“The Blacks”

 Perry C. Douglas, theinclusiveagenda.blogspot.com

Social Capitalism & the Pursuit of Technology as an Agent of Social Change


In 18th century Britain, there emerged a group of local men who would “blacken” their faces at night to conceal their identity and would go out to threaten the ruling elite with guns...demanding money among other things.  They operated in southern England, first around Windsor Forest, killing deer and other animals and destroying fishponds.  Properties of aristocrats were often damaged and even burnt down at times, and a continuous series of riots would ensue. The King and other members of the aristocracy owned most of the prime lands, which contained an abundance of sustainable resources...fishing, hunting, and gathering.  Riots and protests were the only way for "The Blacks" to get a voice.   However, in 1723 in an effort to maintain the system and suppress these various methods of protest, “The Black Act” was brought into law, to combat this group that would come to be known as "The Blacks." 

The Black Act was a severe legislative decree which laid out more than fifty new offenses punishable by death (Cruickshanks and Erskine-Hill, 358).  The Act was designed for the severity of punishment, to “ensure the wholesale suppression” of the protesters by the ruling class (The Black ACT 1723).  For the last 400 years, when it comes to black people everywhere, various forms of  "Black Acts," have been used repeatedly to subjugate black people in the lie of white supremacy and black inferiority.  In America, the move from slavery to Jim Crow laws was a "Black Act."  The present-day practices by US Republicans to suppress the black vote through the act of Gerrymandering is a "Black Act."   Caribbean slavery’s transition from the plantation economy to colonialism was a "Black Act."  From the Boer settlers in South Africa to the Apartheid system, a "Black Act."  Independence in Africa and the Caribbean in the '60s and '70s left those newly independent states wholly unequipped to suddenly 'govern' after 350 years of colonial subjugation, dominance, and extraction of wealth was also a "Black Act."  To present-day neocolonialism whereby the European Union give Caribbean nations "climate change mitigation" funds, with the condition they must do with it what the EU says, is also a "Black Act."  By definition: Neocolonialism is the practice of using capitalism, globalization, cultural imperialism, and conditional aid to influence a developing country instead of the previous colonial methods of direct military control or indirect political control.  A Black Act! 

The history of freedom and democracy, where-ever it may have come from comes down to the fact that fighters must breakdown the entrenched systematic, and institutionalization of the privileged few.  Whether it’s the fight for pluralism by "The Blacks" against the noble aristocratic class in Britain, the French Revolution or the American Revolution, independence in Africa and the Caribbean, the Civil Rights movement, or now, Black Lives Matter.  All are “Black Acts.”  So, for blacks, the fight for freedom, equality, economic prosperity, and political power...seats in the corporate board rooms, requires a significant effort of protest, in many forms due to the magnitude of the problem.  First, however, the required mindset for the gravity of the challenge must be settled.  

"In response to the many injustices of racism, black people can protest and march, we can sign petitions, we can weep, but until we confront and overturn and overcome from the lie of black inferiority. We will not change this world that so profoundly devalues black lives."                                   Enola Aird, The Association of Black Psychologists 

In other words, the challenge is two-fold, first, we need to adjust our mindset and understanding of the formidable mountain of 400 years of entrenched white supremacy culture.  Second, recognize that rigorous fact-based nonintuitive decisioning is the most viable path forward, for effective, sustainable, and executable solutions.  In psychologist Daniel Kahneman’s Nobel prize-winning book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, two modes of thought are analyzed: “System 1” which is fast, instinctive and emotional; and “System 2” which is slow, deliberative, and logical.  Strategically, let us avoid "System 1" and move directly to "System 2," and let new breakthrough Artificial Intelligence technologies do the 'fast' thinking for us. 

"Current research indicates that the idea evaluation processes of many firms are ad hoc or intuitive, with very few firms having defined methods. We propose a new approach to select the best ideas to pursue amidst different probable versions of the future. In support of "front end of innovation" processes, the approach emphasizes the formation of requirements for any idea that can be prioritized and measured against possible future worlds."  Andrew N. Forde, PhD., & Mark S. Fox, PhD., Urban Systems & Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto, Canada.

Therefore, intuition and emotion must give way to the extraordinary processing power, efficiencies, and effectiveness of AI/data sciences in solving real-world problems.  By using data to identify the problem out of the ambiguity, then continuing to use scientific fact-based approaches to solve them; in any particular domain.  Otherwise, while intentions and ideas humans generate remain genuine and good ones.  If we can, with precision, identify the most probable and impactful ideas quickly; accordingly, leaders can then move forward confidently, with facts and data to back them up.  At the end of the day, the common purpose is to effectively solve the problem.  So, lets quiet the ego, and make it about the problem.  Let's give science a shot, it has a good track record.