Crack cocaine: Brazil’s response to its Black majority
Beyond the Rhetoric
It started in the jungles of the Amazon and is now infesting the streets of the favelas (ghettos) of Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro. Crack addiction is out of control in Brazil. In fact, Brazilians are the biggest consumers of crack and cocaine in the world. Keep in mind that Brazil has more than 100 million Black citizens, which makes it second only to Nigeria in Black population. That’s two and a half times the Black population of the United States. How this has come to be is mysterious. But one thing is for sure: it predominantly affects the Black populace of the nation. It also reminds us of the targeted assault of crack on our own Black population.
Brazil is a former colony of Portugal. The Portuguese took a ship full of African slaves to the Vatican.
They were seeking the Pope’s blessing. He received the slaves and blessed what the Portuguese were about to do. Thus, the greatest holocaust in history—transatlantic African slavery was begun. Portugal claimed Brazil in the year 1500 and the first slaves were delivered in 1525. There are villages in southeastern Brazil where the villagers still speak their native African languages. Unlike the United States, which went through a civil war and reconstruction for the immersion of Africans into the general population, Brazil and other South American nations ended slavery during the 1880s abruptly and had no transition for the newly freed Blacks.
The nation tries to hide its blackness. They are officially in denial about disparity. Blacks are 52 percent of the population but, in a nation where voting is mandatory, Blacks have less than 10 percent of the elected officials. They have no economic base and any Black celebrity such as an athlete, singer or actor is expected to marry someone White. Some day there is going to be a struggle in this predominantly Black nation.
How is cocaine being brought into this large nation? I have read various articles about the situation, but no one seems to identify the source. It could be using the model of the United States, with the difference being that Brazil trafficking started in the rural areas with the cities being the final market.
In the United States, The CIA wanted to fund a revolution in Nicaragua and were denied by Congress.
Thus, they came up with a funding scheme. They would introduce crack to Black neighborhoods in the United States and come up with quick cash to buy arms for Nicaraguan rebels. They recruited a bright, entrepreneurial middle-class guy living in Los Angeles by the name of Ricky Donnell Ross. Rick Ross put the first crack house in America at 69th and Hoover. That was 11 blocks south of my Aunt Lula’s home. His distribution source would be two fledgling gangs: Crips and Bloods.
Los Angeles always had gangs. But they were social units like the Slausons, Business Men and Del Vikings. These new groups are murdering machines and would soon infest the entire nation with the crack plague. In the end, Ross had mastered a $600 million enterprise and only had to do 14 years in prison. The damage done by this CIA-sponsored activity was very serious, and it is still having a detrimental effect on our society.
The addiction level in Brazil is raging into a severe fury. No one seems to know how it is coming into the nation. Ha! Like the United States, there is some level of cooperation. The United States would use two major street gangs. The Brazilians have three gangs running their operation. There is a lack of much police activity. The only official activity to stop this plague is the social work industry. People will visit these “crack lands” that are located near favelas and try to convince addicts to enter rehab. They are basically ignored. Very rarely will you see police or military trying to suppress the drug activity.
These gangs operate with impunity within the favelas. They are more like the local government and organized crime can flourish within their territories. Brazil is known for its corruption at all levels, and the crack business seems to have found very friendly territory. We, in the Black Diaspora, should not be quiet about this. There are evil people profiting off the misery of Black folk, and where is the outrage?
The government has announced that it will fund $2.2 billion for further rehab and education efforts, but that probably will do nothing to stop the rise in addiction. A very large Black population is at risk and the world seems to ignore it.
Alford is the co-founder, president/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce®. Website: www.nationalbcc.org. Email: halford@nationalbcc.org.
DISCLAIMER: The beliefs and viewpoints expressed in opinion pieces, letters to the editor, by columnists and/or contributing writers are not necessarily those of OurWeekly.
The congressional hearings on May 8 may become the beginning of the end for Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Three credible eyewitnesses of the Benghazi consulate assault last Sept. 11, 2012, finally got to give their accounting of it. They had been kept from the FBI, all committees of Congress—Senate and House, media and anyone else in the world. It was through the Whistleblower Program that they came to tell the real story.
“Oh what a tangled web we weave ….”
The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, is starting to rear its ugly head. Many of us think the concept is dangerous and costly. What is evolving is that it is the worst thing to ever happen to the U.S. economy. Right now this is clear: the federal government has taken over our healthcare industry. It has taken it over without any expertise or clear strategy. Almost daily new horrors are popping up. My brothers and sisters we are about to emulate Sweden and Canada. Socialized medicine is coming to America.
Let me first say that I believe a woman should have the right to an abortion. It is the law, and each person has his or her own decision to make. However, since the court decision, Roe v. Wade, the amount of abortions in this nation have been on a steady rise. Black abortions are now at an epidemic rate, and a lot of God’s children are being snuffed out without a chance of life.
All cities have street gangs. Some can be violent and others can be criminal organizations. Los Angeles, without a doubt, is the world hub of ethnic street gangs. Blacks have the Bloods, Crips and Pirus while Asian Americans have the Asian Boyz, Fullerton Boys, Kkangpae, Menace of Destruction, and Satanas.
Chinese have the Four Seas, United Bamboo Gang, Wah Ching and White Dragon while Whites have Armenian Power, Aryan Brotherhood, Hells Angels MC, Nazi Low Riders and Public Enemy No. 1.
This is the beginning of a series of articles about street gangs in our nation. Gone are the days back in the 1960s and before when gangs were social organizations and were geographically linked. Beginning in the 1970s, these street gangs evolved into criminal organizations. They are the generators of murder, drugs, robbery, etc. No longer are they cool or cute. They are pure savages craving fast money and a fast lifestyle. This week let’s take a look at Detroit.
One of the earliest gangs was the Errol Flynns. They took the name from the Caucasian movie star.
