Giving them too much power?

[Olùkọ́ Ọbádélé]

I've often overheard people saying, "don't talk about X so much, if you talk about X you'll give X too much power."

Has anyone ever heard this type of expression? Most often it is said when white folks are brought up. (To try it yourself and see if you've heard this before, you can replace the X above with "white folks" or any name that you call them by). This expression is also used as a warning against talking about individuals.


So I was wondering if this power giving/receiving dynamic actually exists? If so, has anyone ever been the recipient of this type of "given power"? What did it feel like when you were given this power. Were you able to fly? Glow in the dark? Pay your bills? Were you given "too much" of this power? Did this "overgiving" enable you to have any special or even superhuman abilities that you didn't have before someone was mentioning you, your name or some deed of yours outside of your presence (like the ability to recognize from a distance that someone was talking about you and therefore capitalize on the opportunity to receive power from them unbeknownst to the power giver)?

I have heard it said many times that people were giving too much power, but I have never heard it said that someone was receiving too much power or any power at all.

The testimonial of any real life power recipient will do here or even a first hand witness who actually observed someone in the act of power reception. Thank you.

[pain]

Umpfh!

This is why I, sometimes, add this precaution to statements I'm about to make:


What I am about to say, many will have a problem with because of one or more of the following reasons;

1. They are of the opinion that "white" people are a "RACE" of people as opposed to a group/ association/ organization of people even though "white people" themselves have admitted that they are not a RACE unto themselves.

2. Based upon the belief above, they also have other beliefs which state that an entire "RACE" of people cannot be this way or that way.

3. General brainwashing, conditioning and reprogramming by "white people."

4. They have "white friends", "white" love interests and various other emotional and ill psychological attachments to "white people."

[ajaguna]

I actually think that Afrikans often give white folks too much power. There are Afrikans that I know that everytime they open their mouth they talkin about white folks or uncle tom black folks. If we give more than the necessary amount of energy to thinking/ talking about white folks then it is taking away from time we can be thinking/ talking about our war/ building/ healing strategy and is thus helping to maintain their position of power. For example, I was involved with an organization in college. We had discussion forums dealing with issues related to Afrikan liberation. We talked about crakkkas. White supremacy, dynamics of oppression etc. At times. Often times though in the middle of us talking about gettin free, organizin, buildin, fightin etc., certain folks would inevitably raise they hand to comment about how evil white folks are as if it hadn't already been established and agreed upon. Like they stuck on the topic or something. That type of stuff is problematic and is beneficial to crakkkas. If we are clear about what our relationship must be with these people then let us be about the business of doin what we need to do. For those of us that are not clear about that relationship then we definitely need to make it clear so we can get on with the work.

[Olùkọ́ Ọbádélé]

Originally Posted by ajaguna

I actually think that Afrikans often give white folks too much power. There are Afrikans that I know that everytime they open their mouth they talkin about white folks or uncle tom black folks. If we give more than the necessary amount of energy to thinking/ talking about white folks then it is taking away from time we can be thinking/ talking about our war/ building/ healing strategy and is thus helping to maintain their position of power. For example, I was involved with an organization in college. We had discussion forums dealing with issues related to Afrikan liberation. We talked about crakkkas. White supremacy, dynamics of oppression etc. At times. Often times though in the middle of us talking about gettin free, organizin, buildin, fightin etc., certain folks would inevitably raise they hand to comment about how evil white folks are as if it hadn't already been established and agreed upon. Like they stuck on the topic or something. That type of stuff is problematic and is beneficial to crakkkas. If we are clear about what our relationship must be with these people then let us be about the business of doin what we need to do. For those of us that are not clear about that relationship then we definitely need to make it clear so we can get on with the work.

I'm with you on the unnecessary diversions through reiteration.

I'm with you on the need to be about the business.

I am also with you on the need to make things clear for those who don't know.



My question is have you ever seen any whites in the act of receiving this power. My thought here is that if there is a giver, there is possibly :lookaround: or probably a recipient.

If you have been able to identify such recipients, how were they markedly different after receiving this "too much" power? If they were confident before were they "over-confident" after receiving too much power?

Any help you or anyone can provide in terms of the spiritics/physics of this phenomenon will be very helpful in assisting me to understand how the other side of this phenomenon works. Thank you.

[ajaguna]

Ok. A group of bandits run in my house and with superior firepower subdue my family, subject us to abuse, and confine us to the basement as they exploit all of my family's accumulated resources. And in the midst of my family's effort to mount a resistance I can't get over how evil of an act it was for them to run in my house. I continue to voice my dismay and anger to the detriment of my families resistance effort. The bandits recieve power indirectly through my continued interruption of the plans to resist. In my estimation, it is not a spiritual matter, nor is it a direct one to one handing over of power. It is more of a slowing down of our preparation for war that indirectly allows them as a group to continue to benefit from their power over us relatively unchecked. Any division, maladjustment, injury, diversion of time and energy etc. On our part serves their continued domination over us.

[Olùkọ́ Ọbádélé]

Is this an actual or hypothetical situation? So in your opinion, is it a misnomer to say that someone is "giving someone else too much power." More appropriate terminology would be someone is "diverting time/energy/resources away from more appropriate paths"?

If this is a hypothetical situation that you gave, do you know of any actual real life situations wherein someone was giving someone or some group too much power and the other individual or group received too much power?

Or are you saying that this dynamic of gifts and receipts doesn't actually exist in real life?

[pain]

Originally Posted by ajaguna

Ok. A group of bandits run in my house and with superior firepower subdue my family, subject us to abuse, and confine us to the basement as they exploit all of my family's accumulated resources. And in the midst of my family's effort to mount a resistance I can't get over how evil of an act it was for them to run in my house. I continue to voice my dismay and anger to the detriment of my families resistance effort. The bandits recieve power indirectly through my continued interruption of the plans to resist. In my estimation, it is not a spiritual matter, nor is it a direct one to one handing over of power. It is more of a slowing down of our preparation for war that indirectly allows them as a group to continue to benefit from their power over us relatively unchecked. Any division, maladjustment, injury, diversion of time and energy etc. On our part serves their continued domination over us.

That's interesting because in my experience it isn't African people talking about white people that delays us striking back at them in this war. From the time of slavery till now what I have seen consistently that has delayed or sabotaged action on our part against them is our affection for them as well as the conditioning that Dr. Claude Anderson addressed especially as it regards "meritorious manumission" which is ongoing even today. It has been all types of ideas we have had of the "goodness" of some of them that has prevented us from doing what needs to be done as well as a programmed sense of selfishness where we care more for our individual selves than for the group as far as I can see. As a matter of fact, it is primarily in conversations where I've seen someone attempting to defend white people because of various attachments whether emotional or professional/ business/ financial, that I see anyone really stressing, by examples, the immorality of these people and to me that should be welcomed because, once again, historically it has been our affection for them and conditioning by them that have prevented and or sabotaged action on our part against these people.

[ajaguna]

Originally Posted by [ch390

kyeame Kwame]Is this an actual or hypothetical situation? So in your opinion, is it a misnomer to say that someone is "giving someone else too much power." More appropriate terminology would be someone is "diverting time/energy/resources away from more appropriate paths"?

Definitely hypothetical. As I said, in my estimation the phrase giving white folk to much power isn't literal. Nor is it a one to one phrasing, as in "I gave one or another white person too much power by mentioning their name too much." It has to do with the effect that our more than necessary preoccupation with them has on our work. I can understand that it may be more accurate to you to rephrase it in the may that you mentioned. I think thats cool. For me its not the phrasing that matters but the understanding that anything that is not good for us is good for them.

Originally Posted by [ch390

kyeame Kwame]
If this is a hypothetical situation that you gave, do you know of any actual real life situations wherein someone was giving someone or some group too much power and the other individual or group received too much power?

Or are you saying that this dynamic of gifts and receipts doesn't actually exist in real life?

My use of this hypothetical situation was meant to better convey my perspective of how this "dynamic of gifts and receipts" works. The real life situation happens collectively whenever we are with a group of Afrikans who are collectively clear the nature and histroy of Europeans and the discussion is steered toward how evil they are vs. What our work needs to be to free ourselves. Maybe this is just my experience If so thats cool.

[ajaguna]

Originally Posted by pain

That's interesting because in my experience it isn't African people talking about white people that delays us striking back at them in this war. From the time of slavery till now what I have seen consistently that has delayed or sabotaged action on our part against them is our affection for them as well as the conditioning that Dr. Claude Anderson addressed especially as it regards "meritorious manumission" which is ongoing even today. It has been all types of ideas we have had of the "goodness" of some of them that has prevented us from doing what needs to be done as well as a programmed sense of selfishness where we care more for our individual selves than for the group as far as I can see. As a matter of fact, it is primarily in conversations where I've seen someone attempting to defend white people because of various attachments whether emotional or professional/ business/ financial, that I see anyone really stressing, by examples, the immorality of these people and to me that should be welcomed because, once again, historically it has been our affection for them and conditioning by them that have prevented and or sabotaged action on our part against these people.

I feel you. And I agree. I think that a primary way that we have internalized white supremacy is to view white folk and what they have as desirable and ourselves as undesirable or worst. Another way I think we have internalized white supremacy is by going to the other extreme and becoming stagnant in our disdain for crakkkas. I think its natural to have extreme anger and disdain for a people who have been to us what they have been to us. It is not natural to not move from that into fighting, building, healing. So for me its a both/ and, not an either/or.