LOS ANGELES—On March 31, 2019, hip-hop artist, community activist and recent Grammy nominee Nipsey Hussle was gunned down outside of ‘The Marathon,’ his clothing store in the Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles.
In the immediate wake of his death, rumors attempting to explain his death began swirling around.
Some have pinned his murder on “haters” in the African community, envious of his fame, accolades, resources and influence in the community. Some have attributed his murder to unresolved street disputes from his days as an active CRIP member.
As Nipsey had recently began the process of creating a documentary highlighting the late nutritionist Dr. Sebi’s life, some have tied his murder to a larger government strategy to eliminate all celebrities seeking to forward Sebi’s medical practices.
Some have claimed Nipsey to be the modern day reincarnation of Haile Selassie and have pointed to the Illuminati as the culprit behind his murder.
Some have joked that O.J. did it.
Amidst the many rumors and speculation floating around, the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement has but one theory around the murder of Nipsey Hussle, a theory which has held true in every instance of an African being killed under this social system: Colonialism killed Nipsey.
COLONIALISM KILLED NIPSEY
Straight like that.
Colonialism is the culprit behind Nipsey’s death and the culprit behind the murder of every African living life as a colonized subject.
Whether in the form of the lack of economic development and access to wealth in the African community, the subpar healthcare we receive, the essentially poisonous food made available to us, our dilapidated housing with chemical pollutants and disease carrying pests/vermin in its walls, the trigger-happy murderous pigs lurking our streets or the horizontal violence (i.e. violence between Africans) caused by these dire circumstances, colonialism has been claiming our lives for 600 years.
These inhumane living conditions are inherent in a community of colonized subjects. It is only natural that conditions unfit for the sustaining of human life are what led to Nipsey’s murder.
THE GENIUS OF THE AFRICAN WORKING CLASS
Nipsey was a shining example of a politicized member of the African working class, using his understanding to educate and mobilize others around him.
He expounded on colonialism not in a YouTube video, not in some TED talk, not in a lecture hall far away from the black community but right on the block on Crenshaw, directly to the people.
He was a testament to the significance of developing, as Chairman Omali Yeshitela has described, an African working class intellectual.
He was a testament to the fact that a political understanding of the conditions of African people isn’t something reserved for the negroes at Howard or Harvard.
A PhD isn’t required to speak confidently and competently on these conditions.
In fact, often times you’ll find that those with the highest accolades in bourgeois academia have the lowest capacity to accurately explain the wretched conditions in the black community—with an even lower capacity to engage in the necessary work to change those conditions.
The degree flaunting, #blackexcellence hash tagging, so-called “best and brightest” among us have always been stumped when it comes to the question of black liberation—a question which only the genius of the African working class can accurately expound on and effectively work to achieve.
NIPSEY BREAKS DOWN COLONIALISM AND THE STATE
Nipsey Hussle demonstrated this genius in a video where he broke down colonialism, the historical theft of resources from Africa, the State and the need for African people to band together. The following is an excerpt from the video:
“Africa was full of natural resources. What did they do? All the diamonds, they came and got them. All the gold, they came and got them. All the niggas, they came and got us! The continent was raped of all its resources… I think the word they call it is colonialism – when they come and colonize your land and take your resources”.
He went on to describe the State (i.e. government institutions, the courts, jails, military and police) and how the colonizer has historically used the State to steal our resources, steal our culture and dominate our lives.
“… The same thing is going on with rap music, the same thing is going on with all of our culture…if a mothafucka sees it as a resource or an asset, we don’t have the means to keep it other than our little pistols and handguns and choppas and all that. They got millions of dollars, institutions set up like the LAPD, like the feds, like the FBI, all that shit is their army and having an army makes it so you can inflict your will. Meaning if a mothafucka don’t do what you say, you can go TAKE it. If a nigga don’t wanna agree verbally, you can take your army and enforce your will. That’s where we lack. We don’t have an army to protect our natural resources because our shit is divided. We don’t even understand how we’re connected.”
Nipsey throwing a middle finger to the LAPD.
JOIN THE PEOPLE’S ARMY TODAY
Nipsey understood that we are connected—that no matter what hood, what town, what island or country we’re from, all African “black” people have a shared history of oppression and exploitation with a shared future of liberation and self-determination.
The International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement recognizes that the brothers and sisters from Rolling Sixties CRIP, every other set (gang) and the masses of Africans throughout our communities must be organized into a People’s Army that serves to protect and defend every African man, woman and child.
Our interest is in getting free from the chains of colonialism and InPDUM is the vehicle to achieve that end.
It is time to put an end to these conditions that bring about death in our daily lives.
It is time to unite for self-determination for Africans and all colonized people throughout the world.
It is time to build the People’s Army across the globe from South Africa to St. Petersburg, from St. Louis to Oakland and from Nairobi to South Central.
Visit InPDUM.org and take the first steps in ensuring that our resources are reclaimed, our culture is ours and that our communities are protected so that no foreign power will be able to enforce its will on us.
Join the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement today!
Long live Nipsey Hussle!
Join the People’s Army today!
Let’s reclaim our resources!
