What would our most venerable ancestors have done if they knew?
Would Harriet Tubman have risked her life to free other Black people if she knew that we would use our freedom to help the our enslavers re-enslave us in a more sophisticated way?
Would the legions of Black women and girls still chose death rather than being raped if they knew that one day Black people would produce a death-style music that would reduce them to less than human?
Would Marcus Garvey have proclaimed "Up You Mighty Race" had he known that Black people would stoop low and loudly assert that we are not Afrikan?
Would Madam C.J. Walker become a rich and powerful Black Nationalist had she known that Black people would openly accept and preferentially support outsiders doing business in their communities?
Would Dutty Boukman who cried out "throw away the image of the white man's god" have started the Haitian Revolution if he knew one day we would adopt and praise a white Christ instead of the God of ancestors?
Would David Walker had wrote his appeal if he knew that Black people would abandon relevant reading altogether for games and miseducation?
Would Elijah Muhammad have taught us that the white man is the devil if he had known that one day that we would strive to mimic all of his demonic ways?
Would George Washington Carver have showered the world with his scientific genius had he known that Black males would abandon the classroom for the streets?
Would Fannie Lou Hamer have endured those savage beatings had she known that one day Black women would join forces with whites to destroy the Black man?
Would Nat Turner have led an insurrection to free us from bondage had he known that we would one day refuse to establish businesses for ourselves and proudly continue to work for whites?
What would they have done if they knew?
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