So-called human rights activists who actually take the time to talk to oppressed people have received quite a shock lately.

They have been told a number of things that have shaken their worlds and changed their perception of reality.

They have heard things like:

“If you want to help us, change your approach. You have been trying to convince the enemy to show respect for human rights. Well, they do have respect for human rights, in their understanding of the concept. You see, they believe in human rights for those whom they regard as human. Unfortunately, that doesn’t include us. They regard us as subhuman. And there is no such thing as subhuman rights.

“And most of the oppressors are never going to view us as human beings, so they will never believe there is any reason to respect our human rights.

“If you want to help us, change your approach. Do something -- ANYTHING!!! -- to get these oppressors off our necks. But please forget about the nicey-nice approach of trying to convince the enemy to respect our human rights. If you want to continue doing that, please leave us alone, we don’t want your so-called help because it’s really no help at all. If you want to continue doing that, you can all go to hell.”

The n-word is a perfect example of dehumanization because the n-word actually means “subhuman”.

And that’s why you should be wary of whites and other non-Africans who use the word. As a matter of fact, you should even be wary of Blacks who use the word.

Geronimo Ji Jaga, a former member of the Black Panther Party who was previously known as Geronimo Pratt, spent 27 years in prison from 1970 to 1997 after being convicted of a murder he didn’t commit. He was finally released after California’s Orange County Court of Appeals threw out his conviction. He had been set up by the FBI in order to silence him and make an example out of him.

At the end of the Jericho 98 march and rally, which was held in Washington, D.C. on March 27, 1998, Geronimo Ji Jaga gave a speech in which he said that while he was in prison, some so-called human rights activists had told him they would not support him until he renounced violence. Ji Jaga harshly criticized them for placing such conditions on their support.

So, we see that people who are not really part of the liberation struggle are trying to set the rules for the true freedom fighters.

Paradoxically, the same people who are today denouncing all forms of violence are always praising the struggle against fascism during World War II, which was won through violence. And almost every one of them also praises their own country’s national liberation struggle, which was usually won through violence.

What hypocrites. They are effectively saying to the people of the Global South: “It is OK that we got our liberation through violence but you can’t do it that way. Your struggle must be non-violent. If that means it will take longer to attain victory and many of your people will have to suffer, starve, and die needlessly in the meantime, so be it.”

But the people of the Global South have seen through this trick.

In the 1960s, Malcolm X said: “We declare our right on this Earth… to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this Earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary.”

Malcolm X also said: “Our objective is complete freedom, justice and equality by any means necessary.”

And he was right. We must work hard to end oppression and use any means necessary.

However, in the struggle, we must not use the immoral and unjust methods of the enemy. We must not lose our humanity, which is actually one of the aims of the oppressors.

The oppressors have dehumanized us, but we must not dehumanize them because then they will have won because we will have become just like them. Dehumanization of the other always leads to dehumanization of yourself.

It doesn’t matter if evil people don’t have respect for the human rights of everyone on Earth. It doesn’t matter what they believe. All that matters is that we work hard to ensure that they can no longer oppress people and violate their human rights with impunity.

Let’s be human and work hard to put the oppressors of humanity in their places. After all, if we don’t do this, we will have lost our humanity.