Treason to Whiteness is Loyalty to Humanity

asheville | rights and freedoms | commentary Sunday November 18, 2007 16:04 by Suncere Manik Shakur - Dreadlock Society ,Asheville N.C.

Treason to Whiteness is Loyalty to Humanity

I just got back from volunteering in New Orleans for 73 weeks i helped found A group called Common Ground Collective under Malik Rahim .While i was there i set up distribution center in Houma La. two in St.Bernard Parrish and Morgan City .Help save a the unjust closing of ST. Augustine a church were Jazz was born.Set up two children free breakfast programs and a legal clinic.The racism i faced was enough to finally ware down a already burned out man.So i came back home to get away from racism to hide from it and it found me i just never thought it would find me in a CO-OP.Tomorrow i meet Management due to the fact the next day after my firing i was in front of there store protesting with a sign that read I GOT FIRED BECAUSE I WAS A UPPIDY NIGGA

As a member of the French Board CO-OP Family I feel its my duty to inform you about the running of our most prized position .I wish to share with you my experience as an employee here. Before I start I want to say thank you to all the of the staff folks I worked with you guys open up and took me right in ,and thank you for excepting me for me.

I am writing this letter to you because I feel there is a certain amount of responsibility we have to the CO-OP as a community we may hire people from the outside to be custodians of our collective property. But by no means are they to act out in a way that will hurt our collective vision for the future of the collective.

Those custodians I speak of is our Operations Manager and the Grocery Manager. I worked for the CO-OP for four months with a and schedule I would have to come in everyday and ask the Grocery manager Chris Roland when could I work .So it get really crazy when the other day Chris give me a hand written schedule and then fire me the next day.

I was on time and I worked really hard, management had it so good that they could walk next door were I live and knock on the door if they ever had a hole in the schedule so I was always in position to help them. I had asked over and over about money and when was I going to be put on the schedule. For months I was ignored and told three to two weeks and Chris himself told me he did not know why Steve the Operations manager was being so evasive about my wage and hours. But I continued to worked and cover facility and grocery shifts some time doing them both in one shift

.I was always told I was doing a good job maybe expect one time Chris lifted the toilet set and show me brown shit I missed on the back of the toilet bowl.
Ok, so Monday the Nov.12th I was off from work feeling really sick since I live next door to the CO-OP I went next door to get some ginger to burn the cold out. There I was stopped by Steve and he asked me if I could clock in and mop the second floor and clean the bath room up there too. So even through I was sick I was hick I still can make few dollars. So I did the job it took maybe 45 minutes Steve walks in the bathroom while the floor was still wet and turn around and smile at me and walk into his office as to say good job or at lest that’s how I took it.

So I was surprised the next day when I was told by Chris that Steve was really pissed at me for not cleaning the bathroom. I told Chris that Steve must be mistaken because I clean the bathroom and I went into detail how I clean it. I was a little up set because I could not understand why had my action would warrant him being upset with me.

So Chris asked me are you calling Steve a liar and I was like “what else do you want me to say I clean the bathroom , so are you calling my boss a liar and I broke down and said the only thing I could say but “yes.”
So I after that was out the way you gave me a three day hand written schedule for the next three weeks and that was the end of that or at lest I thought so. I came into work later that night Steve and Chris was there I finish my task asked if my supervisor could check over my work she cleared me and I went home. The next morning coming from the YMCA pool on my way to work I was met in the CO-OP parking lot by Chris and told that I was fired because I had called had boss a liar and that I did not have the attitude that they wanted to have on the other side of the collective bargaining table . All this because I had a slit disagree with Management.I will miss my new family i gained in CO-OP

Suncere Ali Shakur.
p.s.J you need help too