Throughout history, the fight for Health, Wealth, Wisdom, and Justice has been manipulated by forces that claim to be allies while working to maintain existing power structures. The Civil Rights Movement, widely perceived as a victory for Black liberation, was systematically co-opted by institutions such as Harvard and other Ivy League schools, steering it away from radical change and into controlled reform. As Malcolm X warned, "The white man will try to satisfy us with symbolic victories rather than economic equity and real justice." Similarly, in Kenya, freedom fighter Pio Gama Pinto understood how colonial powers used deception to maintain control. He was assassinated 3 days after Malcom X for exposing how independence movements were being undermined by economic policies that left the same power structures intact. The fight for human rights—whether in America or Africa—has always been about land, economic self-sufficiency, and the right to determine one’s own destiny. Today, the same tactics used against Malcolm X and Pinto are being played out in the fight for Black land ownership, as seen in the USDA’s exploitative treatment of Black farmers.
Co-Opting the Movement: How Ivy League Institutions Betrayed Black Liberation
Malcolm X argued that civil rights were not just an American issue but a global human rights struggle, demanding international accountability for the oppression of Black people. Yet, Ivy League institutions like Harvard played a pivotal role in ensuring that the movement remained within legal and legislative boundaries—never touching on true economic empowerment or sovereignty.
These institutions produced the lawyers and policymakers who helped craft civil rights legislation, but they ensured that the movement's victories were symbolic rather than systemic. As a result:
The push for integration replaced demands for land ownership and financial autonomy.
Black leaders who called for self-determination were either marginalized, criminalized, or assassinated.
The structures of white economic dominance remained intact while Black communities were told that "equality" had been achieved.
This betrayal echoes what Pio Gama Pinto warned against in post-colonial Africa: "Independence without economic liberation is a sham." In the U.S., civil rights laws provided legal recognition, but without access to land and wealth, the struggle for true justice was far from over.
The USDA and Black Farmers: A Continuation of Colonial Tactics
Today, the struggle for land justice continues as the USDA engages in modern-day economic colonization. After decades of land theft, discriminatory lending practices, and legal loopholes that stripped Black farmers of their property, the USDA now presents itself as a benefactor by offering loans instead of reparations.
This mirrors the same deceptive strategies used during the Civil Rights Movement:
Rather than returning stolen land, the USDA offers debt, ensuring Black farmers remain financially dependent on the very system that exploited them.
Federal policies that once facilitated land theft are now replaced with complex loan agreements that control Black land use.
Like Ivy League institutions controlling civil rights policy, government institutions present false solutions that preserve power rather than dismantle injustice.
Pio Gama Pinto understood how these systems operate, warning that economic control would always be used to neutralize independence movements. The U.S. government, like colonial regimes in Africa, grants limited reforms while ensuring economic structures remain unchanged. Malcolm X echoed this sentiment, stating, "You can’t have capitalism without racism."
This is a Human Rights Issue
The Civil Rights Movement was never just about legal equality—it was about human rights: the right to land, economic independence, and self-determination. When institutions like Harvard dictate the terms of Black liberation, and when the USDA controls land ownership through financial dependence, they are violating fundamental human rights.
At Creation of Society, we recognize that these tactics are not just historical—they are ongoing. That is why our principles of Health, Wealth, Wisdom, and Justice demand that we challenge these false solutions and push for true sovereignty.
Health: We reclaim control over our food systems with initiatives like our Moringa health packs, ensuring that Black communities have the power to nourish themselves.
Wealth: Economic independence means rejecting debt-based solutions and demanding real reparations, land returns, and community-driven financial models.
Wisdom: Understanding history allows us to recognize when we are being deceived. Just as Malcolm X and Pio Gama Pinto exposed controlled opposition, we must be vigilant in questioning who benefits from the solutions being offered today.
Justice: True justice comes from reclaiming what was stolen—whether that means land, wealth, or control over our own futures.
The Path Forward
As Malcolm X said, "The white man is not America’s problem. The white man is the Black man's problem only because we have been forced to depend on him for everything." The same institutions that offered "freedom" during the Civil Rights Movement are now offering "economic aid" to Black farmers—but both are illusions designed to maintain control.
Real justice is not granted—it is claimed. It is time to move beyond symbolic reforms and demand real economic sovereignty, just as Malcolm X and Pio Gama Pinto fought for.
This is a human rights struggle, and we must treat it as such.
-Create Society
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