History is not a rote set of events on some linear calendar, to be spewed forth by those who are themselves imprisoned by misinformation, obfuscation, and deceit. History is, in fact, circular, intertwined with many occurrences - and more often than not - very empowering to those who know, understand, and value its lessons. History is an integral part of an ongoing, incredibly important and often hidden or distorted continuum.

In large part, we Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people are in the precarious political predicament that we find ourselves today because we did not learn or give serious attention to the ever-present lessons of and from history. We have allowed ourselves to become the recipients and victims of constant corporate / government / military psychological bombardment and misinformation.

Prior to, and since, the very inception of the United States of America, both psychological and brutal physical warfare have been effectively waged against the people of this continent, beginning with the indigenous native peoples themselves and continuing to grow and encompass, in varying degrees, virtually every group of people who have come to this continent and/or lived in the United States.

From the genocide of the indigenous peoples, to the enslavement of Africans, to the serfdom of European so-called indentured servants, etc., the essence of this nation has historically been - and continues to be - steeped in wars and profiteering - but wars that have always been rationalized by the established elite and for their profit - to the ultimate detriment of everyday people of all colors. However, the most insidious war that has been carried on for generation after bloody generation is the psychological war against the people of this nation themselves. It is this war that has relegated everyday people to economic, political, and military cannon fodder - putty in the hands of the corporate / military elite. This keeps everyday people in a constant state of manipulated and perpetual war - war first and foremost with themselves.

The double-speak on the part of the present day Obama/Biden regime must be understood as a continuation of the psychological warfare that has been waged against everyday people by the politicos of the corporate Democratic and Republican two-party dictatorship [i.e. the Republicrats]. Thus, as ‘America’ stumbles into the year 2011, its foreign wars rage on, even as Black, White, Brown, Red and Yellow people in this nation are simultaneously politically pimped, while being economically emaciated.

It is imperative that we everyday people revisit our histories - this time with a view towards grasping the true nature of the people’s struggle in this land - as opposed to the corporate-stream, manipulated vomit, which historical impersonations are being passed off by ‘educational’ institutions and the like as being everyday people’s history. The fact of the matter is that women and men of all colors in this nation have been waging an ongoing struggle for social, political, and economic justice. Notwithstanding changes in technology and/or the names of political parties, the opponents to this people’s struggle for social, political, and economic justice remain today, essentially who they were over three centuries ago - the entrenched, wealthy elite.

Irrespective of color, a people who lose their history, die. For example, despite Barack Obama’s pigmentation and rhetorical differences, he is of fundamentally the same mentality, and represents the same interests of the entrenched, wealthy elite as do their Republican Party White House predecessors and congressional colleagues. Thus, the effort to distort the true history of the people’s struggle is continued by both Democrats and Republicans alike. It is an insidious form of psychological warfare against the people of this nation.

The most effective way to struggle against the double-speak and psychological warfare on the part of both the Democrats and Republicans [i.e. the Republicrats] is to uncompromisingly speak truth to power and organize with other everyday people.

Let it not be said about the everyday Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people of this nation: “They lost their history, so they died.” Let us control our own narrative.

We must do as did Howard Zinn. We must tell and spread an accurate account of the ‘People’s History of the United States.’

Onward my sisters and brothers! Onward!

BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board Member, Larry Pinkney, is a veteran of the Black Panther Party, the former Minister of Interior of the Republic of New Africa, a former political prisoner and the only American to have successfully self-authored his civil/political rights case to the United Nations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In connection with his political organizing activities in opposition to voter suppression, etc., Pinkney was interviewed in 1988 on the nationally televised PBS News Hour, formerly known as The MacNeil / Lehrer News Hour. For more about Larry Pinkney see the book, Saying No to Power: Autobiography of a 20th Century Activist and Thinker, by William Mandel [Introduction by Howard Zinn]. (Click here to read excerpts from the book). Click here to contact Mr. Pinkney.