The violence that unfolded in Milwaukee last weekend in the wake of the fatal police shooting of 23-year-old Sylville K. Smith is symptomatic of a failed capitalistic system that needs to be replaced by socialism.
That, in a nutshell, is the argument of Ahmed Mbalia, senior lecturer emeritus in the Africology Department at the University of Wisconsin — Milwaukee.
“If you’re going to change the conditions, you’ve got to get rid of that system,” Mbalia said of capitalism, which he described as a “violent and vicious” and “anti-collectivist, anti-humanist and anti-egalitarian” system that has — over the course of the past four centuries — stolen people, stolen land and exploited labor.
“There’s no way you can reform it,” Mbalia said. “You can’t have a house that has a crack in it and put some putty or glue on it and expect it to stand, because it is going to crumble. So you have to look at what comes next.”
Mbalia made his remarks as he prepared for the 28th annual Garveyfest — which he has been organizing for nearly three decades through an organization called Africans on the Move.
The theme of this year’s Garveyfest — named so in honor of black nationalist and pan-Africanist leader Marcus Garvey — is “Why Socialism?”
The event is set to take place from 2 to 6 p.m. this Saturday (August 20) at the Parklawn YMCA, located in one of Milwaukee’s several housing projects and just a mile or so from the scene where a police officer shot Smith this past Saturday.
