as Black people should be. Without total liberation, equality for Black people cannot occur.

Mandela also talks about the Black Consciousness Movement. He mentions how the movement was less of a movement and more of a philosophy. He states that Black people must first liberate themselves from the inferior self-identity that had been ingrained in their minds by White people before they can liberate themselves from repression. I think this means that before Black people can attempt to free themselves of repression, something out of their control, they must first free themselves from what is in their control. This being their self-identity, but more specifically the psychological inferiority which has been ingrained in them by White people. Without Black people being able to individually believe they are more than just a slave, why would they even try to liberate themselves from repression? With so many centuries of repression from White people, some Black individuals may have concluded that their destiny is to be a slave. While today, most of us are aware this is not true; it may have been hard for Black people to understand their worth when the majority of the population was telling them they were worthless. Further, it would be even harder for Black people to overcome the position of inferiority which has been pushed upon them. But, without believing themselves that they are not destined to be a slave and they do in fact have self-worth and human rights like everyone else, becoming liberated from repression would be impossible. Angela Davis also talks about the first phase of liberation being that a Black individual needs to reject the image of themself which the slave-owner created. This means rejecting themselves as a slave. Her idea coincides with what Mandela has to say and what I have reiterated, being that before a Black individual can become liberated from repression, they must liberate themselves from the self-identity of being a slave.

@October 28 at 4:06 PM

Hi ___,

I agree with you that the sense of inferiority that has been pushed onto Black people for so long has undoubtedly had lasting negative impacts, however, I wouldn't go so far as to say that they feel "worthless" and "that their destiny is to be a slave". While internalized racism is absolutely a mental obstacle that many people need to overcome, outright feelings of worthlessness because of race and that one has reduced themself to chattel aren't accurate. I think that what Mandela and Davis were saying was not necessarily that Black people had the self-identity of "slave", but that liberation is not possible without overcoming their own internalized racism.

@Oct 28, 2020 4:48 PM

Each of the three quotes powerfully represents the need to reject imposed oppression and challenge decisions of those in positions of power. I see this illustration of the Black Consciousness Movement to be a depiction of the mindset which is necessary to recognize mistreatment and question authority. The South African Apartheid continued to such extends of psychological manipulation and entrenched in the minds of Black individuals a feeling of inferiority. Similarly to Mandela, Angela Davis highlights the need to view racist ideas as a fault of the oppressor rather than an honest sentiment of the oppressed. I believe these two quotes relate to the comparison of slave vs enslavement. To see individuals as slaves does not allow them to be anything more than that state that is being created for them. By recognizing enslavement, we are acknowledging the dept of the individual and seeing them as much more that their current environment. In order to challenge a system of oppression, I agree that victims must see themselves as more than their current state and believe in their own empowerment. Mandela also states that “the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed”. I see this as the means to brake systems of mistreatment. As demonstrated through Mandela and the Defiance campaign, it became necessary for members of the majority to see the injustice and advocate for those in need. These individuals became powerful tools in order to amplify the voices of those oppressed under the Apartheid regime. It is only when everyone is able to be recognize, criticize, and challenge racist practices will the population be able to move forward together.

@October 28 at 9:13 PM

Hi ___,

Your points were really thoughtful and I resonated with a lot of it. Victims being able to see beyond their current state and truly believe in their empowerment is a powerful form of resistance and key to social change. Breaking the system is no easy feat, but can start within.

@October 29 at 1:54 PM

Hi ___,

I found your response to help me better understand the quotes, as you very clearly highlighted the difference between one's experiences, and their identity. I especially appreciated your reference to the terms "slave" vs enslavement" and how you were able to tie this into this weeks topic. It was a perfect example of how language and the way we use it can be a source of empowerment or oppression.

@Oct 28, 2020 6:03 PM

"...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." - Mandela

To me this quote means that in the case of racism, the oppressors, which are commonly White people need to be taught about why equal rights are so important and why the colour of someone's skin doesn't dictate who they are. Just as much as the oppressed, which are commonly Black people, need to be reassured that they are not different because they may have a different skin colour than the 'dominate race', that the colour of their skin does not give other people the right to make comments or assume anything about them as a person.

White people at that time had been keeping Black people as slaves for decades so Black people had the mindset that they were inferior to White people and that they deserved to be treated that way which is absolutely not true. In order for Black people to be able to fight for their equal rights they had to get rid of that mindset that had been ingrained into them for years and realize that they should have just as much right as any other person on this planet and skin colour should not affect that.

To me this means the first step towards more equality is for Black people to reject the self that was made by slave-owners for decades, they have to go into the fight with a fresh conscious. One where there are no external factors that might hold them back from achieving their goals, they have to let go of what the White people did to them, but they can never forget it. They need to be able to see themselves as equal members of this community in order for it to have the possibility of happening.

@Fri at 9:59 AM

Hi ___, I completely agree with what you have said, especially your views on the 2nd quote. Since a long time, the Black people had thoughts of psychological inferiority and due to lack of mental health awareness and facilities, this trauma grew even more. Moreover, as it is said in the 3rd quote that the Black people first need to change the way the perceive themselves, it is surely the first step towards attaining equality and the Black people getting their due rights.

@Oct 28, 2020 7:17 PM

"...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." – Mandela

This quote to me, means that everyone should be free and equal. Both Black and White, along with any other nationality. It emphasizes that you can be free, but you need be free the right way. For example, someone who takes away the freedom of another human being to be free, is not a free person. Taking away anyone else’s freedom for your own is not right. You are not free by killing another human being to get what you want as you will face self-trauma for it the rest of your life. Until we learn that everyone deserves a life and that we cannot take freedom away, we cannot ourselves be fully free. By ruining someone else’s life, we are not free to God, as we are now a “prisoner” to him in the sense that we will be paying for our sin until the day we die. Obviously certain things we do to others can be forgiven by God but when you take away someone else’s freedom, you are not living the life that God may have intended for you.

This quote to me, means that Black people must believe that they are worth just as much as White people and are equals in order to truly be liberated from inferiority that they face in society. Black people have been treated with no respect, as if they are nothing other than animals which is why so many feel that they need to be in the background and not rise up and be who they are. They feel they cannot do so without worrying about being penalized for it because they do not have the “right”. Other members of society also need to start helping the Black community feel that are equal and do not need to be afraid or hide who they are. By doing this, the Black community can start to feel safer in the society and not fear for their lives if they “rub off the wrong way” to someone for simply being Black. We need to implement certain ideas for future generations and help them understand that there is no difference between black and white, as there is no difference between in humanity. Humanity is humanity and everyone is equal and deserves equal lives, no matter race, colour, ethnicity, or something merely the colour of your hair. Yes, we are different in our owns ways, but it does one is no better than the other.

“The first phase of liberation is the decision to reject the image of himself which the slave-owner has painted, to reject the conditions which the slave-owner has created, to reject his own existence, to reject himself as slave." - Angela Davis

This quote, to me is talking about the ways in which a slave can free themselves. For a slave to do this is to first reject the picture that the other person has put them in. To not think of themselves as a slave or of less importance as the slaveowner. Next, to not accept the circumstances that the other person has put them in, whatever they may be. The slave must not give in to the conditions that the slaveowner has brought upon them. After that, they must reject that they exist in the corrupt environment and lastly, they must reject the idea that there are slaves. By doing this, they have fought for their freedom and can only be freed when they are no longer alienated from their own freedom.

@Oct 28, 2020 7:44 PM

1. To me, this quote means equality. It seems as though the oppressor should be given a fair chance and the same opportunities as the oppressed, despite their wrong doings. It's considering the humanity of both parties regardless of the situation or issues they faced. I believe this relates to the hidden aspect of why the oppressor is oppressing and what factors should be considered when discussing their motives. It's not eye for an eye when it comes to this quote and the law of retaliation is not relevant.

2. This quote is a lot to process; it took me a while to digest it and gather my thoughts. From my perspective, this quote is essentially saying that Black people do not need to prove themselves to anybody in order to gain respect and fair treatment as other races, regardless of the opinions on Black people in history. It's saying that there was a heavy amount of oppression throughout a long span of time and it's incredibly difficult to pull through from that, but Black people shouldn't have to prove their worth to others in order to heal and have their voices heard.

3. In my perspective, this quote is focused on annihilating the false perception that people created on Black people. It's owning their individuality and seeing themselves for how THEY truly feel and perceive each aspect of self. It's abolishing the negative ideas that society painted on them, which could include stereotypes or other forms of prejudice/discrimination. It's feeling comfortable and accepted for who they really are, proving these assumptions and judgements wrong, and that nobody else except themselves is entitled for deciding who can or should be.

@Fri at 9:21 PM

Hey ___,

I really enjoyed reading your thoughts! I also had a hard time understanding the second quote. I like how you state that Black oppressed people do not need to prove their worth. It gave me a different perspective on the quote.

@Fri at 9:28 PM

Hi ___,

I loved your thoughts on these quotes. I loved how you said "it's not eye for an eye when it comes to this quote and the law of retaliation is not relevant".

@Oct 28, 2020 9:09 PM

The first quote to me means that as important as freedom is for the oppressed, the oppressor must also be freed of their hatred. The oppressor is imprisoned in a different sense, that they uphold beliefs, ideas and values that target the "others'" livelihoods. Looking beyond prejudice and unlearning these internalized ideas are apart of seeing real change happen.

The second quote is a call for Black empowerment. In order for the oppressed to truly liberate themselves, they have to reject the ideas that targeted and discriminated against them.

The last quote is similar to Mandela's in the sense that people who have been oppressed need to look within themselves and destroy the racist images and identities internalized in them. Freedom is not only literal in a legal sense but also psychologically.

@October 29 at 3:46 PM

Hello,

I really enjoyed reading your post! I like how you brought up the point that the oppressor needs to free themselves from the hatred. I think that this is a concept that is not talked about often. I do agree that change comes internally. I also like how you conveyed the ideas from the two other quotes. It is crucial for Black individuals to breakthrough from those racist ideas that are not true it is important for their mental health as well. While I was working on the discussion I had a moment of realization, which was that it's a lot to ask Black people to contently be strong and fright through everything racist that has been thrown at them by white people. I think that is a lot to ask, especially since the fight they're putting out is something that shouldn't even exist in the first place.

Thank you for sharing! :)

@Oct 29, 2020 11:03 AM

The meaning behind the Nelson Mandela quote is that nobody is free. Black and white people must be liberated in order to actually be free. Nobody is free when their freedom is taken away from them at the hands of another person. The oppressor and oppressed both suffer from this. In order for both to be free they both must be liberated so they can both enjoy that freedom.

The meaning behind the second quote is that Black people have to free themselves first psychologically from the oppression they are facing. When Black people liberated themselves, they were able to stand up and be free. This is the only way in which they will actually seek freedom. Black people have to look within themselves and find the power from within to stand up. They can still feel good about who they are and fit in society since no one can take that away from them.

The meaning behind the last quote is that in order for Black people to be liberated they need to stop viewing themselves as slaves. They also need to stop viewing the conditions they have been put in by the oppressor. By doing this they are able to free themselves from everything that stops them from moving forward. In stopping this view point, Black people will be able to move forward in the pursuit of liberation. Black people need to unshackle themselves from the chains they have been put in and what others put on them. They don’t need to accept how people perceive them. Without accepting this they are able to be who they are.

@Fri at 10:20 AM

I like how you mentioned that people in the past who have stood up for Black people and their rights were able to release themselves from the psychological bondage they have had to endure in the past. Had they not, we would not have seen any progress.

@Oct 29, 2020 12:13 PM

"...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." – Mandela.

According to me, the above quoted line highlights the prejudice and narrow-mindedness of people who tend to take away the freedom and liberty of other individuals. No individual is born hating other person because of the colour of his/her skin, background or religion. These discriminatory beliefs and opinions are taught by the society. It is awful to even think how some people have the audacity to treat people the way they want, so inhumane and sadistic. On top of this, they tend to justify their actions. As it has been said, that a person who takes away other people’s freedom is a prison of hatred and is locked behind the bars of negativity. A man is not free if he is snatching away other’s freedom just as surely as when his/her own freedom is snatched.

The Black Consciousness Movement "was less of a movement than a philosophy and grew out of the idea that [B]lacks must first liberate themselves from the sense of psychological inferiority bred by three centuries of white rule. Only then could the people rise up in confidence and truly liberate themselves from repression." - Mandela

Through the above quoted lines, Nelson Mandela focuses on the psychological inferiority of the Black people and how through building confidence Black people can liberate themselves from the repression. The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africain the mid-1960s. This ‘movement’ emerged as way to uplift the Black people who, for many centuries had a sense of psychological inferiority. This kind of feeling later develops into Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS). Absence of adequate mental health facilities, this trauma grows even bigger. As stated in the above quoted lines, the BCM was less of a movement and rather, it focused on the manner in which Black people could be uplifted and could confidently free themselves from White repression. The key to liberate from any kind of suppression is to speak-up for your rights and freedom. During this movement, the Black people liberated themselves through rational and psychological growth.

"The first phase of liberation is the decision to reject the image of himself which the slave-owner has painted, to reject the conditions which the slave-owner has created, to reject his own existence, to reject himself as slave." - Angela Davis

I would want to quote a line here- “Butterflies can't see their wings. They can't see how truly beautiful they are, but everyone else can. People are like that as well.”
― Naya Rivera

This quote perfectly fits the above highlighted line by Davis. The factor that intensifies the repression of the Black people by the White people is because the way the Black people perceive themselves. The fact that the Black people see themselves as slaves is what gives the power and audacity to the White people to dominate them. In order to get their due rights and freedom back, the first step towards independence is to change the way they see themselves, i.e. they have to reject seeing himself as a slave or a worker. Having positive thoughts and opinions about oneself, seeing oneself as worthy might put an end to the repression. This might be a small yet crucial phase to attain liberation. In addition, they also need to reject the conditions, the environment which are created for them.

@Fri at 6:46 PM

I really like the image of one man snatching onto his freedom by taking it away from the freedom of another person. It reminds me that the only way for there to be a King there needs to also be peasants. The King beings so exalted is as wrong as someone else being degraded.

@Fri at 10:21 PM

Hey! Thanks for reading it. I completely agree with you. It is the White people who have snatched the freedom of the people of colour and hence, they're the ones who are tied with the negativity and narrow-mindedness, something they can never free themselves of.

@Fri at 11:28 PM

Hi ___! Let me just start off by saying I am also a fan of Naya Rivera and I absolutely love (may she rest in peace). It is so true! We are not able to see our full worth, but others can. And in some cases, they are able to use that against us and make us feel like less. Not only has your discussion post allowed us to understand how Black people were able to liberate themselves from repression, but it is also a valuable lesson for everyone to remember their true potential and worth.

@Oct 29, 2020 12:58 PM

1. The quote "The oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." by Nelson Mandela means that the oppressor like the oppressed is also a prisoner of hatred and prejudice, and in order to for the oppressor to be truly free, they need to let go of that hatred and prejudice.

2. The quote The Black Consciousness Movement "was less of a movement than a philosophy and grew out of the idea that [B]lacks must first liberate themselves from the sense of psychological inferiority bred by three centuries of white rule. Only then could the people rise up in confidence and truly liberate themselves from repression." which was also by Nelson Mandela means that Black people must free themselves from the mentality that was forced upon them by white people during slavery.

3. The quote "The first phase of liberation is the decision to reject the image of himself which the slave-owner has painted, to reject the conditions which the slave-owner has created, to reject his own existence, to reject himself as slave." by Angela Davis means that in order for a Black person to free themselves, they need to reject the ideas that were pushed upon them during slavery, and stop viewing themselves the way that white people have viewed them.

@Fri at 10:37 AM

Hello ___!

I agree with each of your insights on the three quotes from this week. As Mandela highlighted, the oppressor is also limited by their own racist ideas from which they must also escape in order to move forward meaningfully. The Black Consciousness Movement demonstrated the importance of mentally liberating oneself from the degrading actings of others to find the strength needed to challenge the oppression system. I agree with your connection between the second and third quote and see them both as telling a message towards rejecting the ideas of others. This imposed feeling of inferiority is one that I think Mandela and Davis see as the limitation towards long-term liberation.

@Oct 29, 2020 1:46 PM

1. The quote stated by Mandela "the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed" definitely confused me at first. I wondered what sort of liberation an oppressor required, or more specifically deserved. After some thought I have interpreted this quote to mean that the oppressor needs to be liberated from their oppressive actions. They need to be educated and aware of their bias and the harm they are causing, only then can they be liberated and let go of the dicscriminatory perspective they hold.

2. I interpret the second quote listen to mean that Black people are able to play a part in liberating themselves from an internalized inferior complex, forced upon them after generations of experiencing anti-Black racism. To me this means that Mandela is describing the importance of realizing their worth as Black individuals, and how empowering it can be to recognize that they are not in any way inferior, but were often made to believe they were as a result of years of oppression. These feelings of inferiority are a natural response to such oppression, and once liberated from this, Black individuals in Mandela's words will "rise up with confidence".

3. I interpret this last quote to mean that one must reject the sense of identity that White people as oppressors, have created for and forced upon Black people. I believe Davis said this to be the first step of liberation because one must acknowledge that the purpose they were told they have, that they are inferior, is built upon White supremacy and privilege, and is not a reflection of who they are and their identity, but built upon oppressive actions and people.

I feel all of these quotes are connected in the way that they are meant to empower Black individuals in creating their own liberated sense of identity.

@Fri at 7:58 AM

Hey ___! I liked what you wrote about internalized inferiority forced upon Black individuals after generations of oppression, discrimination and racism. I feel like the process of realizing your worth and empowering yourself is something that many marginalized groups have to go through. It's really difficult to let go of these feelings of conformity, inferiority or just 'not enough' but as the quotes suggest, this process is necessary for liberation.

I enjoyed reading your post ___, I hope you have a good weekend :D

@Fri at 10:52 AM

Hi ___! Honestly, I completely agree with your analysis of these quotes. As you said, the oppressor must become aware of their bias and put in the conscious effort to stop being discriminatory. But there's a lot of people right now that are aware of their prejudice and not willing to change. Some are in positions of power or being elected/appointed to these positions, like Amy Coney Barrett who was just sworn into the American Supreme Court.

Those who are being oppressed and discriminated against must try to create a new image of themselves in order to be liberated. Yes, this is empowering but is it truly enough when a portion of the racism they may face is systemic? Probably to a degree, if Black people become so empowered that they can come together and inflict actual change within the system.

@Fri at 12:48 PM

Hi ___, thanks for sharing your thoughts. You mentioned that "they are not in any way inferior, but were often made to believe they were as a result of years of oppression. These feelings of inferiority are a natural response to such oppression". I strongly agree with your interpretation of this quote, because I think that it is important for Black and white individuals to acknowledge that the cause for ideas of inferiority is enslavement, oppression, and white supremacy, not actually being inferior. Also, you mentioned that this is a natural response to trauma, which couldn't be more true. In order to combat racism, I think it is important to acknowledge that generational trauma from oppression is still present today and has an impact on the way Black people may view themselves.

@Oct 29, 2020 3:14 PM

All of these quotes combined, to me, mean that the roots of oppression is not something that can be fixed by pointing fingers at the communities that are experiencing oppression. The intent should not be trying to find what is wrong in Black communities but to understand what IS wrong in white communities. This is because the roots of the oppression comes from white people who have been oppressing Black individuals. The issue was never Black people, it has been white people’s racist ideas that created all of these challenges alongside the power that they snatched, just because they couldn’t see Black people beyond their skin color, as human beings. It is way too much to ask the Black community to be strong all the time, have so much resilience to fight for themselves in order for the oppressors to see them as equals. The change starts with white people not Black people who have been oppressed for centuries.

@October 29 at 3:46 PM

___, I enjoyed your analysis of all 3 quotes together. I completely agree with you, before white people instilled racist ideas in our society, there was never any racist ideas perpetuated within the Black community towards each other. When people talk about fighting for change, they mean changing the racist ideas that rest upon the minds of white individuals. I agree with your statement regarding the overwhelming expectations for Black individuals. In my reflection, I talked about how internalized racism is a big struggle for many people of colour, because they have been fed racist ideas from the white society that we live in. Past internalized racism, Black people are met with the daily struggle of proving to white individuals that they are worthy for their acceptance. But its time to start putting the responsibility on white individuals as well. They must acknowledge their wrongdoings and work towards a better change as well.

@Fri at 9:32 PM

Hi ___,

I also thought that the quotes had similar meanings to them. I similarly said the same thing that change starts with white people unlearning racism so that Black people can fully heal from the damage; until it does, Black individuals are going to be stuck in the same traumatic, vicious cycle. Good points!

@Oct 29, 2020 3:41 PM

1. "...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." - Mandela. To me, this quote means that in our society, it is not just the oppressed individuals who must be set free. The oppressors themselves must be liberated from their harmful acts as well. Let's use the corrupt prison system as an example. Someone who is wrongfully accused of a crime may go to prison and suffer years of mistreatment before they are finally released, meaning the oppressed is liberated. However, even after the oppressed is set free, the corrupt law enforcers and guards will continue to abuse individuals in inhumane manners. These oppressors must be educated on their wrongdoings, and then set free to end the cycle of harm.

2. The Black Consciousness Movement "was less of a movement than a philosophy and grew out of the idea that [B]lacks must first liberate themselves from the sense of psychological inferiority bred by three centuries of white rule. Only then could the people rise up in confidence and truly liberate themselves from repression." - Mandela. The first part of this quote suggests that the Black Consciousness Movement could be better defined as a philosophy. This is true because the Black Consciousness Movement fought for equality and fairness among all individuals, and it brought Black individuals together to unite and increase their self-awareness. It was not merely a movement that would circulate for a few years, but it was a deep rooted philosophy that sought to uplift Black individuals in an oppressive society. Furthermore, the quote states that Black individuals must unlearn the ideas of white superiority in order to fully liberate themselves. This is true even in todays society. Many people of colour find that they have internalized racism towards people of their own race due to the racist society that we live in. In order to fully combat anti-Black racism, it is important to address this internalized racism, work through it, and overcome it.

3. "The first phase of liberation is the decision to reject the image of himself which the slave-owner has painted, to reject the conditions which the slave-owner has created, to reject his own existence, to reject himself as slave." - Angela Davis. To me, this quote can be related to the previous quote about Black people liberating themselves from the psychological inferiority enforced by white people. In order to fully reject the ideas of slavery that were perpetuated by white people, all aspects of slavery must be rejected too. A Black individual must reflect on all the ideas perpetuated by white people about their race- every idea that a slave owner has engrained in their minds must be erased. It is not a simple process, and it is a difficult concept to unlearn especially after being forced through slavery for so many years. Today, an example of unlearning racial ideas can be related to stories about biracial children. There are many stories of children who are half Black and half white, and their white parent forces ideas onto them that make them hate their own Blackness. For these children to overcome these setbacks and gain a sense of self-awareness, they must first reject the hateful ideologies that have been taught to them their whole lives.

@Fri at 11:49 AM

Hi ___,

I completely agree with you. I liked how you used the prison system as an example. It really does put these quotes into perspective in terms of how corrupt the current oppressors are and how unfortunately many people in society have turned a blind eye to it simply because they have a badge and 'training' .

Thank you for sharing, I enjoyed reading your post!

@Oct 29, 2020 4:42 PM

1. In my eyes this quote relates to the silent oppressors, those who do not realize that they think racist thoughts or put down people of colour. These people need to be liberated in the sense that they need to come to realize the consequences of their actions, and then take action to help liberate the oppressed. For without the liberation of the minds of the oppressor, the battle between oppressed and oppressor will exist forever.

2. The Black Conscious Movement wasn't a movement of protests, it was the idea that Black people must free themselves from the idea that they are inferior. This idea was passed down from generations of racism, and it is an extremely difficult state of mind to shake. But once the Blacks freed themselves from this state of mind, they were able to rise up with confidence and free themselves.

3. Similarly to quote #2, this quote deals with the idea of Black people freeing themselves from the ideas forced upon them by whites. Once a Black person is able to free themselves from the image given to them by their white oppressors, they are then able to forge their own path and reject their slavery

@Fri at 7:48 AM

Hello ___:)

I did not think of the silent oppressors when reading the first quote but I love your analysis of it! It definitely puts things in a different perspective. Honestly, I feel like it's a burden to hurt others without realizing the consequences of your actions and this is something that oppressors need to be freed of, as you mentioned.

For the last two quotes, it looks like we had similar interpretations. I agree, it is incredibly difficult for many Black individuals to free themselves from feelings of inferiority enforced by their white oppressors. Even when many individuals do reject these images about themselves and try to forge their own path, our society will continue forcing these images on to them every step of the way.

Great post! Thank you for sharing!

@Fri at 10:57 AM

Hey ___,

It was interesting reading your opinion on the first quote. Personally, I believe it's about all oppressors realizing that they are not better than other groups of people and stop oppressing them. Overall really good discussion post!!

@Fri at 9:30 PM

Hi ___!

I really enjoyed reading your discussion post and your interpretation of the three quotations. I find it particularly interesting how the first quote resonated with you and made you think of the "silent oppressor." Overall, I found your post to be really concise and thought provoking. Great work!

@Oct 29, 2020 5:15 PM

The first quote by Nelson Mandela means that not only do the oppressed to be liberated but also the oppressors. This means that the oppression against people needs to come to an end. But also that the oppressors need to be educated so that they no longer harbour feelings of anger against a minority group. With this education, they will be liberated.

The second quote is talking about is how black people need to get rid of the generated inferior complex pushed onto them by white people. Thus, liberating themselves. With this liberation, black people have the confidence to fight back against racism in society. And creating their existence in the world.

Lastly, the quote by Angela Davis is about black people finding their identity, by rejecting the image the slave master projected. To find oneself you have to paint your picture, rather than letting others shape you. It's also about making your own opportunities in the world and not letting people tell you what you're capable of.

@Oct 29, 2020 5:50 PM

The first quote by Mandela is the quote that I really had to think about the longest compared to the other two. The first quote to me means that not only do the oppressed individuals have to be freed from the things that keep them as oppressed individuals, but the oppressors also have to be liberated from their traditional ideas. The traditional ideas that oppressors hold onto are the ideas that keep individuals oppressed and harm the oppressed community. It's changing the ideas and coming up with new ones. It's being freed and changing the oppressor's attitude and point of view to understand and come up with new ideas to help the oppressed.

The second quote, I believe, was briefly also mentioned and talked about by Ibram X. Kendi, maybe not about the exact quote but about changing the sense of psychological inferiority. Mandela's second quote means that to be liberated fully is to change one's attitude about themself. They must believe they are worth just as much as the majority, just as much as the oppressor, to be considered equal. If you don't believe that you are worth being seen as equal and not as inferior, how will other individuals believe that you are worth being considered equal? You have to believe in yourself, and I think that is what Mandela is essentially trying to say in the second quote.

The third and final quote to me means to reject everything you have been told about yourself by other people and by outside influences and really channel your truth, what you believe in and who you are as a person. The slave, the oppressed, has to reject the traditional ideas taught to them by the Master and create and embrace their truth and what they know about themselves, not through what the master has told them but by their own self-discovery. In all, I think each of these quotes portrays the message of rejecting those traditional ideas that have been taught to the oppressed over so many years and to create new ideas that no longer oppress individuals but celebrates and recognizes them as equals.

@Oct 29, 2020 8:28 PM

“…the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed.”

In this powerful quote, Mandela speaks about how the oppressor is burdened by their own hurtful actions towards others, they are locked in by prison bars of prejudice and hatred. When an oppressor is ‘liberated’, they are letting go of their need to hurt others and embracing the freedom that comes with accepting and loving everyone for who they are.

I believe the second quote is stating that Black individuals need to free themselves from the negative ideas of their race that has been enforced through centuries of racism, colorism and colonialism. These negative ideologies about “Blackness” have been perpetuated historical journals, media representation and political legislation that reinforce the idea that Black individuals are inferior, undesirable and corrupted compared to their white counterparts. This is a heavy burden for people to carry, especially because the prejudice is directed towards an aspect of your identity that you have no control over.

Again, this quote talks about rejecting the stereotypes and ideologies about Black individuals because these conditions were often created to control and marginalize the Black communities. Davis speaks about the importance of establishing your own sense of self and inspiring others to do the same. Of course, this is easier said than done. A lot of the times, even when marginalized individuals reject negative images about their group and attempt to forge their own path forward, society will continue to force biases and stereotypes on to them every step of the way.

@Fri at 11:03 AM

Hi ___! I agree with your analysis of these quotes. When you talk about the importance of Black people establishing their sense of self in order to reject stereotypes but are faced with society forcing it upon them, I think this couldn't be more true. Every person, regardless of their race, gender, sexuality or age, must build a sense of self within our society, but some people may have it easier if they do not feel like they have to fit in a box given to them. These boxes come from the oppressors who have yet to liberate themselves from the discriminatory values they hold. So I guess one of the first ways things need to change is through the people on top.

@Fri at 12:39 PM

Hi ___, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I agree with many of your points and liked how you mentioned that, "A lot of the times, even when marginalized individuals reject negative images about their group and attempt to forge their own path forward, society will continue to force biases and stereotypes on to them every step of the way". There is no doubt that rejecting the ideas that society has forced upon you is difficult, and I wonder if this is one of the reasons why a Black individual could struggle with accepting their identity.

@Fri at 6:41 PM

Hey ___! Thank you so much for reading my thoughts on this discussion :) I feel like even though it's easy to say that rejecting these notions is essential to developing an authentic sense of self, going about this is veryveryvery difficult. I agree with you, I believe that this is one of the reasons why some Black individuals struggle with accepting themselves. It's difficult to accept and understand who you really are when everyone around you continuously forces their own ideas of who you 'should be' on to you.

@Fri at 9:15 PM

Hey ___! I really enjoyed your take on this weeks topic. When you stated that ".. rejecting the stereotypes and ideologies about Black individuals because these conditions were often created to control and marginalize the Black communities. ". I was in complete agreement, one Black people are able to liberate themselves from the mentality of oppression and that white people are better then them, they'll be able to experience out of body liberation and live up to their full potentials-- not the bounds of success that society places on them.

@Fri at 9:38 PM

Hi ___, I took a very similar perspective on this discussion in regards to the first quote. I think being in the role of the oppressor is almost like a brainwashing people didn't mean to sign up for but are responsible for waking up from. We now recognize and know it's the responsibility of white people to educate themselves to break this chain as well as challenge these systems that were designed to benefit them.

Do you think saying oppressors need to be liberated too brings in a sense of humanity to the matter? Or a sense of undue empathy?

@Oct 29, 2020 10:36 PM

Quote#1:

I take this quote as Mandela’s belief that the way to achieve full equality is the liberation of all people including the oppressors. It relates to the idea of hypocrisy, someone can not be a true fighter for human rights if they deny human rights from another person. You are not truly free if you take away the freedom of someone else. Both parties must be at an equal level to achieve true liberation.

Quote #2 and #3

To me, quotes 2 and 3 convey the same message. In class, we talked about intergenerational trauma and the effects it has on Black people’s mental health, an example is making Black people feel less than others due to the years of condition, it forces them to conform and compress themselves which doesn’t let them work to their full potential. Breaking the cycle of feeling that individual “psychological inferiority” is the first step to social liberation. One can not be free within society until they are free within themselves.

@Fri at 12:30 AM

___, I like how you put the first quote. At first glance of the quote I was unsure of what it meant but you did a good job of explaining it and the part about hypocrisy is so true.

Thanks!

@Fri at 7:39 AM

Hey ___!

Your response was beautifully written, I loved the way you described the last two quotes by connecting it to the course content. I found it interesting that you mentioned intergenerational trauma, mental health and conformity and the process of 'social liberation'. Of course, breaking the cycle is not something that is easy to do for marginalized individuals to do, especially because these groups have gone through decades of discrimination and conditioning, as you mentioned in your post. I enjoyed hearing your thoughts on this topic :)

___

@Fri at 10:22 AM

Hi ___,

Great discussion post! I really liked how you discussed Black people's mental health. Since these quotes focus on the conditions in which Black have been placed in over the years. It has affected their mental health since they view themselves as how others see them. They need to unshackle themselves from these views and be who they are which is difficult. Can you think of any ways in which we can break this cycle?

@Fri at 10:40 AM

Hey ___,

I really enjoyed reading your discussion post. Really good job on tying hypocrisy to the first quote. Yes breaking the psychological inferiority is t an important step to freeing oneself.

@Fri at 6:31 PM

Hi ___!

I really do like your post and ideas I believe it was very well put. I understand why you converted number 2 and 3 into one however I think that you could have hi lighted the idea of Black consciousness and incorporated it in your point because I think it would have really gone well with you saying "One can not be free within society until they are free within themselves.", because you could have then added on to say that it specifically relates to the second point of being conscious. I really enjoyed your post.

@Oct 30, 2020 9:06 AM

In my opinion, I believe Mandela's first quote, "the professor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed," is indicating how for us to truly be free, we must forgive in order to forget. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, since it comes more naturally to the human heart. However, I believe this is an unfair expectation. The desire to see Black individuals show forgiveness is a desire to avoid fully recognizing with Black pain, or the lingering effects of trauma. Forgiveness is an internal process, something that everyone arrives at their own time and in their own way. To express that forgiveness out loud can certainly be healing, but it's also an exercise that works for the benefit of the oppressor.

His second quote, "...[B]lacks must first liberate themselves from the sense of psychological inferiority bred by three centuries of white rule. Only then could the people rise up in confidence and truly liberate themselves from repression," is stating how, in a way, society has been built to make Black people believe they are weak and less than that of a White person, and in order to be free of that mindset, we must release these feelings of inferiority further allowing us to not be bound by restraints. I find this difficult to obtain as society teaches Black individuals they are lesser as further back as in their childhood. So to be rid of years of internalized oppression when it has been ingrained in you almost all your life is not easy. No one is born feeling inferior, but it is rather taught.

Lastly, Davis' quote, "The first phase of liberation is the decision to reject the image of himself which the slave-owner has painted, to reject the conditions which the slave-owner has created, to reject his own existence, to reject himself as a slave" is showcasing that the first step to being free is to deny the image that has been created for Black individuals, rejecting the ideas of the oppressor. I agree with this notion that Black individuals must rid of these stereotypes that has been painted first in order to battle further issues.

@Fri at 11:58 AM

Hi ___,

I liked how you said that no one is born feeling inferior, but it rather taught in relation to that second quote by Mandela. It's very true and it reminds me of how no one is born racist but that racism is also taught.

@Fri at 12:29 PM

Hi ___, I really enjoyed reading your post. Many of your statements impacted me especially "The desire to see Black individuals show forgiveness is a desire to avoid fully recognizing with Black pain, or the lingering effects of trauma. Forgiveness is an internal process, something that everyone arrives at their own time and in their own way. To express that forgiveness out loud can certainly be healing, but it's also an exercise that works for the benefit of the oppressor". This statement was especially impactful and I have never thought of the way that forgiveness can benefit the oppressor, but I completely agree.

@Oct 30, 2020 11:38 AM

1. This first quote by Nelson Mandela reflects this idea that those who are in power, taking away another person’s right to freedom, are prisoners to themselves and their own self interest. “A man who takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the cars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness.”(Mandela, Nelson. Long Walk to Freedom: the Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Paw Prints, 2014.). What I take from this quote is that we all need to keep ourselves accountable, educate ourselves consistently, and truly reflect on the thoughts we have so that we do not become prisoners to destructive thoughts that could possibly imprison someone else.

2. The Black Consciousness Movement was aiming at liberating themselves, not asking for it from the oppressors. Liberating themselves to achieve justice from eliminating these ideas that have been passed by society, century after century, by those that were white and powerful. This gives them more power than if they were to ask for it as Mandela says, “Only then could the people rise up in confidence and truly liberate themselves from repression.”.

3. This quote by Angela Davis is very powerful, explaining the first phase of liberation. To reject the image that someone and society has put on you isn’t something that’s easy to do after many centuries of these social images and constructs being infused into everything one sees. As anti-racists, we need to strive to abolish these social constructs which will require a constant effort and a genuine want for change.

@Fri at 3:28 PM

___ thanks for sharing you did a really good job explaining each quote! I like what you said about quote 3. It's for sure not easy to do, when society has been putting it your mind for so many centuries that it will take time. And your right we as anti-racists need to our part it help putting an end to this image that has been created for them.

@Fri at 3:50 PM

Hey ___,

I really liked your point about the second quote where you said that the Black Consciousness Movement was aiming to liberate themselves instead of asking for it from the oppressors. When they do this, it shows White people that Black people are stronger than the stereotype they've been put under. It shows that they really do have power to change the way they are treated.

@Oct 30, 2020 12:19 PM

In my opinion, the quote "the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed" means that in order to bring true freedom, the Black community needs to be liberated from the unjust, unequal, and cruel treatment that they are experiencing and white people need to free themselves from the systemic racism, white supremacy, implicit bias, stereotypes, etc. that they benefit from. By educating themselves and addressing their own biases white people can become ally's and use their privilege for good, rather than stay silent which only allows this system of oppression to continue.

Due to racist ideas, policies and treatment, Black people were seen as inferior to those who were white. The idea that 'Black is bad' was ingrained in all aspects of society, and as a result, Black culture and identity was not always celebrated or something people took pride in. Additionally, racist policies such as unequal funding for education mean that Black students are not given the same opportunities as white students. In South Africa, the government spent 6 times as much on white students compared Indigenous students (Taylor, 2020). Racist ideas suggested that Black people were 'academically inferior' or 'less intelligent' and are still stereotypes today. I think that Mandela is suggesting that due to enslavement, apartheid, and oppression Black people have been subject to 'psychological inferiority' and may have even believed it themselves. I think that he is saying that Black people need to recognize and take pride in their potential, identity, and abilities and recognize that they are equal so that they can "rise up and truly liberate themselves from repression" (Mandela). Rejecting an idea that has been taught throughout history, and freeing yourself of trauma seems like a very difficult thing to do, especially considering society still teaches and reflects racist ideas in policies and society today.

Similarly, I think Angela Davis is suggesting that enslavement has left lasting trauma and generational effects on the Black community which has caused them to believe some of these ideas. Like Mandela, Davis thinks that Black people need to reject the idea of inferiority that white people have created. I think that white people also need to address and reject how the image of inferiority has affected their perceptions of the Black community, which is present in implicit bias and stereotypes.

@Fri at 4:31 PM

Hello ___!

I initially agreed with your analysis of Mandela’s first quote. The oppressed and the oppressors must both liberate themselves from ideological limitations. I agree that Black communities must emotionally and physically escape unequal and unjust treatment. Additionally, I also see White people as needing to rid themselves of white supremacist ideologies and work towards amplifying the voices of those who do not share the same lived experience of privilege.

Your added insight provided what I think is important background to Mandela’s second quote. I agree that the quote itself is telling of the feeling of psychological inferiority felt by Black communities. I further think Mandela is highlighting the need to differentiate between an individual's current environment, too often imposed on them, and who they are as a person.

I also think that the second quote and that of Angela Davis are very closely linked. I agree that it is important for Black communities to reject the ideas of others and recognize their possibilities. I appreciate your view that White people need to reject how they have been influenced to view members of Black communities and actively work towards combating this vision.

@Oct 30, 2020 2:18 PM

The oppressor is in need of liberation just as much as those being oppressed. Although sending oppressors to jail may sound ideal, someone who believes so strongly in power over others is not free from hatred. We must desire not only the freedom of those who face injustices but those who deliver it. We need to live in a world where every individual is free of hatred. Where everyone can walk freely and embrace the freedom to be truly detached from all sanctions of inequity. A world where Black individuals can free themselves of the negativity inflicted by others. We need to live in a world where both Black and white people can celebrate each other's freedom.

In part two of the history in focus, it informed viewers of the legal resistance. In South Africa, Mandela was fighting for equality and an end to the racial laws stemming from the Apartheid system. After the Defiance campaigns, the government continued to silence protestors, passing legislation and making laws that would prohibit protests. Undermining the power of the oppressed, anti-Apartheid leaders continued to fight for equality. As we learned, this eventually led to Mandela being sentenced to life in prison, as well as the white lawyer who assisted these leaders. Although I can only imagine treatments were different, the fact that both a white and a Black man were sentenced to life in prison due to their fight for the freedom of all people is eye-opening.

Just this year, the murder of George Floyd caused an uproar throughout the world. People from all backgrounds fought for racial justice, but after this content, I realize it’s more than that. It’s not simply people protesting for more laws to enforce equality, but people protesting for true freedom, for governments, and essentially the entire world to free themselves of hatred and oppression. Dr. Kendi’s novel touches on racist power and how much more EVERYONE would benefit from an equitable society. Only then can every individual be truly free.

I believe that Angela Davis’ message is similar to Mandela’s. The idea that we need to reject the image of white supremacy that has been integrated into our systems for generations. We need to discover individual liberation. No one is born hating other people for their differences. We are taught to hate, and so to choose that as a lifestyle, when instead you could accept your existence in a world meant for unity, would be much more beneficial towards standing in solidarity and having a true impact.

@Fri at 6:26 PM

Hi ___!

I just wanted to ask you when you mentioned We need to live in a world where every individual is free of hatred. Where everyone can walk freely and embrace the freedom to be truly detached from all sanctions of inequity." A world where Black individuals can free themselves of the negativity inflicted by others. We need to live in a world where both Black and white people can celebrate each others freedom. "

Do you think that if Black people and white people as you put it celebrate each others freedoms that the world will be a better place and what would that look like?

I also wanted to say that I don't believe that every individual is free of hatred because if we are free of hatred why are Black children growing up hating the tone of their skin and being forced to assimilate to white culture. Black people are not allowed to walk freely and we are shown the product of this when we see on the news Black people being shot for walking down the street with a grocery bag, using a cell phone or walking down the road with a hoodie. These events demonstrate that if Black people believe they are too free there are consequences. Now Black people are beginning to become more and more conscious because we realize even though we live in a white society and we have struggles everyday from that we still are extremely capable people. So, no, I do not think that every individual is free of hatred because there are still people in white society and institutions in place in the society we live in that continue to press Black people,

I hope my comments could change your perspective.

@Fri at 7:06 PM

Hi ___!

Thanks for your perspective on my discussion. I agree with you! I do not believe that every individual is free of hatred. As I said in my post, "We need to live in a world where every individual is free of hatred."

My message was to say we should live in a world where Black people are liberated AND white people are free of the hatred they inflict on others. As I said, we need to live in a world "where Black individuals can free themselves of the negativity inflicted by others." By this, I mean to say that Black people deserve to be free of the oppression white people have caused.

Also, to answer your question, I think if ideally, we lived in a society where every individual was liberated of hate/racism, then the world would be a much better place. Currently, we do not live in a society where everyone is free of hatred. I am aware of the inequalities in our society and hope that through the continued fight for equality, there are extreme changes that will one day lead us to a world of peace.

@Oct 30, 2020 3:45 PM

1. Because there are so many people that are oppressed in our world, that means there are many who do the oppressing. When oppressed people are liberated, they are freed from what was oppressing them; what was putting them in a state of subjugation. Consequently, Mandela says that 'the oppressor must be liberated' which might put people in a state of confusion. After some thinking about this quote, I think that it means that the oppressors must be liberated but not in the same way the oppressed are liberated. The oppressors need to be liberated from their cruel mindset, they need to be freed from the thoughts that are telling them to persecute these people. In order for the oppressed to be set free, the oppressors need to change their mentality of these Black people from one of superiority to one of equity.

2. Because of the long history of injustice against Black people, this group has been extremely damaged not just physically but also mentally and emotionally. This kind of abuse doesn't simply disappear once they are freed from slavery. As mentioned in last week's module, the effects last for generations and generations making Black people mentally weak to this day. Because of how long it has been engrained into their minds, Black people are constantly thinking of themselves as inferior to White people and this is why Mandela says that '...Blacks must first liberate themselves from the sense of psychological inferiority...' Black people could only be liberated once they gained the confidence to go up against the oppressors and express to them the truth.

3. This quote from Angela Davis reminds of Mandela's 2nd quote in this discussion. Once again, I think it is saying that Black people need to fight against what they've thought of themselves their whole lives in order to begin their liberation. However, in this quote it goes into more detail about what needs to happen on the mental side of the Black people. They need to completely dismiss the images and conditions that the oppressors have put into their heads of what they are. Although this is way easier said than done, they need to completely ignore the thoughts that are telling them they aren't worth as much as White people. It is only then that they will be able to liberate themselves in this society.

@Fri at 5:10 PM

Hi!
The first quote was confusing to, just as you stated some might be. The notion that the oppressor, the one who is actively oppressing, must be liberated as well was perplexing. I do agree with your interpretation that the oppressor must be freed of their cruelty. I found it interesting how you made the distinction between oppressed and oppressor liberation, and I ultimately agree that they are different, but I'm wondering how you believe liberation for both parties will come about.
I enjoy how you compared the first and second quote. They are quite similar in the sense that they share the idea of the White narrative. Unfortunately, this White narrative is one many people unconsciously subscribe to.

I enjoyed your post!

@Fri at 8:50 PM

Hi ___,

Great post! I also thought that the final quote went with the first two from Mandela. I completely agree with what you said about how challenging it would have been to fight against the psychological manipulation from oppressors. I truly believe that it is the most important step to take in order to be liberated.

@Oct 30, 2020 4:42 PM

1. This quote to me is recognition of the power that the oppressor holds in the dynamic of the oppressor and the oppressed. When it says the oppressor also must be liberated, it means in a way of being liberated from the thoughts, traditions and behaviours that cause them to oppress. Some people grow up in families, cities, even countries that represent oppression based on race and show it as normalised behaviour, that’s an example of something the oppressor needs to be liberated from. Not only individual oppressors but societal norms as a whole need to be liberated from the constraints of oppression they hold. So not only do the oppressed deserve liberation, but so do the oppressors they deserve liberation from small-mindedness, naivety and the consistent need to judge others. The world deserves to be free of those behaviours, liberated.

2. I think all of Mandela’s quotes hold a lot of power but this one especially because it’s so true that the first step to stand up and to fight back is the confidence that you deserve whatever it is you’re fighting for. I think this quote is Mandela saying that Black people needed to recognize that even the way they categorized themselves was based on what they’d learned from the white people above them in the past. Which meant to fight back, the only way to stand up was to recognize that they deserve better and won’t take no for an answer anymore. I think this quote probably helped a lot of Black individuals at that time to see their own worth and realise that living in segregation and fear was not the way anymore and that the only way to rip the white supremacy out of power is to do it with your own two hands. It’s hard to read a quote like this and imagine how much pain people were in at that time, but it’s inspiring and very truthful in any case for resistance. I think this quote

3. I think this angela davis quote is talking about the fact that white people being in power had many effects on the psychological self view of all black individuals. Being told you're less than a person over and over again on a daily basis by being a slave has long lasting effects that poison the thoughts of those black individuals. Angela Davis is describing that the first step in freedom from slavery and freedom from white power is to recognize those labels as lies, and to recognize your own worth you recgonize and harness your own power as the resistance.

@Fri at 8:44 PM

Hi ___,

I really liked the points that you made. I found it interesting how you mentioned the need to liberate the oppressors in order to stop the cycle of oppression. Great post!

@Fri at 9:24 PM

Hey ___, yes I totally agree that the oppressors were more "free" than the oppressed, I was just speaking in terms of what I thought Mandela was saying in the quote ( I apologize if that was unclear ). It's definitely easier to be an enabler of racism than a victim of it.

Thanks for your take.

@Fri at 5:46 PM

Your second point really helped me to grasp the message of the second quote. I agree that to stand up for what you believe in, you have to be confident in yourself. If you don't believe in the cause you're fighting for, who will? As you said in your third point, freedom begins with recognizing your worth and harnessing your individual power.

@Oct 30, 2020 5:01 PM

"...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." - Mandela. This quote by Mandela describes the cycle of oppression that traps every person involved. Being an oppressor, while a position of superiority, is also telling of the past’s failures, is a role that consumes the person with hatred. In a sense, the oppressor is as equally trapped as the oppressed. I don’t believe, however, that oppressors deserve our pity, but these two ideas are not mutually exclusive.
The second quote describes the need for Black people to eliminate the internalized inferiority brought about by White people. Centuries of oppression has written a narrative that Black people may unconsciously believe about themselves. What Mandela means is that a sense of inferiority must be eliminated to tackle external issues. This quotation provided a perspective I had not yet considered. The notion that Black individuals internalized the hate they experienced is an explanation to internalized racism, and how that harms Black communities is clear.
The quote by Angela Davis shares the same sentiment as the Mandela quote above: to defeat the internalized hatred written by slave owners must be done away with. The narrative slave owners created about Black individuals who were enslaved continues to plague Black minds, at no fault of their own. To me, this quote indicates that action must be taken internally before it is effective externally.

@Fri at 7:24 PM

Hi ___,

I love the way that you have depicted these quotes, it has provided me with a further understanding. I like how you mentioned in the first question that it is a cycle of oppression, and you are right oppressors do not deserve our pity for what they have caused and brought upon themselves.

@Oct 30, 2020 5:41 PM

1. It means to me that everyone plays a role in society. The oppressor and the oppressed. I feel as if this quote means that we need to discard the shackles and the ideals that have been placed on us and work to grow together as a society. Yes, the oppressed must be liberated surely but the oppressor must be liberated before the oppressed so that the cycle of oppression stops.

2. Consciousness is an awareness of self. In terms of Black Consciousness, it means that Black people are becoming aware of who they are and not of who the oppressors make them be. Liberation is a manner of growth and rising up despite being put down so many times. To me, it means a reflection of a change in not just society but within oneself and growth is always a good thing.

3. To me, this quote means something similar to the other quotes by Nelson Mandela. The oppressed are discarding the image that has been built for them. The decision to free themselves and rejecting all that they feel does not make them who they are. I agree with this quote because it reflects an image that is present in society to this day. The oppressed have these images put onto them by the oppressors and by rejecting that image, it leads to self-discovery and realization of who one is.

@Fri at 8:39 PM

Hi ___!

I completely agree with all the points you have made. I completely agree with sentiment of your about freeing the oppressed first and the oppressors later. My only question to that point is that when you are freeing the oppressed, you are providing them with the strength to break free from the restricting social constraints they are bound to. But simultaneously, you are also educating the oppressor and teaching them love and acceptance. So shouldn't freeing both the oppressor and oppressed go hand in hand? Rather than focusing on freeing one first? I personally feel as if working to free both together will be more effecting in combatting racism. What are your thoughts on this?

@Oct 30, 2020 6:13 PM

What do these quotes mean to you?

"...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." - Mandela

Nelson Mandela was the first Black president of South Africa. I believe what Mandela is that a person who is talking about taking someone else's freedom not only is that person not truly free but that person deserves the hate they give. The oppressor Mandela is referring to is a very narrow minded person and that is why they are not really free beings; they are a prisoner of their own mind and their mind is filled with hate for the oppressed.

The Black Consciousness Movement "was less of a movement than a philosophy and grew out of the idea that [B]lacks must first liberate themselves from the sense of psychological inferiority bred by three centuries of white rule. Only then could the people rise up in confidence and truly liberate themselves from repression." - Mandela

Black consciousness is the idea of liberating yourself from the place of inferiority. It means to encourage self reliance as a Black person, culture becomes important, and to finally end the reliance on white liberals. People who are outspoken about the injustice of the system cannot speak for Black people because they are not living the experience. This definition also includes the replacement of the idea of non-white, which suggests what your not in the concept of Black people. The correct term for nonwhites is Black because it is not that you are not something. Mandela is referring to when Black people become conscious - How Black people figured how to accept being identified negatively by the oppressor? I think this goes back to this first quote when he is mentioning the oppressor and how I mentioned the oppressors mind is not free, because they want to take away freedom from others . It goes to this idea that if you want to be free you need to free your mind first.

"The first phase of liberation is the decision to reject the image of himself which the slave-owner has painted, to reject the conditions which the slave-owner has created, to reject his own existence, to reject himself as slave." - Angela Davis

I believe what Angela Davis means by this is that the problem with freedom is that it leads as she mentioned “reject the imago of himself”, in other words question his own identity. With slavery there is an absence of real identity because it is the identity the owner provides Black slaves. The slave owner paints a picture of the slave , that he/she is not worthy of freedom, and this is something the slave buys. Slaves were property, said to be something of ownership and Black people were treated as such objects to be owned. A Black slave has to live within the white definition of a Black man and a Black woman that is what I believe Angela Davis meant by this quote.

https://www.un.org/fr/events/mandeladay/tribute.shtml

https://www.jstor.org/stable/40338805?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/806

@Oct 30, 2020 6:38 PM

"...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." - Mandela

Oppressors can not operate alone. They need bases to support them. They get these bases by using fear mongering strategies. Oppressors play on the fears of people to convince them that the source of their problems is the oppressed and that if they are no longer oppressed societal problems will only rise. There is a reason that the uneducated, poor, and rural people are almost always the ones who support oppressive regimes. They are vulnerable to the lies of the oppressive regime. To liberate the oppressor, we first need to educate the oppressor. The oppressor can only fall if his base is taken away. This fear and hatred are keeping the oppressed locked in a cycle that will never end. The oppressor will always fear the oppressed as long as they believe that they should be feared. Children believe anything that their older sibling tells them, then they grow up and realize that they never needed to fear sharks eating them in Lake Erie.

The Black Consciousness Movement "was less of a movement than a philosophy and grew out of the idea that [B]lacks must first liberate themselves from the sense of psychological inferiority bred by three centuries of white rule. Only then could the people rise up in confidence and truly liberate themselves from repression." - Mandela

Only in the last few months have I realized how much I internalized my failings as something to do with my race. Thoughts like “ You don’t have depression, you’re just lazy and you can’t help that.” When you are only taught about the accomplishments of people who do not look like you and only see people who look like you as failures, it is very difficult not to see yourself as that. For too many, it is impossible to overcome that belief even when their actions and accomplishments disprove the stereotypes. Falling for the lies is a textbook coping mechanism. Those early enslaved people needed to find a way to survive the abuse when fighting back didn’t work. Believing the lies and lowering your expectations of yourself was the way that some people survived. Fortunately, many continued to fight and fought for every right that Black people have now. To continue the fight the psychological inferiority needs to be replaced with more confidence to move to a more equitable world.

"The first phase of liberation is the decision to reject the image of himself which the slave-owner has painted, to reject the conditions which the slave-owner has created, to reject his own existence, to reject himself as slave." - Angela Davis

I think this is a very interesting way to think of it. Thinking of myself as a slave creates an almost visceral reaction. Slavery is so wrong, it is one of the worst things you could do to another person. I completely reject the idea of myself as a slave. Yet, the image slave owners created of me? I can see how those ideas have influenced my idea of myself and my worth in the world. The hypocrisy is evident. You can’t reject one without rejecting the other. By rejecting the ideas that supported slavery, I’m liberating myself. I’ve been unconsciously perpetuating the racist ideas that put people like me in the same category as the property of another person.

@Oct 30, 2020 7:15 PM

1. I think this means that the oppressor and the oppressed are both trapped. The oppressor is trapped behind the walls of oppressing others and is stuck in a cycle of hatred. And the oppressed have no freedom due to the fact that they are seen as a minority. Both sides are in need of being liberated, but I think that it has to start with the oppressor being stopped.

2. I think that this means that Black people must first get themselves out of the psychological idea that white people have to be inferior within society. Even though that is how it has always been, that is not how it has to be. This is the first step to gaining the courage to liberate themselves without the help of anyone else.

3. I think this means that it is important for Black people to get rid of the life that has been depicted by slave-owners in order to feel free. The realization that you are not a slave, and you do not have to live like one should make way for starting a new life as a liberated independent person.

@Oct 30, 2020 8:01 PM

"...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." - Mandela

To my understanding, this quote means that the oppressor must also be freed along with the oppressed. I've come across this quote in the past and understood that Mandela intended for it to mean that one person cannot be free if they're withholding another person's freedom (the oppressors). He points out that the oppressors themselves are convicts of "prejudice and narrow-mindedness", and need liberation as well.

The first sentence insinuates that the Black Conscious Movement was more philosophical. The Black Conscious Movement worked hard for equality for everyone, a movement with the purpose of unifying Black people to change to the oppressive situation. It can be confused by a movement that happened long ago in history but it's a long-lasting philosophy that should be used to combat anti-black racism. The second part of this quote states Black people must free themselves from the psychological learnings and confinements caused by ideologies of white superiority. In modern times this is applicable since people of colour have to unlearn some of the things they've heard over the years that were actually forms of blatant or ambiguous racism, but people in power were able to illustrate a different picture at the time. To unwire these things there needs to be more of a conversation around white supremacy and other topics to confront anti-Black racism.

This quote goes hand in hand with the previous quote since it mentions liberation but more specifically how to go about seeking it. To me, this quote is suggesting for Black people to erase the negative illustration that has been made of them and to reject ideas of slavery. Essentially every idea proposed by the "slave-owner" regarding their race that they're aware of must be written over. This I have to say is easier said than done. PTSS, for instance, is trauma that can take years to go through and try to erase let alone all of Black history. I have friends who are biracial and have seen people ask them whether their parents raise them Black or white. Even things like this need to be unlearned and should not be considered a norm.

@Oct 30, 2020 8:30 PM

1. "...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." - Mandela.

Humans are not born hateful and discriminatory. They are not born with a heart full of loathing and detest for skin colour and race. People are taught hate and violence. They are taught that they are superior or inferior simply because of their skin colour and background. Nelson Mandela believed that people could be taught how to love because "love comes more naturally to the heart than its opposite."

When individuals are taught to hate and fear people that look and act differently than themselves, they become xenophobic. They are imprisoned in social constructs that influence their way of thinking and how an ideal functioning individual of society should look like. While protestors for the Apartheid Law were detained for their right to freedom of speech and broad-minded thinking, the oppressor (police), while physically free, were mentally constrained in the binds of xenophobia, prejudice and bias. Nelson Mandela aimed to free both the oppressed and the oppressors from their respective chains and teach them love and acceptance.

Black people, for centuries, have been a victim of racism and prejudice. They have been under continuous traumatic stress from enslavement, Apartheid, segregation laws and police brutality. Discrimination and racism, to such an extent, is bound to create psychological distress. Even though Apartheid law was abolished in 1994, it left behind its legacy in the face of marked racial stratification (Statistics South Africa 2004; Vahed 2001). A survey in 1998 found that Black individuals have a higher rate of psychological distress than their white counterparts.

Due to centuries of oppression, Black individuals may have adapted to colonial ways of living to avoid being discriminated against. Franz Fanon, author of Black skin, white masks, wrote that "the juxtaposition of the Black and white races has resulted in a massive existential complex." Mandela's aim was to target inferiority complexes caused by colonialism and bring them down piece by piece. The decolonization of the mind is an important stage to liberate ourselves from centuries of oppression. Acceptance of one's identity and culture is crucial to freeing oneself from social constraints of prejudice and bias that colonialism has us imprisoned in.

Colonization has a profound impact on one's identity and how they view themselves. This self-image is significantly influenced by white supremacy. Due to a history of oppression and enslavement, Black individuals may choose to reject their culture and values, which results in internalized racism.

Black individuals may favour white cultural practices and give up their own in order to better fit in with society and conform to the acceptable colonial social norms. To liberate themselves, individuals must embrace their identity and race that they have been told to repress since birth. They must be unapologetically Black and celebrate the colour of their skin. Acceptance starts with yourself, and once the shame of celebrating one's culture is eliminated, individuals can work towards combatting negative stereotypes that perpetuate the toxic culture of racism and culture shaming.

https://www.awakin.org/read/view.php?tid=2175

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3307586/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6532404/

https://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/social-science/government/concepts/colonization/decline-of-colonization

@Oct 30, 2020 8:42 PM

What do these quotes mean to you?

"...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." - Mandela

To me, this quote is an explanation of the mental state of an oppressor. For a person to be able to mistreat another simply because of the colour of their skin, there must be something truly wrong with them. A person that commits these vile crimes and believes that they have the right to take away fundamental human rights from another individual is completely controlled and overrun with hatred and prejudice. When freedom comes the oppressor must also be free of his deep-rooted hatred. Believing that you are superior to another person is a disease, one that needs a cure.

The Black Consciousness Movement "was less of a movement than a philosophy and grew out of the idea that [B]lacks must first liberate themselves from the sense of psychological inferiority bred by three centuries of white rule. Only then could the people rise up in confidence and truly liberate themselves from repression." - Mandela

I think that this quotation emphasizes the importance of psychological strength and the intent behind any action. If you believe that you deserve certain treatment, you will be compliant and reluctant to fight against it. In order to truly enact change, black individuals had to fight with everything that they had. People say that your mental strength is really what gets you through and I think that this quote just reinforces that belief. Strength comes from within, if you are weak on the inside, it doesn't matter how hard you fight on the outside. If you gain back your freedom with a broken mental state, a broken psychological state you aren't free at all you. You are simply a “free” body with an enslaved mind. You are still bound psychologically and will suffer and feel that you are in the same place for the rest of your life. This movement was self-preservation and the first step, of many, to a free world.

"The first phase of liberation is the decision to reject the image of himself which the slave-owner has painted, to reject the conditions which the slave-owner has created, to reject his own existence, to reject himself as slave." - Angela Davis

I think that this quotation goes hand in hand with the first two. In order to have true liberation you need all three. This quotation is a calling to Black people and other POC to realize their self-worth. It told them to fight against the oppression that they faced every second of their lives and to believe that they were worth something. It told them that what was happening to them, what was being done to them, was not what they deserved. They deserved so much better and in order to get better they had to fight against the psychological manipulation and strengthen their mentality. They may have a hold on you physically, but you must fight like hell to ensure that they do not take/control your mind. It is the key to your freedom. It is the key to liberation.

@Oct 30, 2020 9:02 PM

The quote from Mandela is very intriguing because it considers the impact on both parties, the oppressor and the oppressed. After further reading Mandela’s explanation of this quote, my understanding is that hatred brings out evil, abuse and the loss of mental freedom that creates a fictitious cage preventing the oppressors from living free as well. Humans were not designed and created to be hateful and angry beings in my opinion and by keeping hatred close to your heart keeps you from experiencing mental freedom. As Mandela stated, “A man who takes away another man's freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness.” I see a similar connection in today’s society with people who are racist and are angry with the immigration in Canada; as they talk about this subject, the rage, resentment and the stubbornness keeps them hostage from experiencing true freedom and mental peace. In this situation, the oppressed and the oppressor have a common aspect in that they are both robbed of their humanity and freedom. The oppressor is not mentally free and the oppressed is not physically free because they were enslaved. It’s a perspective that is difficult for even the oppressors to see as their beliefs are suppressed by narrow minded ideas and feelings of anger. This quote opened my mind to a different way of looking at the oppressors and slave masters. This quote proves not only how intelligent Mandela is, but how understanding and free of hatred he is himself. He is truly someone to admire.

Moving on to the second quote, what Mandela is stating is that the Black Consciousness Movement was a study of self awareness and learning more about the reality, existence and experiences they have lived through and this allowed them to flourish and significantly progress on their journey to freedom. This movement began with a change of their views regarding their abilities and personal worth, and to truly let go of racist ideas that society has formed; the inner change needs to happen first and the individuals must have strong beliefs to withstand the recoil. They may have unconscious thoughts that can be destructive such as those which Ibram X. Kendi talked about throughout his book. He talks about the hard time he faced accepting Black culture because he had a set notion from his initial experience while in high school, which was different when he moved to a new area where the culture was expressed differently and his conscious mind rejected it. These concepts and beliefs need to be erased because it‘s still a form of racism that is in the unconscious part of the mind. This type of conscious self awareness was achieved in this movement which was a significant progress in the fight for rights and freedoms, and was not a movement involving protests, but rather a deep inner cleanse which set the foundation for the movement. To be able to effectively fight for equality, achieving this first step is required to make the movement successful.

Lastly, Davis’ is stating a similar idea to the second quote from Mandela. There needs to be a change from within the person who is being oppressed to not accept the life, conditions and oppression that they have forced into, with the notion that this is what they deserve and are worth. The oppressed need to strive for better and not accept the poor treatment that the “slave owner” and white society has told them to accept for themselves. Once the step of accepting more for themselves and seeing it not as selfish, but as a human right they deserve to have access to, change needs to start from within and then it can grow to develop global change for themselves and others being oppressed. If change hasn’t truly transformed one’s beliefs of what they are worth and denied what society expects of them, then the foundation for change is not strong.

@Oct 30, 2020 9:07 PM

1. I believe this quote eludes to the idea that even the oppressors are not truly free. To be free/liberated you cannot capture or suppress another human being's freedom. The mindset that many of these oppressors endure is enslaved to a hateful mentality, in terms of White oppressors and their attitude towards Black people, they were enslaved to a mindset of racism, of superiority, of evil.

2.I agree with Mandela's perspective on this quote, It’d be very difficult for a black person who perceives the mentality that they are lesser than, or more inhumane than a white person to truly be considered liberated, if anything they are still enslaved to the idea that white people reign superiority over Blacks. The Black conscious movement discusses how liberation from oneself/ psyche is what preludes an out of body liberated experience, the realization that Black people are worthy of rights, worthy of racial equity and opportunity is the stepping stone towards freedom of repression.

3.Similarity to my opinion Mandela’s quote, I believe that some Black people have been brainwashed by society, at least the white oppressors of society, into bebeliving that can have not evolved from their slave status, that despite how modernized and racially apprecreative society has become since slavery, the ghost of oppression and inferiority still reigns over their consciousness. The images painted by the slave owners were not a depiction of what we as Black people are, it's a twisted hallucination (made reality) of what they defined our existence to be worth. Once the images of anti-Black racism are burned, only then can we see the masterpiece created from its ashes. The confidence and intellect it requires to overcome these societal standards is what will grant Black people access to the keys of freedom.

@Fri at 9:17 PM

Hey,

I like your take on the first quote. However, I believe that the oppressed have the ability to change their mindset. While it may a tedious process, they can choose to not be an oppressor. On the other hand, the oppressed do not have this option. Whether they are hateful or not, they did not choose to be oppressed. Ultimately, the oppressors are more “free” than the oppressed

@Fri at 9:28 PM

Hi ___I really like your clarity in responses, it's very well written. I agree that there is no freedom in being an oppressor. I also agree with your assesments of both the second and third quote that a lot of historic pressures have caused innacurate views for not only non-Black individuals but even Black individuals believing the white supremacy ideals. That's obviously not good and something that we need to break down, very well done!

@Fri at 10:10 PM

Hey ___,

Great post, it was super interesting to read and I connected and agreed with the points you made.

I really like how you analyzed the first quote. I agree that the oppressor is definitely not free, but I think that they also don't know that. I feel as though the oppressors thought they were on top of the world because they had this 'cocky' mindset, which gave them no worries. However, they were blind to the fact that they were not free, as you cannot oppress someone else AND be free. Would you agree?

I also enjoyed reading your analysis on the last quote. It illustrated exactly what the quote meant, and I like how you used the words 'twisted hallucination', this is a really great way to look at it.

Great job,

___.

@Oct 30, 2020 9:08 PM

For the first quote I do not necessarily agree with it. I believe that the oppressed must be liberated but the oppressors play a role in liberating the oppressed. Oppressors are already “free” in a sense. In both history and modern day, we can see the government being the oppressor. I personally do not know what it is like being a Black person who’s oppressed so I cannot speak on their behalf but overall, I do not necessarily think that the oppressors must be “liberated”.

I believe the second quote means that an oppressed person needs to be mentally liberate themselves from the oppressor. The oppressed must first liberate themselves from the fact that they are inferior to White people. When one person is mentally string enough to stand up for themselves, it encourages others to do the same.

I believe that the third quote implies that while the oppressed are physically enslaved, they must mentally believe that they are not, which pushes them to work towards being liberated. This is essentially the idea that a negative mindset equals a negative outcome.

@Fri at 9:24 PM

I think that the first quote is saying that the oppressors need to unlearn racism so that the oppressed can be free, if that makes sense!

I do agree with you on the third quote that while enslavement is "over" (I use quotes because it isn't over for some countries), their mindset's are not free. They are still trapped within racism and until racism ends, their mentalities cannot be liberated.

@Fri at 9:25 PM

___,

I like that you took a different perspective on the first quote and disagreed with the fact that the oppressors aren't free. It's true, like you said they are already free in a sense, and in contemporary government systems, they are always the ones oppressing others. Your approach to this quote was refreshing!

@Fri at 10:03 PM

Hey ___,

Thank you for responding! I just wanted to provide a modern day example of the government being the oppressors. We can see right now that the Chinese government is brutally murdering and torturing Uyghur people. In this case, the government is the “oppressor” and they are free in a sense. They have all the power over Uyghurs. On the other hand, Uyghur people are the “oppressed” in which they have no control over their situation.

@Oct 30, 2020 9:09 PM

1. "...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." - Mandela. When Mandela said this, he means that surely everyone has a heart and that deep down, people feel mercy and kindness. Therefore, in the case of this quote, Mandela is explaining whether the person is being the oppressor or oppressed; they were robbed of their humanity. To further explain this quote, if someone could show hate and violence, you could show love and gratitude because it is human nature to show love first that hatred. In short, the oppressed and the oppressor are more alike than you know. At the end of the day, they both have compassion and are both human; therefore, before the oppressor learned to hate, they knew love; so they can relearn to love.

2. "was less of a movement than a philosophy and grew out of the idea that Blacks must first liberate themselves from the sense of psychological inferiority bred by three centuries of white rule. Only then could the people rise up in confidence and truly liberate themselves from repression." - Mandela. To explain the meaning of this quote, we should understand that the Black consciousness movement was a movement against apartheid, which was born in South Africa. However, while challenging the apartheid, White people were so much more potent than Backs. White supremacy made it very difficult for Blacks to make a change; it oppressed it. When Blacks started to believe and understand that this is not how they should be treated, people like Mandela because this confidence rose along with the Black race because he was a peace activist and a lawyer. Blacks with confidence and group strength could candidly save themselves from the subjugation coming from the White race

3. "The first phase of liberation is the decision to reject the image of himself which the slave-owner has painted, to reject the conditions which the slave-owner has created, to reject his own existence, to reject himself as slave." - Angela Davis. In this quote, Davis says that for Black people to stand up for themselves and fight for the rights they deserve, they have to believe and reject the picture that the slave-owner has painted. As soon as Black people stat rejecting themselves as existing as slaves, this is where the repression would start; this is where they could stand up for themselves. Just like any White person would have access to education, Blacks should have the same right. Education is not the only thing white have taken away from Blacks. Liberation started as soon as Blacks started to see themselves as equals, which gave them the confidence to show white people the same thing.

@Oct 30, 2020 9:16 PM

If you look at both 1 and 2, I feel that these quotes are trying to contain the message that until the oppressors (white people) unlearn racism and those ways of thinking then Black people will never be able to truly liberate themselves and be free. Until there is some from of unity, Black people will continue to be oppressed. In my opinion, Nelson Mandela is correct; until racism is unlearned and isn't conveyed anymore than Black people will still be oppressed because there will still be forms of hostility and marginalization. The underlying factor is that it is not just Black people who are affected by racism. People all over the world are, except white people. Until white people finally realize that they aren't the superior race, nothing is going to change.

Quote 3, to me, means that the start of release for Black people is to start abandoning the image that was given to them by colonizers and restart their ways of thinking. I do feel that has already started happening with the Black Lives Matter Movement and how laws have been changed throughout the years. Black people are finally able to stand up for themselves and they're telling people that they deserve equity. People of other races are finally coming together and standing up for their rights. Indigenous people are joining marches and they are standing with Black people because they have also been affected by colonization and cultural genocide. Obviously there are still huge steps that need to be made and there is still progress to be made, but I do think that finally Black people are starting to be heard, which is a huge part of this quote.

@Fri at 11:23 PM

Hey ___,

I agree with your idea of the oppressors "unlearning" racism but I do feel that Those who face discrimination should not just be waiting around for their oppressors to decide when to stop being racist towards them and should start with themselves and focusing on how to take authority of the one thing that they have total control over which is their mindset as the wait would certainly take a while.

-___

@Oct 30, 2020 9:21 PM

1. To me, this quote means that in a racist government system such as in Africa during the Apartheid, the oppressor and the oppressed are both trapped. The oppressed are trapped by being discriminated against, being treated unequally, and having to live their lives unfairly due to their skin colour. On the other hand, the oppressors are trapped by themselves. They’re stuck in a close-minded, prejudiced world that they can’t break free from. They’ve lived with certain discriminative beliefs all their lives, passed from generation to generation, and while it’s their own doing, they’re trapped in a white supremacist mindset nonetheless.

2. As Mandela put it, Black people had to free themselves from the mindset of being oppressed. I think this is where internalized oppression comes in, where generations of Black people have always been thought to be inferior, and have lived in that mainframe for centuries. When laws such as the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, and the Group Areas Act are thrown into the legal system, it makes it that much harder for Black people to liberate themselves from white suppression. However, instead of trying to break free from that and peacefully protest the internalized oppression away, Mandela is saying that action needs to be taken. Action, mixed with confidence that Black people truly ARE equal to white, and DO have a right to live in society equally, this sort of mindset is the one that will truly produce the most change.

3. In my opinion, Angela Davis’ quote means that the first step that needs to be taken is openly resisting all prior oppression, similarly to Mandela’s quote. To stand up to the white supremacist government, Black people have to come to terms with themselves on their own notions of where they belong in society, and to withstand their own internalized oppression. They have to realize their place in society, reject the inferior status they’ve been given, and demand the place that they deserve, to be treated equally. Davis is saying that the first step to change starts within, and to create change one must first liberate themselves from internalized oppression.

@Oct 30, 2020 9:23 PM

Upon reviewing the three quotations provided for discussion this week, I felt that all shared strong similarities in their main takeaways. My understanding is that the three quotations, from Mandela as well as Angela Davis, illustrate the relationship between private and public liberation in the context of anti-Black racism and white supremacy. I believe that these quotes claim that in order to achieve true liberation from repression, the oppressed must first liberate themselves from the conditions of oppression they have been dealt. This process involves an active rejection of labels that are informed by a history of white supremacy and eurocentrism. Through this inner transformation and liberation, an outer transformation, in the larger society, will follow. Personally, I believe that these two processes of transformation and liberation are interdependent and interacting. Ultimately, I agree with the overarching sentiment expressed in these three quotations and I find Mandela's description of this process particularly powerful. Specifically - when he describes how "[B]lacks must first liberate themselves from the sense of psychological inferiority bred by three centuries of white rule."

@Fri at 9:31 PM

Hi ___,

It was interesting to see how you connected main points on all three quotes and were able to explain them all together. I do agree they had underlying similar meanings and I liked how you were able to tie them together! I also liked the way you explained the liberation process, with the inner transformation being the starting point, and the outer transformation would be the end result, it was a very insightful way of looking at it.

@Fri at 10:05 PM

Hi ___,

Wow. You have put this perfectly. It was interesting to see the quotations be analyzed as one, especially because I noticed how much they relate too. I loved how you said that the quotes "illustrate the relationship between private and public liberation in the context of anti-Black racism and white supremacy". I found this to be a very good and solid way of explaining what they mean.

Great job,

___.

@Fri at 11:04 PM

Hey ___,

I definately agree with your bit on the two processes being interdependent as I also feel that they transformation and liberation really do go hand in hand as you cannot remain in the same state while craving freedom.

-___

@Oct 30, 2020 9:24 PM

This quote highlights the lack of consciousness and awareness held by people in the position of the oppressor. This narrow-mindedness, violent ignorance, completely lost sense of humanity and justice, it requires freedom too. The oppressed must revolt and get themselves out from underneath the oppressed, as the oppressed must question and get themselves out from underneath immorality, ignorance, and hatred. This dual freedom is where peace resides.
Part of oppression is psychological. Internalized racism is oppression so deeply ingrained in your history and existence, that you begin to oppress yourself. It’s very difficult to fight for freedom when you haven’t even won that fight inside of your own mind yet. Society is built and designed to make you hate yourself, make you feel less than. This makes the idea of self-worth, self-entitlement, and love, a revolutionary action. A revolutionary philosophy that puts a lot more driving force behind the outward protest of these systems. Free your own mind and belief system from them, then tear them down. Refuse to believe these oppressive ideas, claim back your own self-image and esteem.
This third quote is the same idea as the second quote. To have the oppressor paint an entire image of your existence and install it in your mind through systematic racism, segregation, tropes, etc. is a horrific violent tool of oppression. To have the power to turn the mirror upon yourself and take that tool into your own hands and reject what you’ve been demanded to exist as, is a powerful protest. To mentally accept that you’re not what you’ve been told, has an unimaginable power.

@Oct 30, 2020 10:02 PM

1. This quotation, to me, refers to the fact that the person doing the oppressing (the white man, the manager etc) also needs to be freed. They need to be freed from their motive especially, which is causing them to participate in said oppression. I took it upon myself to read the whole passage in order to help me better understand the quotation, and I like how Mandela said “I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me” (Good Reads). Overall, to me, this quotation is looking at both sides of freedom.

2. I think this quotation is touching on the idea that it was and is essential for Black people to move away from the idea that they were inferior to White people; this wasn’t going to free them. Instead, they needed to liberate themselves in other ways so that they were able to feel truly free, and not free at the hands of White people. And to me, that means that we mustn't blame the oppressed - it was never their fault, they were never inferior to the White rule.

3. This quotation can really connect to the previous one, in terms of moving away from these ideas implemented by the White rule. In order to be free, you have to essentially delete the slave-owner completely and reinvent your identity as a Black individual.

I found all of these quotes to be very connected, in terms of moving away from pre-existing ideas. They were all very intriguing, with complex analyses.

@Fri at 11:09 PM

Hey ___,

I can totally relate to what you said about the oppressor and the oppressed needing to be freed from something as I thought exactly the same when viewing the quote and felt that the way that Mandela had explained it really opened my eyes to that possibility as I hadn't considered that before coming across the quote

-___

@Oct 30, 2020 10:40 PM

The quote “....the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed.” - by Mandela means to me that the oppressor is just like the oppressed and that the oppressor must also be freed of their hatred. Both the oppressor and oppressed need to be liberated to actually be free, they are both just letting their freedom be taken by another person and this can only stop if they are liberated to be free and enjoy their freedom. The oppressor needs to be free by the hatred and the oppressed need to be free by the actions of their oppressors.

The quote in The Black Consciousness Movement “was less of a movement than a philosophy and grew out of the idea that [B]lacks must first liberate themselves from the sense of psychological inferiority bred by three centuries of white rule. Only then could the people rise up in confidence and truly liberate themselves from repression” - also by Mandela is about how Black people must free themselves. They need to wake up and realize the oppression that they have been facing by white people who hold power, and the people who benefit from oppressing black individuals. Therefore they need to understand that they need to rise above white power and supremacy and truly liberate themselves from repression.

The quote “The first phase of liberation is the decision to reject the image of himself which the slave-owner has painted, to reject the conditions which the slave-owner has created, to reject his own existence, to reject himself as salve.” - by Angela Davis is about how Black people have an image of how they are portrayed as enslaved people who are less than others, and how they have to break this image of themselves painted by others. When they break down the stereotype that is told to them they can only then stand up for themselves and their rights and what they believe.

@Fri at 11:28 PM

Hey ___,

All these quotes are interconnected, Black people are not what they were told they are. Black people are their own people and deserve to have their own identity. Nelson Mandela and Angela Davis have both said that Black people must forget everything that whites told them and they must be their own people. It can be hard sometimes when white people have been ruling for over 400 years but it's something that must be done for Black people to liberate themselves from their past.

@Oct 30, 2020 11:00 PM

In this first quote, It is apparent that Mandela is discussing how the oppressor and the oppressed should both receive freedom. However, I do feel that their “freedoms” are not of the same context as the oppressed is seeking freedom from their oppressor but then that leaves the question of “What does the oppressor need to be freed from?” as they are the ones initiating the enslavement. Although what we do fail to realize is that the oppressor is also battling their own demons and thus is likely what is causing them to oppress others as that may be the only outlet they know of when it comes to dealing with their issues, I am in no way saying that this is the proper way for them to express themselves but this may be their reasoning.

In this second quote, I believe Mandela is alluding to the fact that the “Black consciousness movement” was not just a movement but a way of thinking held by a collective group which had come together to promote and this reasoning that had stemmed from the idea that for Black people to be free they must realize that their oppressors may have control over their body but not their mind and thus can be used as a tool to achieve liberation if they can free themselves from the thoughts of them being weaker and less than as it will enable them with the confidence to break free from the chains of oppression.

In terms of the third quote, I feel that Angela Davis is trying to convey the idea of freedom in the sense where it starts with the individual and their self-conscious decision to realize that they can be free by changing their mindset. She starts by saying that to realize this one must first dismiss the depictions that have been placed upon them by their oppressors, dismiss the condition in which they are currently (in which was not of their doing but their oppressor) and recognize that there are alternatives even though they may seem unrealistic or out of reach, dismiss their own existence and to finally dismiss their own being as a slave. Once one has done there is no guarantee that they will automatically gain freedom right away but it is more so a step in the right direction.

@Fri at 11:23 PM

Hi ___! I really appreciate how you outlined in your third point that freedom starts with the individual and their self-conscious decision to realize that they can be freed by changing their mindset. This information is so useful because not only does it help us understand the way in which Black people were able to liberate themselves from repression, but it is also such a valuable lesson that any person can take when it comes to freeing themselves from something toxic and striving for something better. Great post!

@Fri at 11:26 PM

Hey ___,

Thank you so much for replying :)

@Oct 30, 2020 11:19 PM

1. "...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." - Mandela

This quote to me means that the oppressor suffers from the same core issue as the oppressed. For example, a racist person(the oppressor) must be liberated just as surely as the victim of racism(the oppressed). Just as the victim of racism is being oppressed by racism, the person who is being racist must be freed from racism as well, because that is what causes them to be an oppressor in the first place. Overall, this quote to me means that just as the oppressed needs to be saved from oppression, the oppressor needs to be saved from what is causing the oppression as well. Typically the cause of oppression is a non-tangible characteristic/issue that influences a person to act a certain way. Therefore, the oppressor must be freed from whatever causes the oppression in the first place.

2. The second quote in this module discussion, to me means that Black people have been forced by three centuries of white rule, to believe that their appearance puts them at an advantage and that being Black is 'undesirable'. The Black Consciousness Movement was more of an attitude that Black people adopted, in which they were aware of who they were, and decided that they would no longer allow themselves to feel inferior to white people. This new attitude that they adopted allowed them to believe that they did not need to be white to be 'better'. This in return gave them the confidence and the courage to stand up and truly be free from the repression they have faced. Overall, this quote to me means that when Black people were finally able to liberate themselves from the false inferiority that they were forced to believe due to three centuries of white rule, they were finally able to physically free themselves from the repression they faced.

3. The third quote to me, means that in order to truly feel freedom, you must first reject what you were forced to believe by your oppressor. For example, in the Black Consciousness Movement, Black people finally felt freedom from repression when they rejected the idea which three centuries of white rule forced them to believe(that being Black was inferior to being white). I believe that this quote aims to help people understand that in order to be free from something, you need to first free yourself from all the beliefs that this oppression has forced into your mind. You must free yourself mentally.

@Oct 30, 2020 11:24 PM

1. "...the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed." - Mandela

This is a brilliant quote by Nelson Mandela. In the full quote, Mandela explains how the oppressor must also be liberated due to hatred and narrow-mindedness. One must free himself from the thought of hatred and must open his mind to truly feel liberated/free. This quote makes a lot of sense and it goes to show that just because white people freed the slaves it didn't mean that they let go of their disgusting mindset. Mandela is saying that they will not find true peace until they liberate themselves of that mindset. I really like this quote and I believe that it is true to this day. Racist white people are not physically confined but mentally they are stuck in a mentality that keeps them from understanding what they have done and what Black people have suffered through the years. it is people like them that we fight against to challenge anti-Black racism.

This quote is a very powerful one to me, Nelson Mandela is saying that Black people must realize that they are not inferior to anyone and they have to free themselves from any of those thoughts. It makes sense that Black people feel this way when white people enslaved them and committed many anti-black racist crimes against them. I feel disgusted thinking that a group of people can make a whole race feel inferior to them by torturing them. In modern-day, there have been many beauty standards set by white people, like how one's nose is supposed to look or how straight hair looks better. These standards were set by white people and Black people have to realize that they are beautiful just the way they are and they don't have to follow the standards set by white people. This quote is very inspiring.

This quote by Angela Davis is a very true statement. Black people had to realize that they are not what white people told them they are, Black people are their own people! They do not have to follow certain rules or standards or anything of that sort. I completely agree that one must liberate himself from his past restrictions. Black people had to start from scratch and they had to re-invent themselves to a certain extent, because of the image white people put in their minds.

@Oct 30, 2020 11:28 PM

1. White people must be "liberated" or free of their white supremacist way of thinking that only inspires hate and violence and instead be open to new ideas and peoples. The liberation of Black people helps all of society as it provides them with other perspectives, art, culture and ideas that they wouldn't have known otherwise.

As for the last two quotes, in my opinion discuss the same thing which is that in order for Black people to be truly liberated they must let go of the idea that they are inferior and instead embrace their power in order to free themselves mentally and psychologically from white supremacy. Only then can they achieve economical, social and even personal success. They are also more likely to fight against the system when they believe in themselves and believe that they are equal--something that our white supremacist society tries to extinguish every day through the media and every day racist experiences. Mental health also plays a part in healing generational trauma (PTSS) and trauma from racist experiences which weigh down Black people and keep them from achieving their full potential.

@Oct 30, 2020 11:28 PM

What I believe Mandela is referring to in the first quote is that an oppressor is also confined like the oppressed are but to a certain way of thinking that is prejudiced and narrow minded. Mandela expresses how those who rob others’ freedom are not truly free. He refers to them as a prisoner of hatred and loathing. Hence, he looked at these two groups as those who are both “robbed” of humanity and require liberation from it.
The second quote means that Blacks have been undoubtedly oppressed under white supremacy for so long and have been confined to negative ideologies. They are looked down upon and associated with inferiority in many aspects. Such stereotypes and dehumanization of them must be broken to truly liberate themselves. Thus, this movement is not a movement. Instead it is the first step to breaking away from oppression. They must act out against what they are perceived as and not conform to those terms. They must act out in their psychological violence first in order to free themselves completely of oppression and the white supremacist society.
The third quote is also a similar one to the second, where there is again the idea that the oppressed has to fight against their constructed image. They have to defy against what our society has deemed of them for centuries. Under white supremacy, people have constructed the image of Blacks as criminals, unintelligent people, and inferior to them. In order for the liberation of Blacks, they must start by going against all these socially constructed ideologies and stereotypes.

What these three quotes mean to you:

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