Papa’s Got a Brand New Flag:
Why African Americans Need a New Symbol of Freedom

Today, the governor of South Carolina , Nikki Haley called for the removal of the Confederate flag from the SC State Capital. And that’s a good thing. Personally, I believe that anything even resembling a Confederate flag needs to be used for toilet paper at Taco Bell…

For many white Southerners , the Confederate flag represents the heritage of their ancestors, but for me it represents the last thing my ancestors saw before they were hanged from trees in the South Carolina swamps.

Now, I know people in SC are having victory cookouts right now and having “We Shall Over Come” karaoke concerts But , don’t expect me to be overly, over joyed with the symbolic gesture of removing the Confederate rag.

To be historically correct, just as much injustice was done to African Americans under the Stars and Stripes as was done under the Stars and Bars. Matter of fact, even today, in the cities where many of the racist acts are happening, Old Glory is waving proudly. And the police officers who are committing terrible acts of violence against black kids aren’t pledging allegiance to the Confederate flag, they are pledging allegiance to the Red, White and Blue.

As black people we need our own flag to represent our heritage. Matter of fact we already have one.

According to the late historian, Dr. Tony Martin in his work, Race First, in 1920 The Honorable Marcus Garvey , in his Declaration of Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World adopted the Red Black and Green flag as the official symbol of the “African race.” According to Dr, Martin, Red stands for “the color of the blood which men must shed for their redemption and liberty.” Black for “the color of the noble and distinguished race to which we belong.” And Green “for the luxuriant vegetation of our Motherland.” Marcus Garvey was the leader of the UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association) which, at its height boasted two million members.

So, in 2015 its time for black people to start waving our own flags again.

On July 4th, African Americans should once again adopt the Red, Black and Green Flag as our official symbol. There should be Red, Black and Green flags on black households, clothing and license plates from McKinney TX, to Baltimore MD, to Charleston SC.

Back in the , 60’s James Brown had a hit song with “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” however today we are saying “Papa’s Got a Brand new Flag.”

If we really want to stop, not only racism and police brutality but also our children from killing each other in the street, we have to give them something to be proud of.

As Marcus Garvey once said, “Show me the race or the nation without a flag, and I will show you a race of people without any pride.”

Min. Paul Scott is founder of the Durham NC based Messianic Afrikan Nation. He can be reached at (919) 972-8305 or [email protected]
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