By Chief Oju
Those of us who live in the u.s. know that we live in a country that will do whatever it takes to keep people believing that they are protected. Whether or not someone is liberal or conservative, we know the u.s. government plays games, passes laws and propagandizes events to make the people think that every decision made by the government has someone’s humanity in mind. For instance, after the Civil War ended, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the u.s. constitution were put into place to appease white abolitionists and faux-freed African slaves. By 1870, everything looked good! No slavery (except in jail), equal protection under the law (if someone was paying attention), and voting rights (if you can read and write), it must’ve been THE time to be alive. And where are we now? Slavery in jail and in the rural patches of Georgia. Abortion rights being taken away. And multiple voting rights acts to protect what already should’ve been protected.
The u.s. will twist its laws and statutes depending on what they’re trying to control, and right now, they’re trying to control the burgeoning revolution happening because of the work of the Black Hammer Party. When party Commander-in-Chief Gazi Kodzo was arrested on July 19th, charges hadn’t been filed. It took hours and hours of interaction with the pigs to even arrest Commander Gazi, and then it took days for them to decide what they allegedly did. One of the charges is a clear attack based on Gazi’s sexuality. An outdated law that has been ruled unconstitutional since a Texas case in 2003, sodomy has long been a charge to prosecute gay and queer people. In a country that wasn’t worried about protecting gay and queer people under the law, sodomy charges were handed out like nothing well into the late 1990s. In fact, there are people still in jail for it right now because Georgia judges have continuously denied new trials for those who have been convicted in the past. The state wants our leaders in prison for as long as possible and piling on charges like this is how they do it. The same happened with the New York 21 of the Black Panther Party who had gotten charged with conspiracy to murder police, kidnapping, and also even attacking a botanical garden. Bombing flowers, really? The state will stop at nothing to destroy revolutionary leadership that exposes the state’s flaws and shortcomings, and that is what Commander Gazi does.
This far-reaching charge was placed at the last minute because the state is counting on the homophobia it doesn’t protect gay people from to work its magic and convince the public that it must be true because the person is gay. This is something that was clear from the beginning of the work Gazi Kodzo has done. On the first-ever video they did talking about revolution, they received a message saying, “No one wants a gay Malcolm X.” And from then on, it continued. Colonizers would make their jokes and say disgusting shit because they don’t have an interest in truly protecting anyone. Colonized people taught by the colonizer threw out homophobic responses too. Despite Commander Gazi’s life-saving work in the community, colonialism taught our people that there can’t be a gay revolutionary leader. Unfortunately for the colonial state, they see now that there can indeed be a gay revolutionary leader. One that teaches our people that to hate gay and queer people is to get angry at the wrong enemy. It ain’t your gay brother or your trans sister that got your resources—it’s the united snakkkes that got them honey! Let’s take it up with them and keep your fists off your own people! The people at Da Revolutionary Church and around the world understand that and have stood behind Gazi Kodzo regardless of their sexuality!
A ridiculous charge like this only puts someone in further danger of this country’s violent homophobia in addition to the violence of the prison system. The colony is loving it! The colony is counting on you to do what it taught you—call someone a fag, laugh about butt sex, talk about dropping the soap, fear femininity—and all it had to do was lie on someone to get you to do it. Commander Gazi always says, “I got a limp wrist, but this limp wrist BUILDS!” While Gazi Kodzo has been building up for their people, the colonial state has been building up a case counting on your learned homophobia. But now it’s the time to critically think and say, “Why this lie and why on this person and why now?” Why would the colonial state want a revolutionary leader working to liberate their people to face further violence? If you don’t know the answer to that one, then this country must do an amazing job protecting you. And if the colony protects you, then the revolution won’t.
