Activism

COMMENTARY: Based on My Reading of Ethnic History, Jan. 6 ‘Insurrectionists’ Unworthy of Name

Maybe if all those subpoenaed comply, Congress will get to the bottom of what happened that day — that some Republicans loyal to an ex-president who lost the November election were considering a coup. Now there’s a word that doesn’t belong in American democracy.

Published

3 years ago

January 9, 2022

Oakland Post

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. Listen to his show on Facebook on EmilGuillermo.Media. Or on www.amok.com.

Emil Guillermo is a veteran Bay Area journalist and commentator. See more at www.amok.com Twitter @emilamok

By Emil Guillermo

It’s been a year since the Jan. 6th Capitol Riots of 2021. Please don’t call the perps “insurrectionists.”

Call them what they are.

Lawless, unprincipled rioters. Right-wing political looters. Deluded Trump supporters.

Insurrectionists take down authoritarians like Trump in the name of democracy. They don’t put authoritarians in. They usually take them out. Insurrectionists are serious people, not armed lunatics lured by the smell of burnt gunpowder and the sound of broken glass.

But the Jan. 6, 2021 rioters were anti-democracy which disqualifies them from the “I” word.

So, leave the term “insurrectionist” for the history most people don’t even know. It’s the Filipinos, who, after the Spanish American War, stood up to the American imperialists and established a new Philippine republic, said to be the first democracy in Asia. It was so significant that the revolt became known as the Philippine American War.

By that standard, the Jan. 6th rioters just don’t measure up.

And to appreciate it all, it was handy to know a little Filipino American ethnic history.

New Laws for Ethnic History in California

You may have known it if you were taught much about the Philippine American War in high school. Or maybe community college. As of Jan. 1, the framework is in place to make it required in community colleges by 2024, taught at high schools by 2025, and a graduation requirement by 2029.

That still gives seven years for ignorance to fester, but that’s the law.

It’s all too late for one former Skyline grad, Eleanor Wikstrom, who two years ago went east to Harvard.

There she discovered her Filipino-ness. She wanted to know why her mother’s language, Tagalog, wasn’t taught there. There’s no good answer.

Good to see things haven’t changed much from when I was there nearly 50 years ago.

This year, Wikstrom wanted to learn more about what happened after the Philippine American War when the U.S. colonial period began. Simply, they re-educated the Filipinos, seen as illiterate savages or as infantile and unfit for self-rule. So, they taught them all English. The person in charge of education was Fred W. Atkinson. A Harvard man.

That was an emotional moment for Wikstrom, who, like many Filipino Americans, understand colonialism is in our historical DNA. But then to discover it in the library how Harvard had a role in the “racialized subjugation” took an emotional toll.

In an essay for the Harvard Crimson she wrote, “Of the jagged wound that is U.S. colonization in the Philippines, a gun is smoking in Harvard’s hands.”

She also realized it was a history buried so deep in the archives that it’s a history no one really wants anyone to know or see.

But as I mentioned to her in my podcast conversation (“Emil Amok’s Takeout, Show 104 on Spotify, Apple, etc) once you see it, you can’t “unsee it.”

Of course, who knows if this bit of American Filipino history will be part of the state’s new curriculum. But it does show the value of new laws requiring some exposure to ethnic history.

This isn’t critical race theory, mind you. It’s just history — the things that are hidden in the past but can begin to explain the present.

History can do that. But only if we take the time and responsibility to learn from it.

Emil Guillermo is a veteran Bay Area journalist and commentator. See more at www.amok.com Twitter @emilamok

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Oakland Post: Week of May 14 – 20, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 14 – 20, 2025

Published

15 hours ago

May 16, 2025

Oakland Post

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Activism

The Best Advice for Raising Children: Discipline That Makes Sense

In his book Developing Positive Self Images and Discipline in Black Children, Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu suggests that primary aims for socializing Black children should be: establishing goals related to God and the church; familiarizing children with religious texts like the Bible or Quran; educating them of Black culture like Khemetic (Egyptian) Civilization; enlightening them about Black leaders like Malcolm X and Sojourner Truth; and teaching them to strive to be employers, not employees.

Published

3 days ago

May 13, 2025

Oakland Post

Headshot of Dr. William A. Thomas. Photo courtesy of Dr. William A. Thomas.

By William A. Thomas, Ph.D.

In many African societies, the primary aim of socialization is to raise children to be socially responsible and eventually provide economic support to their parents and extended families. Ghanaian philosopher Kwame Gyekye taught that children are raised to be respectful of the wishes of their parents and extended adult family members.

In his book Developing Positive Self Images and Discipline in Black Children, Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu suggests that primary aims for socializing Black children should be: establishing goals related to God and the church; familiarizing children with religious texts like the Bible or Quran; educating them of Black culture like Khemetic (Egyptian) Civilization; enlightening them about Black leaders like Malcolm X and Sojourner Truth; and teaching them to strive to be employers, not employees.

Effective disciplinary strategies appropriate to a child’s age and development teach them to regulate their behavior; keep them from harm; enhance their cognitive, social, and emotional executive functioning skills; and reinforce the behavioral patterns taught by their parents and caregivers.

Below are some specific guidelines for disciplining children.

Listen to what children are talking about with interest and show them you understand their feelings. Remember, children mirror and learn about their emotional selves by hearing their feelings reflected back to them. Staying on target also means avoiding labels. When children fail to do what is expected, discussing it is helpful rather than saying how stubborn, lazy, dumb, or bad they are. By the same token, more positive labels can be helpful.

Dependability is another essential component of the discipline process. When parents are dependable, their children learn what to expect and are helped to feel secure. When parents are consistent, children learn to trust, that is, predict their parents’ behaviors with certainty. A child thinks, “When I spill something, I will always be asked to wipe it up.” A child thinks, “If I use foul language, I will always be corrected.” A child thinks, “If I take something that doesn’t belong to me, I will always have to give it back.” The ability to predict with certainty leads children to rely on their parents and the village/community in which they live. Children feel safe when they know what to expect.

Conclusions

It takes a village/community to raise the divine gift that is the Black child. Parents look to therapists for guidance concerning a variety of parenting issues, including discipline. Keep in mind that evidence suggests that corporal punishment is both ineffective in the long term and associated with cognitive and mental health disorders. When parents want guidance about the use of spanking, a child therapist can explore parental feelings, help them better define the goals of discipline, and offer specific behavior management strategies. In addition to providing appropriate education to families, the Bay Area Association of Black Psychologists (Bay ABPsi) can refer them to community resources, like parenting groups and classes.

About the Author

Dr. Thomas is a licensed clinical psychologist with a private practice in the SF/Oakland Bay Area and Beaumont. He is a member of Bay ABPsi, a healing resource committed to providing the Post Newspaper readership with monthly discussions about critical issues in Black Mental Health. Readers are welcome to join us at our monthly chapter meetings every 3^rd Saturday via Zoom and contact us at bayareaabpsi@gmail.com.