Mind games. Gaslighting. Mental manipulation. These are all forms of <a href="https://<a href="https://healthylife7.com/4-foods-cardiologists-avoid-for-better-heart-health/” title=”4 Foods Cardiologists Avoid for Better Heart Health”>healthylife7.com/how-much-psychology-can-you-really-trust/” title=”How Much Psychology Can You Really Trust?”>psychology being used in a negative direction. The train for reparations, as we know it, sailed a long time ago. America attempted to right her wrongs immediately following the Civil War. When they assassinated Lincoln and Andrew Jackson overturned Special Field Order 15, what most of us refer to as 40 acres and a mule. In addition, they stripped the homeowning rights of the former enslaved and returned them to the very people of the Confederacy who fought against the Union. At this juncture, they lost the battle for the country’s soul. At this point, they were telling the children of the diaspora and their descendants: we are not sorry, and we still do not see you as humans. More importantly, we are not paying you! And they doubled down on this inhumanity by rewinding the hands of time and enacting a form of slavery in the legislation of Plessy v. Ferguson.
The psychology of reparations is a mind game. It is an illusion. It’s a battle worth defending and fighting for, but in practice it’s unrealistic. Who pays? For how long? To whom? Is it only money? Is it land? Is it free education? Is it free health care? Is it our own sovereign land where our ancestors toiled?
Let’s break down these words. Psychology. Another word that was hijacked. Psychology is not the study of the mind. Psychology is the study of the soul. The psyche is the essence of our being that collectively unites all sentient beings. And America has shown that she has no soul. She has deep pockets, weapons of mass destruction, and out-of-control egos, but no soul. Reparations. In its simplest definition, means to repair a harm. The first part is to stop the harm. Next, acknowledge the harm that was done. Then, repair the harm. Lastly, promise not to harm in the same manner again. America has failed in all four parts since its inception. Honest question: how are we expecting reparations when the laws of the land are removed from the Civil Rights era?
Does this mean we stop fighting for what is rightfully owed? Absolutely not! It means the strategy needs to be revised. America compensates in monetary terms. However, what was stolen from us and our ancestors cannot be calculated in their paper wealth; it’s beyond calculation. What we need to repair cannot be given by any person or government. Our key to true reparations is a collective mission to regain our psyche, our soul. What Baba Noble Wades to our Sakhu. We must unite our collective consciousness with a physical and mental exodus in the spirit of Sankofa.
Audre Lorde stated that the master’s tools will never destroy the master’s house. The “tools” we need to use, we are not utilizing. In fact, we don’t even know where to get them or how to use them, or how to do it as a collective unit. The Sankofa is the first hint
Kweku Akyirefi Amoasi / Milwaukee Courier
Host, The Check-In / Nyumba Upendo (Wed 11am-12pm); Licensed Psychologist
