Past a Tremendous Bowl halftime present
I’m not even going to entrance. Lots of these unimaginable, pro-Black, anti-fascism messages that Kendrick Lamar blessed the world with throughout his Tremendous Bowl halftime efficiency final weekend went over my head. Possibly that’s telling my age. However what my years on this planet have made clear to me is that we Blackfolk spend a lot time specializing in “the present” that we don’t even get into “the sport.” Past all of the Drake disses, Lamar powerfully used his artwork to name out America’s historical past of stealing Black labor to construct white energy, whereas confining us to the jail yard. And we’ve been speaking about it ever since. And that’s my level. Even with messages calling out oppressive programs, we’re nonetheless so targeted on “the present” that not a lot motion is being made to get into “the sport.” The sport of confronting these oppressive programs in order that they cease oppressing. The sport of constructing our personal programs so we could be self-determining. As proficient, creative, and artistic as we’re, it’s no shock we will placed on present. However quiet because it’s stored, we invented the sport of civilization-building, problem-solving, and solution-creating. That’s the sport we have to be in now greater than ever.
Time to Present and Inform
We’ve all heard the phrase “I can present you higher than I can inform you.” And it makes completely good sense. Actions do communicate louder than phrases. Additionally, we will actually say something with our mouths (ex: “Child, I like you”), however our actions (ex: abuse, disrespect, gaslighting, and so on.) present our true coronary heart. Concerning Black historical past, we’ve historically been an “I can present you higher than I can inform you” individuals. We do the work, create the issues, set the requirements, after which go on about our enterprise. However not being self-determining about telling our story is doing us a disservice. Once we don’t inform our story, different folks can swoop in and inform any sort of nonsense about “our story,” and their model turns into “reality.” We’ve acquired to step up our recreation with regards to telling our story; telling of the historical past our ancestors made again within the day, and the historical past we’re making day by day. Folks who’re anti-Black are likely to have a god-complex, considering they’ve the appropriate to inform, personal, and outline our story. Bump that! Let’s proceed to indicate our ancestral genius and do a greater job of telling it – to everyone together with ourselves, to remind us (in February and past) that “we them ones.”
FAFO information
Every single day, with every new government order coming from y’all’s POTUS, “We the Folks” are getting punk-slapped with democracy-eroding, in-your-face fascism. Every single day that Elon Musk (the true POTUS) is allowed to dictate US home and overseas coverage and have unencumbered entry to all of our private info, our “rights” are reworking into wrongs. The killing of USAID, arguably the biggest humanitarian aid-delivering entity on Planet Earth. The shutting down of nationwide entities that maintain us abreast of well being points. The shutting down of companies meant to guard common residents from predatory gazillionaires’ efforts to rob us blind. The killing of DEI applications and funding, (that, FYI, profit white girls greater than some other group). This stuff are hurting the people who elected the present POTUS. However they’re hurting us worse. And no quantity of laughing on the FAFO crowd will change that. Solely motion to battle for the world we wish.
