Liberation not Representation
A celebration of Juneteenth
“Simply because someone shares race, gender, or another aspect of identity does not guarantee loyalty or that they will act in the best interest of Black communities.”
You hear it all the time from lots of people, we need more representation, we have to have representation of different ethnicities, sexualities, genders. Representation is being presented like the elixir to ending discrimination. Like it’s a pill this racist, misogynist, anti-LGBTQ+ society can swallow to heal.
Well like a lot of pills, representation doesn’t work and has a horrible side effect of further legitimizing capitalism. Representation is like one of those pills that you are supposed to take for your headache but it gives you unstoppable diarrhea. I’ve never gotten diarrhea from headache medicine but I’m sure it’s happened to someone.
Capitalism depends on the gender, racial, sexuality hierarchy in our society and having more Black people in a commercial just shows Black people that look you too can gain from this racist system. This is not possible. It’s like trying to get unhigh by smoking more weed. Sure some people can acquire wealth under capitalism but the majority of Black people will not because this system is built off their backs.
Our phones are powered by Congolese slave labor, our chocolate is powered by slave labor from the Ivory Coast and Mali. We saw who the essential workers were during quarantine. Who was delivering sweatpants and who was making their own sourdough?
I’m sorry if the chocolate thing makes your periods even sadder because now you can’t eat your favorite period snack without crying. However, if we get rid of capitalism, you won’t have to be working on excel worksheets while your vagina is shedding its lining. So if you needed additional motivation.
The push towards representation has also given us people like Lori Lightfoot and Eric Adams. Both people on whom I have spent a lot of my personal time criticizing for passing anti-Black laws while being Black. If there is a suite in hell for serving capitalists while pretending to be down, Lori and Eric will be roasting there. We are already in hell and they are not roasting so the most I can hope for is that they stub their toes wherever they go.
Representation will not give us freedom. The only thing that will give us freedom is liberation, freedom is literally in liberation’s description. So yes, you may enjoy the Beyonce concert but please don’t think that watching Blue Ivy dance with her mother will free us. The only thing that will free us is destroying capitalism.
This week’s delights were inspired by the idea that liberation from capitalist tyranny is our only path to freedom. We can dance to Beyonce’s Freedom as we tear down capitalism. Onto the delights…
The poem
This poem was inspired by moments in my life where I felt like my Blackness was under attack. Which, spoiler alert, is every day because this world was built by people like Tucker Carlson who I always say is today’s George Washington. It’s called I love my Blackness.
I love my Blackness
They used to say my hands were pretty because unlike the rest of me they are yellow
My face is black I mean not really black but a very dark brown assigned to Blackness
I love my Blackness but they tell me it’s wrong to love it
They tell me I’d be prettier if my Blackness was the yellow hue of my hands
I love my Blackness but they tell me not to love it
They tell me I’d be prettier if my kinky hair is straightened
I love my Blackness but they tell me not to love it
They tell me I’d be prettier if I quietly obey
I will not obey
I love my Blackness and my Blackness demands I scream and fight until we are all free
The art
This art inspired today’s delight
The video
New stand up bit about abolishing borders because borders are the antonym to freedom
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The Book Recommendation
Read As Black as Resistance: Finding the Conditions for Liberation by Zoé Samudzi and William C. Anderson to learn more about what will lead us to Black liberation.
That’s it for the delights!
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P.S. If you want to see me tell the news live and do other shenanigans, my next monthly Brooklyn IRL show Feel the News is on July 1st!
Completely agree about representation not being the path to liberation. Thanks for another great column. 😁👏