Seize the Time

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[1969]
Parole e musica di Elaine Brown, l'unica donna ai vertici del Black Panthers Party tra il 1974 ed il 1977.
Nell'album “Seize The Time - Black Panther Party”, composto dalla Brown su richiesta del Movimento. Con The Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra diretta da Horace Tapscott.

Non è certo una CCG questa, che il BPP aveva dichiarato guerra allo Stato razzista e alla sua polizia, ma è una canzone di resistenza, di resistenza armata. Allora era un'opzione che divenne legittima per molti afroamericani, soprattutto dopo l'assassinio il 4 aprile del 1968 di Martin Luther King, emblema dell'altra via, quella non violenta.
“Seize The Time” è stato uno degli slogan più famosi del BPP, coniato in quegli anni da Robert George "Bobby" Seale, uno dei pochi suoi dirigenti che non sia morto ammazzato.

Elaine Brown, quando era portavoce del BPP

Elaine Brown – abbandonata dal padre in tenera infanzia e cresciuta con grande fatica e dignità dalla madre - fu una dirigente delle Black Panthers, prima una sorta di ministro della cultura, poi la referente principale. Ma prese le distanze dal movimento già nel 1977, a causa del machismo e del paternalismo imperante al suo interno, dove nemmeno la violenza veniva risparmiata alle donne che non sottostavano alla cultura maschilista.
Nel 1969 e nel 1973 Elaine Brown realizzò due album per il BPP, “Seize The Time” e “Elaine Brown”

Black Panthers Party's breakfest for children program

The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was founded in Oakland, California in 1966. The group’s leaders were Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, two college-educated activists who were frustrated with the goals of integration and nonviolence. They argued that the civil rights movement had been ineffective. They pointed out that many African Americans were still poor and powerless.
The Black Panthers felt that Oakland’s police force had targeted African Americans for harassment and brutality (violence). Group members bought guns and followed police officers around African American neighborhoods. They did not confront the police, but stated that they would protect African Americans who were unfairly attacked. These actions scared many Americans. The FBI created a secret program to stop the Panthers. Oakland police raids also resulted in the arrests and deaths of several Black Panther members.
The group also established programs to help African American communities. They established a free hot-breakfast program that eventually served 200 children a day. They also hosted reading lessons, summer school programs, and self-defense classes. Although the Black Panthers was a male-dominated group, they were also led by a woman for several years during the 1970s.
The Black Panther Party struggled to survive for over 15 years. Some of their leaders were accused of violence and imprisoned. Other leaders fled the country to avoid trial and others were killed by the police. In 1982, the group crumbled under the weight of unstable leadership, rumors of illegal activity, and declining membership.
(da Bower, Bert, et. al., “The Civil Rights Movements”. Teachers’ Curriculum Institute: California: 1999, pages 128-140).

You tell me that the sun belongs
To you and should surround you
But, when I turn to look
I see they've snatched
The sun from all around you.

Why you hardly seem
To want what's yours
You hardly seem to care
If you love the sun
It's where you've come from
Then you had better dare

To Seize The Time
The time is now
Oh, Seize The Time
And you know how.

You tell me that the soul is real
And your soul must survive
Yet, I see they've taken liberties
With your souls and your lives.

Don't tell me that you lack concern
For all that you must be
'Cause I know you know
You must not be turned
And I know that you can see

To Seize The Time
The time is now
Oh, Seize The Time
And you know how.

You worry about liberty
Because you've been denied
Well, I think that you're mistaken
Or then, you must have lied.

'Cause you do not act
Like those who care
You've never even fought
For the liberty you claim to lack
Or have you never thought

To Seize The Time
The time is now
Oh, Seize The Time
And you know how.

envoyé par Bernart Bartleby - 16/2/2017 - 21:21

Il testo di "Seize The Time" fu pubblicato sul Broadside Magazine #107 del giugno del 1970.

Ho preferito non contribuire il video dell'interpretazione originale, pur presente su YouTube, perchè le immagini utilizzate non corrispondono in alcun modo al testo.

Bernart Bartleby - 16/2/2017 - 21:50