Dr. Amos N Wilson (1941-1995)

Author, Philosopher, Psychologist, Socialist, Pan Africanist, Lecturer, Social Worker

Introduction

“The European victimizes us because he can, because he has the power to do so. We are victimized because we don’t have the power to prevent him from doing so.” This is an excerpt from a speech given by Dr Amos Wilson 1995. “ Blueprint For Black Power”

Ushered into this world on February 23, 1941 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi (arguably one of the most racist states) in Southern United States of America, Dr. Amos Wilson survived to become one of the most eloquent speakers on Black Power. Educated at one of the most prestigious college on the American continent, Morehouse College (for blacks), Amos Wilson studied psychology, sociology and Black culture. Growing up in the “deep South” as it was popularly referred to at that time, with all the race and ethnic prejudices he was able to excel to become one of the most influential “Black” authors and speakers of all time.

Education

Unlike many whose education were stymied or stunted due to the pressures of racialism during that period of his development, Dr. Amos Wilson used the partialism, bigotry, and segregation as motivation to rise above the status of his birth as his consciousness of race was stimulated. This stimulation propelled him to further his education at The New School of Social Research from which he went on to study and obtain his doctorate/ phd at Fordham University.
Recognizing that African-American was stigmatized and cast in the mold of low class social animals, he set out to share his knowledge of the African people, also to motivate them. While maintaining their individuality, they need to be conscious of their original culture and organize for the development and upliftment of their race on a whole. Having established that there are inequalities in the social standings, he sought to encourage the African-Americans to pursue educational qualifications and to use this as one of the resources to level the playing field and eventually rise above the status in which they find themselves.

Black Power

What is Black Power? The Oxford Dictionaries define power as: the ability or capacity to do something or act in a particular way; 2. The capacity or ability to direct or influence the behaviour of others or the course of events. “A political process that offers people power over their own lives”
The most common definition of Black is: the opposite of white of the very darkest color owing to the absence of or complete absorption of light. The most relevant definition pertaining to this article is: belonging to or denoting any human group having dark-colored skin, especially of African ancestry.
When both definitions are combined, Black History may be interpreted as “ people of African descent or ethnicity having the ability to influence the behavior of others or the outcome of events by having political control over their own lives. As most eloquently stated by Dr. Amos Wilson: power has to do with the relationship between people and the whiteman’s power is based upon the relationship he has with the black man. We empower him by the nature of our own behavior and attitude. Dr. Amos Wilson – Blueprint For Black Power-1995. Blacks invent but the whites have the patents and are credited for the inventions. Simultaneously, Africans who were strong enough to stand up and speak out about the injustices being meted out to the African race were mowed down like unwanted weeds on the white man’s lawn. African business owners had to enter their place of business through the back door and perform menial labor inside so as not to be discovered as owners in order to get white patronage. Yet, now that they can be openly recognized as “bosses”, they still employ whites in top positions in their businesses. The white man made himself god over other ethnic groups, ethnic groups that are larger in population yet they are considered the minority! The black man still does not recognize his power and need to raise his level of consciousness so as to reclaim his identity, thereby reclaiming his African pride, his Black Power!

Black Economic Empowerment

Dr Amos Wilson expounded the theory that black people need to be socially organized and generate their own wealth. The African nations in the USA need to be so unified that they can command prices for their labor. He believed that if they trade among and with African Nations instead of supporting European markets, they can turn the tables and become the more dominant race economically. While his philosophy regarding the improvement of the “Black Race” might not be endorsed or understood by some, the sociological approach that he suggested sounds feasible even if slightly radical. Based on his research that Afro-Americans contribute 10% of the economy and that this amounts to more than a trillion dollars of the domestic market, Dr Wilson believes that “blacks” have the economic power but lack the ability to develop and sustain an African Common Market. He stipulated that Africans were sensitized to think and believe that the pursuit of power is sinful and should not be desired. Yet, power is needed for survival. The powerful will always have the upperhand while the powerless remain the underdog. Without power, one may survive but survival is not living, it’s merely existing .”Integration and merging with our enemies is not going to help us.” This is understandable as a merger is a form of sharing, while the more dominant culture will supercede during integration. Africans need to reestablish their culture, form alliances with their African people and to use their culture, personality and ethnic consciousness as instruments of power in order to achieve and maintain dominance.
The chains may have been removed from his feet; unless he is in jail, but his mind remains shackled to the ideology and culture of the white man.This is depicted in the mode of dressing, spending habits and attitude towards his black brother. In the current society, there is no other feasible explanation as he is now able access African businesses and other pertinent information via the World-Wide Web. Until the African people establish and achieve sustainable Black Economic Independence, they will remain slaves to the white man with their continuous support of the European Common Market.

Unity

Like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Dr. Wilson speeches/lectures and books advocate for social change, encouraging unity among African Nations/people. He believed that if Africans unite, pool their resources and support African businesses, they will force other races to view them more favorably, also increase their bargaining power in corporate society.. They will be able to command respect by their achievements. He suggested that they should study their pre slavery culture so as to regain their true identity. According to Dr Wilson, power does not originate in the genes of “white folks”. They are able to grasp and maintain power due to their organizational skills, their relationship with each other also their ability to manipulate and dominate other ethnic groups; particularly the Africans.

Black Education

Not one to criticize without offering a solution, Dr Wilson theorizes that if the African people study the rules of organization as practiced by caucasians or people of European descent, they would become more self-reliant. Equipped with the knowledge of corporate financing, investment and planning, Africans would be able to build co-ops such as their own supermarket chains (among other businesses), thereby gaining the power to influence the market thus engineering economic change. He believes that caucasians are not qualified to lecture black people on morality or values as they are the ones who have robbed Africans of their natural resources. While it may be prudent to have “white education”, Blacks need to study their history of the pre-slavery era, also to acknowledge the reality that they are still enslaved mentally. They gravitate towards the white culture in their food, clothes and social activities thereby perpetuating the slave mentality. In order to achieve Black Power, Africans and their descendants need to study not only their history but also their culture, language, the accumulation of power, it’s use and application. They should not only read about it but should utilize every chance they get to talk about it as it pertains to having an impact on their personality, conscientiousness and values. He used black musicians as an example to show the impact (or lack thereof) of the practical education that is needed by Africans to handle their affairs. The Black man makes the popular music, the whiteman manages the production, promotion and marketing thereby reaping most of the profits. Blacks create the jobs, but it is whites who fill the vacancies -still benefitting from the labor and innovations of the so-called black minority.
Black scholars should study the market and do courses for which there is a demand, courses that are applicable in the development of Black businesses; courses that will stimulate Black entrepreneurship and sustainable growth of the African economy.

Black Culture- Values and Religion

Culture cannot exist outside the mind and body (The Falsification of Afrikan Consciousness: Eurocentric History, Psychiatry and the Politics of White Supremacy 1993) The Afro-American as blacks outside of the African continent are popularly called, know little to none of their original culture. The god that we worship was introduced to us by our slave masters. We do not know any of the names of our Afrikan gods. The blackman needs to be exorcised of this demonic presence. We define ourselves by the religious principles handed down to us by slave masters. Black on Black Violence Dr. Amos Wilson 1990. If we are possessed by a wonderful God then we would not be exhibiting self-destructive behavior.
Culture is deeper than our actions and the way we do things, it is deeply entrenched into the being. Dance, music poetry, songs should not be regarded as mere entertainment but should be utilized as expressions to propagate the Blackman’s ideas

Dr Amos took the stance that the black American develops his morality from the religion to which he was introduced and forced to adapt during slavery. The same religion that was used to enforce passive resistance in the African slaves were also used to promote violence as both behavioral tendencies are actively advocated in the “slave master’s” religion. Therefore, to endorse the white man’s religion, black people are actually supporting the people who enslaved them. Culture is a way of thinking and until the African emancipates or separates his thought process from that which he was forced to adapt for his survival during slavery, he will forever remain a slave. Blacks need to realize that they were never uncivilized, they had their own culture which was different and incomprehensible to the europeans. Africans were honorable and trusting, thereby falling victims to the unscrupulous minds of the white people.
Culture is a conspiracy. It is the way a group of people organize, think, believe, look at the world so that they can mutually aid each other to achieve success. (Falsification of Afrikan Consciousness-Dr. Amos Wilson-)

Black History

Why do the Black Americans or Afro-Americans continue to serve the caucasians or white Europeans if they are indeed free? Everything they do contribute to the enrichment of the White man. Barring a few, those that were born outside of the African continent do not consider themselves as part of the African Diaspora. One cannot doubt that if they are exposed to the History of the African people as it is demystified by Dr Amos Wilson, they would have no doubt as to their nationality. Nationality as it pertains to race, culture, ethnicity and origin; not affixed to place of birth. Based on concepts outlined in his writings and lectures, it appears as if everyone recognizes the power, potential and strength of the Africans except the Africans themselves.
Dr Amos not only sought to enlighten them as to their roots but also the heritage of which they were robbed. The rape of the African lands, rich in gold, diamonds, silver among other precious metals which was unconscionably harvested, refined and the least perfect ores refined and sold back to the people at exorbitant prices. This was their inheritance which was taken from them. The pride of the statuesque African princes and ebony skinned princesses were also beaten into the ground. Eventually parents stopped telling their offsprings of their homeland as it was difficult for the children to visualize the land they had never seen, neither were they able to imagine any other form of existence that does not include cruelty, hardships and death. Accordingly, the current generation is now living this history as based upon the conceptualization of Dr Wilson, history is alive and lives within us. Without people there would be no history, therefore history is alive. (Dr Amos Wilson- MY Name Is My Name)
With this concept in mind, Africans need to write a more positive history than that lived during slavery. Africans need to think strategically and emulate other ethnic groups in the support of their race. There are many African -Americans in positions of authority, sitting on Boards in multimillion dollar corporations who have the opportunity to assist in the educational, social and economic development of the black race. Unfortunately, their eyes and their minds are overcast with their positions and their earnings. They do not stop to think that they may have been offered these positions in order to stifle their positive influence on their black race, they are so blinded or overcome in the unexpected positions in which they find themselves that they do not realize that their Black Power is being muzzled! Many go as far as to denounce their black roots. They deny themselves their own identity. Dr Amos Wilson may not be as popular or well promoted as some due to the fact that he made no bones about exposing racial prejudices, particularly as they pertain to the stigmatization and suppression of the potentiality of the African people.

Dr Amos Wilson: Death and Legacy

Leaving this world approximately one month shy of his 54th birthday, Dr Amos Nelson Wilson may be considered to have made an early departure. Some contend that he died under mysterious circumstances while others testified that he had health issues long before his passing and died from natural causes. Truth or fiction regarding the circumstances surrounding his death may be debatable. What is not debatable is his study, comprehension, and contribution to African consciousness. His knowledge and views on the predicament, struggles and needs of the African race is well documented in his legacy—the books, recordings, notes of his lectures left behind. Not one to shy away from exposing the challenges of the African people, Dr Wilson left a trove of information identifying the problems and offering solutions in the diaspora. Black or white, one cannot listen to or read Dr. Amos Wilson’s work without being positively impacted ( although most europeans may prefer not to acknowledge the effect his words). He contended that while other groups transferred their aggression and strategies of war into business, the Africans acquiesced, bowed and became dormant under the cruelty of their white masters. He warned that unless the Africans regain their “warriorship”, and study military science, they will fall under the power of other ethnic groups.

Dr Amos Wilson Last Interview before his death in 1995

In his last interview shortly before his exit in 1995, Dr Wilson was asked how can black genocide advance white supremacy. He explained that one needs to be not only aware of the problems but to look at the context in which the problems exist. There needs to be careful diagnosis of an ailment before a treatment is prescribed. One should not look at the problems in isolation but should look at the conditions surrounding the core. Who benefits when blacks die? That is a question that was asked and answered quite convincingly in Dr Amos Wilson’s last interview. The sexual prowess of the black male is well documented. As in slavery, the white man still feels the need to protect his woman from the African male. His fragile ego cannot withstand the genital comparison with the black male. Statistically whites commit more violent crimes than blacks, however, there are more blacks incarcerated than whites. White Collar crime did not get its name by accident, neither did the Black Market.

Summary

Black people aren’t poor by accident. This serves the interest of somebody. The energy we put into hurting each other is the energy that we can’t use against other people.Black -on- Black crime serve as a justification for other people to take advantage of us. But in a deeper sense, it serves to hide the criminality of whites. Excerpt from Dr Amos Wilson last interview.
How much more straightforward can this speech be? Africans need to remove the flawed contact lenses of the white man from their eyes. They need to view their position from a realistic perspective, realizing that although displaced and separated by the inhumanity, the barbarism and callousness of slavery; with unification they can rise and reclaim what’s left of their heritage by identifying and investing in their Black Power.

Africans should make it a necessity to familiarize themselves with the works of Dr Amos Wilson so as to better able to understand their culture, history or in layman’s terms, understand himself.

(RIP Dr Amos Nelson Wilson. Your work lives on)

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The AWS Team

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