So, I saw this posted, and decided it was too good to not fisk a bit. My comments in <<brackets>>. I cannot verify, and do not suggest, that this represents all supporters of Black Lives Matter (I know it does not), but it does claim to speak for the leaders. Make of that what you will…

Lessons from Fidel: Black Lives Matter and the Transition of El Comandante

<<Transition? Thought he was dead, not trans…>> We are feeling many things as we awaken to a world without Fidel Castro. <<Relief that one more Communist dictator is gone?>> There is an overwhelming sense of loss, complicated by fear and anxiety. <<Why? For what possible reason?>> Although no leader is without their flaws, we must push back against the rhetoric of the right and come to the defense of El Comandante. <<Defend forced reeducation of gays! Defend restrictions of speech and art! Defend oppression! Defend totalitarianism!>> And there are lessons that we must revisit and heed as we pick up the mantle in changing our world <<If you assholes are ‘picking up the mantle’ from Castro, you really don’t care about black lives – like I have suspected all along.>>, as we aspire to build a world rooted in a vision of freedom and the peace that only comes with justice <<Therefore the struggle in Cuba is different. There cannot be a civil rights movement. You will have instantly 10,000 black people dead. ¹>>. It is the lessons that we take from Fidel. <<I know this one! Kill all who oppose you, set up forced labor camps, discriminate against blacks…oops>>

From Fidel, we know that revolution is sparked by an idea, by radical imaginings, which sometimes take root first among just a few dozen people coming together in the mountains. It can be a tattered group of meager resources, like in Sierra Maestro in 1956 or St. Elmo Village in 2013. <<Fidel also taught us to torture prisoners, ban opposition parties, censor the arts, compel medical procedures, and use doctors as informants on a person’s politics.>>

Revolution is continuous and is won first in the hearts and minds of the people and is continually shaped and reshaped by the collective. No single revolutionary ever wins or even begins the revolution <<Huh? I suspect a single revolutionary does, in fact, begins it all.>>. The revolution begins only when the whole is fully bought in and committed to it. And it is never over. <<Wow – this is a qualifier for ‘worst leftist gobbledygook ever’.>>

Revolution transcends borders; the freedom of oppressed people and people of color is all bound up together wherever we are. In Cuba <<Not so much>>, South Africa, Palestine, Angola, Tanzania, Mozambique, Grenada, Venezuela, Haiti, African America, and North Dakota. We must not only root for each other but invest in each other’s struggles, lending our voices, bodies, and resources to liberation efforts which may seem distant from the immediacy of our daily existence.

Revolution is rooted in the recognition that there are certain fundamentals to which every being has a right, just by virtue of one’s birth: healthy food, clean water, decent housing, safe communities, quality healthcare, mental health services, free and quality education, community spaces, art, democratic engagement, regular vacations, sports, and places for spiritual expression are not questions of resources, but questions of political will and they are requirements of any humane society. <<Funny that – Castro censored the arts, stripped the right to refuse treatment, expelled the clergy, is suspected of encouraging mob action against ‘counter-revolutionaries’, openly discriminates against blacks, limits college to politically ‘correct’ persons, denies democracy, etc. So the author praises Castro, while saying all people are entitled to things Castro denied.>>

Revolution requires that the determination to create and preserve these things for our people takes precedent over individual drives for power, recognition, and enrichment. <<Ironic>>

A final lesson is that to be a revolutionary, you must strive to live in integrity. As a Black network committed to transformation, we are particularly grateful to Fidel for holding Mama Assata Shakur, who continues to inspire us. <<Convicted of killing New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster>> We are thankful that he provided a home for Brother Michael Finney <<,>> Ralph Goodwin, and Charles Hill <<These three killed New Mexico State Trooper Robert Rosenbloom, and hijacked an airliner to get to Cuba>>, asylum to Brother Huey P. Newton, and sanctuary for so many other Black revolutionaries who were being persecuted by the American government during the Black Power era. <<For killing people? Funny how we think that should be illegal>> We are indebted to Fidel for sending resources to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake and attempting to support Black people in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina when our government left us to die on rooftops and in floodwaters. <<Funny thing, I lived in AL then. FEMA was in place more than a week early. New Orleans’ government refused to issue evac orders until 24 hrs before landfall, had no system to carry them out (as the first out were the bus drivers), and Democrat governor Kathleen Blanco didn’t request aid, so FEMA was barred, by law, from acting.>> We are thankful that he provided a space where the traditional spiritual work of African people could flourish, regardless of his belief system.

With Fidel’s passing there is one more lesson that stands paramount: <<Evil doesn’t last forever?>> when we are rooted in collective vision when we bind ourselves together around quests for infinite freedom of the body and the soul, we will be victorious. As Fidel ascends to the realm of the ancestors, we summon his guidance, strength, and power as we recommit ourselves to the struggle for universal freedom. <<Something he actively hated. And opposed. And oppressed.>> Fidel Vive! <<Funny way of spelling ‘muerto’>>

Castro was a typical leftist – camps for those who opposed him or were ‘counter-revolutionary’, repressed and censored art and speech, racism, cruelty, the whole lot. For any movement founded on the idea of a right to protest to lionize him demonstrates a lack of awareness of who he was, and what he supported. Cuba has the chance to become a better nation without Castro. And by posting this, BLM’s leadership has proven something I have long maintained – they are not concerned one bit about black lives, not really. If they were, we would see them in Chicago, where black lives are snuffed out daily. We would see them be honest here, about Cuba (and Castro) and the second-class nature of blacks there. They would not be defending him. BLM is just another group who wants to be in charge to ‘punish’ the people they see as oppressors.  And this ode to Castro is a sign of that.