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bijouxbroussard · F
You really like putting odd labels on people. Ms. Simone was a Civil Rights activist. The KKK called anyone who believed black Americans deserved equal rights "Marxists" or "Communists". 🙄
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Guitarman123 · 36-40, M
@bijouxbroussard she admitted to be into the works of marx and lenin
bijouxbroussard · F
@Guitarman123 That didn’t make her a "Marxist", being knowledgeable about their writings didn’t make you a full-on follower, not by the standards of the day.
LeopoldBloom · M
@Guitarman123 I hope she didn't express support for Israel or she'd be a Zionist and you'd have to stop listening to her.
bijouxbroussard · F
@LeopoldBloom Performing an Israeli folk song in 1962.
[media=https://youtu.be/YBAAkJyEhlA]
[media=https://youtu.be/YBAAkJyEhlA]
Guitarman123 · 36-40, M
@bijouxbroussard she was also a civil rights activist
Guitarman123 · 36-40, M
@LeopoldBloom i highly doubt she as a civil rights activist would support apartheid israel. Especially during the era of apartheid South africa
bijouxbroussard · F
@Guitarman123 I probably know that better than you. I was alive during that time and it was happening here, in my country. Nina Simone was one of our heroes. There were a lot of Jewish Americans who were active in the civil rights movement, too, so clearly it was not inconsistent with supporting Israel back then.
LeopoldBloom · M
@Guitarman123 Bijoux is correct. Back then, conservatives were the antisemites and liberals supported Israel. Also, many indigenous groups were inspired by the Jews taking back their ancestral homeland and resurrecting their native language. Several Native American programs to expand teaching of their own native languages began during that time. It's only since Yasser Arafat switched the narrative from "Israel surrounded by hostile Arabs" to "Israel the regional superpower oppressing the Palestinians" that we get the modern alignment where liberals oppose Israel and conservatives (especially religious ones) support it.
Guitarman123 · 36-40, M
@bijouxbroussard it really was inconsistent as israel had ethnically cleansed Palestine 20 years previously and occupied Palestine in the late 60s. Apartheid south africa was also happening at the same time
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bijouxbroussard · F
@Guitarman123 What is ignorant is to try to rebrand all people and situations from the past based upon a 21st century narrative. You weren’t here, you don’t know how people here felt and the context was different. Ergo, you couldn’t possibly understand.
Guitarman123 · 36-40, M
@bijouxbroussard well seeing as she was friends with malcolm x who was pro Palestine its pretty safe to assume she was also pro Palestine. Both were civil rights activists who were fighting against racism and oppression of black people so makes zero sense to support israels oppression of the Palestinian people
bijouxbroussard · F
@Guitarman123 Which simply goes to show you that it was possible to be both pro Palestine and Israel, since she was also friends with Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. You can spout rhetoric til you’re blue in the face from the UK, but it doesn’t change the reality of how things were, in the United States, during her lifetime.
Guitarman123 · 36-40, M
@bijouxbroussard her time in America was horrifically racist and violent for black people and thats why she and malcolm x were civil rights activists. Nothing rhetorical to safely guess she was anti oppression of all people
bijouxbroussard · F
@Guitarman123 Like I said, I was there and remember those days. You weren’t.
Guitarman123 · 36-40, M
@bijouxbroussard that mean america wasnt horrifically racist, or you agreeing with me?
Guitarman123 · 36-40, M
@bijouxbroussard or are you upset that I'm acknowledging americas racist past?
bijouxbroussard · F
@Guitarman123 It was horrifically and legally racist, which I experienced firsthand. And many Jewish Americans helped us fight against it. So why are you disagreeing with me ?
Guitarman123 · 36-40, M
@bijouxbroussard im really not. You're getting upset that im bringing up a major historical figure of music who was known for been very political
bijouxbroussard · F
@Guitarman123 To label her a Marxist is to ignore so many other things that she was involved in, and even uses the same terminology that white supremacists used to dismiss people involved in the Civil Rights movement. You don’t understand the times involved.
Guitarman123 · 36-40, M
@bijouxbroussard direct quote from her.
We never talked about men or clothes. It was always Marx, Lenin and revolution – real girls’ talk.’ – Nina Simone
We never talked about men or clothes. It was always Marx, Lenin and revolution – real girls’ talk.’ – Nina Simone
Guitarman123 · 36-40, M
@bijouxbroussard huey newton and angela davis were also heavily influenced by marxist philosophy as it can relate to race issues as much as class struggle
bijouxbroussard · F
@Guitarman123 Like I said, you don’t understand the context of the times with Simone. With Huey Newton and Angela Davis (both of whom I actually met, because they lived in the Bay Area) you’re talking about a later time period. I’m not going to discuss it with you. It wasn’t your world.
LeopoldBloom · M
@Guitarman123 Not everyone was an antisemite who bought the BS that Israel was "oppressing" the Palestinians. Back then, most liberals recognized that Israel faced an existential threat to its existence. Today, hatred of Israel by tankies such as yourself comes from equating it with the hated United States, with the Palestinians playing the role of brown people oppressed by the imperialist West even though that's not what's happening. This also explains why the people chanting "from the river to the sea" don't GAF about far worse oppression, with far less justification, going on in Syria, Yemen, Tigray, Xinjiang, and elsewhere. When brown people kill each other, it's difficult to characterize one side as "the West" so there's no point in paying attention.
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