Inspired by a Facebook discussion around Cornell West’s criticisms of President Obama on CNBC’s the ED show – I have decided to write this article to provide an analysis of the situation within the context of Malcolm X’s, “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech. I am also doing this to honor Malcolm X’s 86^th birthday and put forth a progressive Black Nationalist analysis of Barack Obama’s Presidency. 

Malcolm X was a pragmatic political analyst.  I don’t know how he would have reacted to the phenomenon of Barack Obama’s Presidency, but I do know that he would have provided an analysis of the President’s policies, and the political climate surrounding those policies.  Furthermore he would have not resorted to childish insults centered on political naiveté as Dr. Cornell West has; someone who I genuinely believe is an intellectual charlatan.  

Dr. West went on the record stating that President Obama is a “black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs and a black puppet of corporate plutocrats and now he has become head of the American killing machine and is proud of it.”  It is just a salacious comment that offers no political or intellectual insights.  The saddest thing is that my colleagues on Facebook who are supposed to be educated Black Nationalists agree with this Black church ministerial complaining to Jesus for salvation bull crap. 

Dr. West glossing over President Obama’s accomplishments merely saying “I think my dear brother Barack Obama had a certain fear of free Black men.”  Maybe President Obama is afraid of certain corny black men that look like they have bad breath – but other than that Obama is the MAN.  Any man that can organize a pickup game with the NBA’s elite for his birthday is the MAN.  Anyone that publically humiliates Donald Trump – mister alpha white male – as publicly and as thoroughly President Obama has is the MAN.  Plain and simple Barack Obama has made it difficult for corny fake Albert Einstein wanting to look like Negros to remain relevant because he is the MAN.  Furthermore he passed the most stringent Wall Street reform since the great depression and got 30 million Americans, myself one of them – Health Care.   

There is no denying that President Obama is a political talent.  I am not trying to paint him as a Black nationalist of compare him to Malcolm X, but rather analyze the age of the 44^th President of the United States - Barack Hussein Obama II - Black man.  Africans in America are better positioned in 2012 than we were in 1964. Yes, racism is still a prevalent issue in the day to day lives of Black Americans.  However there are two key things that we have in 2011 that we do not have in 1964: Michelle Obama and the Internet. 

It is obvious that Michelle Obama is a Black nationalist.  This is evident when she slipped up on the campaign trail saying “For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country…”  That is a very powerful statement.  Also for anyone who knows how to identify old school Black women that “don’t play,” all we have to do is look at her mother Marian Robinson.  This is not a trivial window into the mind set of President Obama.  Remember Nancy Regan.  The key point I am making is that Presidents implement their true agenda in their second term and I am certain based on what I have seen from Michelle Obama that African Americans can expect more direct leadership from the President. 

Furthermore, he has to be smart African American’s are only 13% of the population and he barely won by a slim majority despite the Republicans destroying the economy.  Politicians have to be smart to get elected, and it would not be smart politics for Barack Obama to present himself as favoring Black people in any subtle way.  The most important thing for Black people is that Obama gets elected in 2012 – because if it is not him, it will be the Tea Party and that is NOT an option.  We must place our faith in Michelle Obama to ensure his husband does the right thing. 

Secondly, technology is one of the most powerful tools of any revolutionary struggle. Computers are the guns of the new millennium. The Internet is the network of networks. It was designed by the United States Department of Defense for research purposes with various academic institutions. It eventually grew into the commercial entity we all utilize today. I mention this because there is a justifiable historic apprehension of Big Brother in the African American community. Everything on the Internet is monitored. It is a simple thing to track and store all data that everything that flows over the network. Although Big Brother now exists, the technology also makes him vulnerable.  The Internet gives the people the ability to organize at highly efficient and cost effective manner.  The events in Egypt and Tunisia organized by Facebook are a testament to this.  In fact this article was inspired by a Facebook conversation and will be shared on Facebook.  Black people need not fear, we just need to focus.  Focus on utilizing this technology to organize, share and empower ourselves on a global level.  There is no reason not to act, a protest can now happen at the click of a button— just as I am doing with this article which will be emailed to over 10 thousand people with the simple click of a button. 

In conclusion of this article I would like to stress the importance of local politics, “Political Philosophy of Black Nationalism Means that Black man if he chooses to live in a Black community should control the politicians in his own community.”(Ballot or Bullet min 4:48)

Right now, Black political power is structured to genuflect to the whims of the National Democratic Party.  While I do feel that as Black people it is smart to align with the Democrats on a national level right now, but on a local level we need to establish independent political parties.  Currently there is no competition for Black votes on a local level and this leads to sever cases of cronyism and corruption – Sharpe James of Newark NJ is a perfect example of this.  By having independent local political parties we can create a level of competition and begin to exact some real returns from this political system.  All politics are local.  The budget for the State of New York is over 100 Billion dollars; we need to control politics at a local level.  This is our weakness. 

“We must know the role that politics plays in our lives. We must know what politics is supposed to produce and until we become politically mature we will always be taken advantage of by political charlatans” (Ballot or Bullet min 6:09)

Black people are susceptible to charlatans in slick suits, even ones with nappy hair and weird scarf around their necks.  Black people are unaccustomed to obtaining results from our politicians and easily satisfied with political scraps.  President Obama heads the federal government.  He has done several significant measures that have helped the lives of everyday Black people. Extending unemployment insurance, saving auto industry/Detroit - Chocolate City – are examples of this.    

We as Black people must first we must, focus on our local elected officials. They are the ones who impact our daily lives. Secondly; we need to focus on our state officials. State officials are the next most important elected officials.  I designed the adjacent diagram to exemplify this concept.  We need to build the pyramid from the bottom up.  Yes we have a Black President, but we will not have reaped the benefits because there is no foundation to build upon.  Nice words won’t do it, we need institutions, we need buildings, we need an economic foundation to build from, we need a political structure that protects our interests and we need a social structure that recognizes our needs.  Only when we have these things will we be able to move forward.