Power Everywhere There’s People
An excerpt of Fred Hamptons’ “Power Anywhere Where There's People”
“A lot of people get the word revolution mixed up, and they think revolution is a bad word. Revolution is nothing but like having a sore on your body and then you put something on that sore to cure that infection.
I’m telling you that we’re living in an infectious society right now. I’m telling you that we’re living in a sick society right now. I’m telling you that we’re living in a sick society and anybody that endorses integrating into a sick society before it’s cleaned up is a man who’s committing a crime against the people
If you walk past a hospital room and you see a sign that says contaminated, and then you try to lead people into that room, either those people are mighty dumb. You understand me?
Because if they weren’t, they’d tell you that you were an unfair and unjust leader that does not have your follows interests in mind. What we’re simply saying is that the leaders have to become more responsible and accountable for their actions. […]
I mean, honestly, people, we’ve got to face some facts, that the masses are poor. The masses belong to what you call the lower class. When I talk about the masses, I’m talking about the white masses. I’m talking about the black masses. I’m talking about the brown masses, and the yellow masses too.
We’ve got to face the fact that some people say you fight fire best with fire. But we say you put out fires best with water. We say you don’t fight racism with racism. We’re going to fight racism with solidarity. We say you don’t fight capitalism with no black capitalism. You fight capitalism with socialism.”
- Fred Hampton was a Black, United States Citizen that was assassinated while in his bed by the United States Government when Hampton was just 21 years old.
The FBI had an informant drug Fred Hampton to ensure he’d be incapacitated when they came for him. In the early hours of December 4, 1969, they raided his home and executed him as he lay helpless in bed next to his partner, who was 8 months pregnant. The FBI and Chicago Police fired nearly 100 bullets into the apartment. In comparison, the Black Panthers inside, all U.S. citizens and legally allowed to own guns, fired a single bullet in response.
Fred Hampton was scheduled to go to prison the day after the raid, on December 4, 1969. He faced charges related to an alleged theft of ice cream bars, which was widely seen as a targeted and minor charge meant to disrupt his activism and remove him from his leadership role within the Black Panther Party (unlearn the bias society has against them until you’ve looked into them). The raid that led to his assassination took place just hours before he was supposed to turn himself in, suggesting the urgency with which authorities moved to prevent him from continuing his work.
This is America and This Is Not Just America, It Is The West, It is The Oppressor.
Below is An Excerpt Post Written by Our Founder, Samanta Krishnapillai, in June 2023 when Air Quality In Toronto Was Unbreathable. We think its still on point…
I’m angry; I’m tired; I’m mourning a system I was raised to trust that has failed me; I’m grieving for a planet that may not exist for much longer.
I’m tired of having to be responsible for thinking about this. I’m tired of having to be vigilant and keep on top of politicians because I can’t trust them to do their goddamn jobs and represent the interests of the people they choose to serve.
I’m tired of a media landscape in Canada that is controlled by corporations that are helmed by people who are the ultra-rich. I’m tired of media that allows itself to be proud of neutrality in the face of human rights violations and oppression (because, you know, being neutral in the face of injustice is siding with the oppressor).
And despite how angry and exhausted I am, at systems and institutions that keep failing the people, I know there are people and organizations - like On Canada Project - working against every barrier and systemic disadvantage in the pursuit of a world that is better than the one we’re currently living in.
“Can I get real a second, for just a millisecond?”
As the eldest daughter of an immigrant and a refugee, with no generational wealth, who is still painstakingly paying off student loans - I need you to understand that I wouldn’t do this work; I wouldn’t gamble with the uncertainty that is (accidental) entrepreneurship (like many children of racialized immigrants, I don’t have family money or connections) if I didn’t wholeheartedly believe, with every fibre in my being, that it is possible for all of us to have better than the what we’re currently being forced to swallow as “normal,” “par for the course," “this is just how things are done,“ “wildfire season,” “politicians - amirite,?” etc.
The only way through this is together. The only way to actually see the change we need to save our planet from our leaders and corporations and address the inequality we’re all experiencing to varying degrees - is to link our causes in pursuit of collective liberation. It is rejecting “good enough” policies - that are literally designed with gaps - for comprehensive, sustainable and inclusive ones.
"Master's tools will never dismantle the master's house."
- Audre Lorde, 1984
This means shutting down any solutions that don’t center on the most systemically neglected communities. That means voting against, organizing against, mobilizing against, and making noise against anything that doesn’t benefit all of us.
Because a Canada that cares - truly cares - about our most systemically neglected communities (Indigenous, Black, Disabled, Poor, Unhoused, Trans, Migrants)- that Canada cares about all of our human rights.
You - as an individual - get to decide if you’re going to take the easy route of trusting these half-assed measures or ‘reform’ designed to prolong the exploitation of our planet for fossil fuel industry -
- Or you can choose radical change and meaningful action to protect people and our planet Earth. You can choose to disrupt the status quo, in pursuit of our collective liberation.
“Radical simply means "grasping things at the root.”
- Angela Davis
If you’re ready for an alternative way forward, then we invite you to join our community of people who are committed to human rights-centred and evidence-informed solutions here.
