The Evolution of Revolution
- nebraskansforpeace
- Jul 23
- 10 min read
by Schmeeka Simpson
“Revolution is not just about slogans and rhetoric, but it is literally about making the lives of people better” DJ Bwakali
“If you can make a people believe that Liberation is impossible, if you can make them believe that wanting sovereignty is naïve and dignity is an unrealistic hope, you don’t even have to conquer them anymore, they will remain conquered inside of themselves.” -Shadid Bolson
We are four almost five months into a new but old authoritative regime, so let’s talk Revolution and Evolution, friends! But before we dive deeper into these subjects, we are going to briefly examine the origins (etymology) of what these words actually mean. Many times, we have fears surrounding revolution and evolution that immobilize us and keep us stuck in a loop of self-projected powerlessness. Alright, let's get into it.
revolve(v.)- late 14c., revolven, "to change; change direction, bend around," from Old French revolver and directly from Latin revolvere "roll back, unroll, unwind; happen again, return; go over, repeat," from re- "back, again" (see re-) + volvere "to roll" (from PIE root *wel- (3) "to turn, revolve")
revolution(v.)- late 14c., revolucioun, originally of celestial bodies, "one (apparent) rotation about the earth," also the time required for this, also "act or fact of moving in a circular course," from Old French revolucion "course, revolution" of celestial bodies (13c.) or directly from Late Latin revolutionem (nominative revolutio) "a revolving," noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin revolvere "turn, roll back" (see revolve).
From early 15c. as "a cyclical recurrence, recurrent changes or events" (in reference to seasons, etc.), also "the revolving of a wheel." It is attested by 1660s as "action on the part of an object or person of turning round or moving round a point."
The sense of "an instance of great change in affairs" is recorded from mid-15c. The political meaning "overthrow of an established political or social system" is recorded by c. 1600, from French.
evolve(v.)- 1640s, "to unfold, open out, expand," from Latin evolvere "to unroll, roll out, roll forth, unfold," especially of books; figuratively "to make clear, disclose; to produce, develop," from assimilated form of ex "out" (see ex-) + volvere "to roll," from PIE root *wel- (3) "to turn, revolve." Meaning "to develop by natural processes to a higher state" is from 1832. Related: Evolved; evolving.
Evolution(v.)- 1620s, "an opening of what was rolled up," from Latin evolutionem (nominative evolutio) "unrolling (of a book)," noun of action from past participle stem of evolvere "to unroll" (see evolve).
In essence, based on these definitions you can derive that Revolution truly means to Evolve again and again.
Humanity is circling around the same concepts as our ancestors and oppressors from long ago as history of oppression is repeating itself. – Revolution.
We are at a point in time of the awakening of global consciousness again, a chance to get it right this time with the truths we have now. We are at the point where humanity is demanding to “make clear, produce and develop” these truths for our highest good. -Evolution.
We are examining again these fundamental questions of: what kind of society do we want to create and live in? What does freedom actually mean? What does having rights mean? What does a righteous government look like? What does a healthy community, state, city, and political process look like?
Let's take a look at some revolutions of the past as our point of reference for the climate of revolution we are in today.
The oldest commonly cited Global Revolution is the Agricultural Revolution. The Agricultural Revolution completely changed us, EVOLVED us, and opened up our way of life in the name of progress and dominion in a fashion never before seen throughout antiquity. Pitting us squarely against the traditional ways of living and relating to the earth, sky, seas, and spirit that our prehistoric ancestors adapted and passed down for millennia. Some would undoubtedly argue that while this period initiated the path towards modern-day civilization and technology that we enjoy today, the mass colonization of land, property, and people in the name of progress introduced a negative element that we still feel the impact of now.
On a national scale, the People of the United States have had their own rich and bloody history of in-house revolutions that have evolved the way we look at others in our communities and ourselves. We have always been willing to rise in the face of tyranny at home and abroad if it served our interests. Here are a few examples:
Home Grown Resistors: The Regulators- refers to the Regulator Insurrection, an uprising in Provincial North Carolina from 1766 to 1771 in which citizens took up arms against colonial officials whom they viewed as corrupt. Historians argue the Regulators did not wish to change the form or principle of their government but simply wanted to make the colony's political process more equal. They wanted better economic conditions for everyone, instead of a system that heavily benefited the colonial officials and their network of plantation owners, mainly near the coast. Bassett interprets the events of the late 1760s in Orange and surrounding counties as "...a peasants' rising, a popular upheaval."[1][2][3]
The stated primary aim of the Regulators was to form an honest government and reduce taxation. The wealthy businessmen/politicians who ruled North Carolina saw it as a threat to their power. Ultimately, they brought in the militia to crush the rebellion and hanged its leaders. It is estimated that out of the 8,000 people living in Orange County at the time, some 6,000 to 7,000 supported the regulators.
European Illegal immigrants settled in America fight back
Next time some racist, xenophobic ignoramus states, “Yeah, my ancestors were immigrants, but they came here legally,”... ask them, “Are you sure? If your ancestors were European, it is highly likely they were considered Illegal Immigrants during their time”. As a matter of fact the only people in the United States from another country that can rule out being considered an illegal immigrant AT ANY TIME were those who were forced to come here through legal slavery. How’s that for irony?
According to “In Mecklenburg County in 1765, the "illegal settlers" were primarily Scots-Irish and German Lutherans, who had settled the area without proper legal land grants from the Crown. They were part of a wave of migration from other colonies who had settled in what was considered the ‘backcountry’ and were unwilling to accept that the land they had worked hard to improve belonged to someone else, such as English land speculators.”
White on White crime - On May 7, 1765, these immigrants of Sugar Creek and Reedy Creek attacked a surveying party. One member of the party was publicly whipped, while another was hit with a club and ended up with a cracked skull.
The American Revolution is, of course, the war between Britain and the 13 Colonies of the pre-United States of America.
It's always been about Class- When the Revolutionary War ended in 1783, European business partners refused to extend lines of credit to Massachusetts merchants and insisted that they pay for goods with coin or hard currency, despite the country-wide shortage of such currency.
The rural farmers and their families were unable to meet the demands of suppliers and the government authorities, and began to lose their land and other possessions when they couldn’t pay their taxes or debts. These outcomes understandably led to hard feelings against the lawyers, tax collectors, courts, judges, enforcers, and creditors who seized their properties.[13] Veterans were underpaid during the Revolutionary War and oftentimes had problems getting their pay from the State. In 1780, Daniel Shays left the army without his pay and then wound up in debtors’ courts with no hope of relief, no matter how hard he worked or fought for his country’s independence. Shays then realized that he was not alone in his troubles and began organizing for collective debt relief, and a good old-fashioned US rebellion was born.
A farmer named "Plough Jogger" summed up his experience at a community meeting amongst his peers:
“I have been greatly abused, have been obliged to do more than my part in the war, been loaded with class rates, town rates, province rates, Continental rates, and all rates ... been pulled and hauled by sheriffs, constables, and collectors, and had my cattle sold for less than they were worth ... The great men are going to get all we have and I think it is time for us to rise and put a stop to it, and have no more courts, nor sheriffs, nor collectors nor lawyers.”
Doesn’t all of this sound eerily familiar?
From Nat Turner's Rebellion to the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movements, to Black August. From the Women’s Movements to Stonewall. Revolution seems to have been our perpetual inheritance in these “United States” and continues to call us to task with every corrupted politician, every biased law or decree, on every passing day.
"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.". – Declaration of Independence
There are several common themes we can take from all these revolutions previously mentioned, these revolutions were all birthed from the same components. A feeling of civil and/or economic oppression, a desire for change, improvement, growth, and higher purpose… as well as the demand for the freedom to pursue these advanced quests.
What is also common, especially amongst the American Revolutions, is that they all failed. The powers that control our external circumstances are more powerful than they ever have been. The implementation of technology, surveillance, mass communications, and militarization has been interwoven into the fabric of our daily lives.
However, it is our job to study and learn from the mistakes of the past revolutions and evolve. Evolve from revolutions that spin us round and round in the same cycles of powerlessness, poverty and pain, debt and despair from century after century. The very components that seem to be our problems in forwarding our evolution either have to be destroyed or turned into solutions. Because remember the System isn’t broken.. it’s working exactly how it was originally designed. This system was originally designed to do the breaking of people through poverty and oppression. The system is working and has been working very well to break us over and over. Today, globally, from the United States to Africa, we are tired of repeating the same cycles of revolution that produce no changes, just brokenness. So now let us engage in the highest forms of revolutions that don’t just lift weapons and voices in anger and war, but also lift minds and hearts to transform us into the best versions of ourselves, so we don’t have to keep going in circle after traumatic circle, century after traumatic century.
We are ready to EVOLVE, to roll into a new and better future.
I will close with these words from the President of Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traore. President Traore is a Freedom Fighter actively resisting tyranny from modern-day colonists and imperialistic powers (yes, including the U.S., using their same old tactics in Africa). Let his words resonate with you on behalf of the common people, whether you are in Africa, here in the U.S., or ANYWHERE else in the world. We literally and truly are the change we want to see.
“Power does not start at the top, it starts at the bottom, it starts with you.
The farmer who rises before dawn, the mother who feeds her children before she feeds herself, the man who refuses to steal even when he is hungry, the girl who walks 5 miles for education every day, the street sweeper, the mechanic, the nurse, the tailor, the teacher, the water carrier, you are the foundation, you are the pulse of Africa.
But here is the tragedy, you have been taught to wait, to hope that change will come from someone else. To clap when crumbs are thrown at your feet, to fear questioning authority, even when that authority fails to protect you. This mindset must end.
We must tear down this invisible wall that separates the leaders from the people, the informed from the unheard, the elites from the everyday heroes, because true leadership does not rule, it serves and service without accountability is tyranny in disguise…
That’s why the system prefers you powerless. They thrive when you are too exhausted to resist, too distracted by survival to organize. When you are taught that politics is dirty and not your concern but every price hike, every failed hospital, every land grab, these are political decisions and by not engaging, by not questioning, we become complicit in our own oppression.
But once the people awaken, the tide shifts. The youth refuse to be silenced, once the mothers speak truth to power, and once the elders remember the strength of their voice… no dictator, no puppet regime can stand from protest to participation.
REVOLUTION is not always a fiery explosion, sometimes it is quiet. It happens when a young person registers to vote, when a market woman refuses to pay a bribe, when neighbors gather to fix a broken road without waiting for the government. This is your mandate not just to resist BUT TO REBUILD.
To do this we MUST RECLAIM five sacred rights.
1) The Right to question and ask why, ask how and demand clarity whether it is a village chief or a president, authority must answer to you.
2) The right to organize, join hands and create unions, and form cooperatives to stand not as individuals but as a united voice.
3) The right to information, know who owns your land and know where your taxes go. Knowledge is power and it is your right.
4) The right to refuse injustice, refuse manipulation, refuse to be a pawn. Resistance is your sacred inheritance.
5) The right to dream. Dream not just of change. Envision the Africa your children deserve and begin building it today.
This is not just a fight for the government.
Yes, leadership matters, yes corruption must be purged, yes puppet regimes must fall but a just Africa cannot rise on political will alone, it needs a people awakened, a people who refuse to settle, a people who will no longer be ruled by fear but lead by conviction. You are not spectators, you are co-architects of the new Africa. Every action matters, every voice counts, every ripple becomes a wave.
By now you must understand that we are not in a battle of guns, we are in a battle of narratives, control and fear. The institutions that chain us or the silent elite who never show their faces are not afraid of our armies they are afraid of our awakening.”-
Our shared mandate is to demand truth, to reject fear, to build a continent that finally honors the dignity of its people. Power is not something given it is something realized and today you must realize you are not powerless. Seek a reckoning that fears your awakening.- Ibrahim Traore’
Viva la Evolocion!
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