“Our task is not to teach the unconscious to be conscious; but to make them conscious of their unconscious behavior. Because unconsciously, instinctively, they seek freedom.”
“You must never get discouraged in struggle. You will build something, and the enemy will knock it down, and you’ll have to start from zero…. The easiest way for the enemy to take you out is to make you frustrated and disgusted.”
-Kwame Ture
The ultimate class war has arrived… or has it?
With Hollywood in the process of burning (via multiple workers’ strikes, plus the bevy of cases against various celebrities), general wildcat strikes and mass quittings, as well as CEOs on their guard more than ever; class inequities and economic disparities are more evident than ever. There’s also been a growing disillusionment with the idea of ‘America’, and the relationship of the U.S. to the rest of the world.
Despite being in the middle of fulfilling several assignments, i am writing this piece; because my brain has somehow been wired to always be functioning on all cylinders. i suppose it is that ‘impulse’ aspect of ADHD- another subject i will write about at another time… when i am in the middle of several assignments, of course. That said, within the last day or two, a couple of thoughts ran through my mind, which i ended up sharing with some friends and comrades:
“This is one i imagine telling folks who support what is happening in Syria… ‘because Assad.’
imagine you are a person (Palestine), finally able to utilize the tools to escape your abusive partner (Israel). A neighbor (Syria) has been the most helpful in your journey, giving you a ton of tools to plan your escape.
ANOTHER neighbor (the US, liberals, etc.) sees how the initial neighbor has been helping you, but hates the initial neighbor so much, because other than helping you, they aren’t the greatest person. Instead of helping you in the same ways the initial neighbor does though, they just do a bad mouthing campaign, thereby leading you back to your abuser.“
And:
“i think this ‘CEO incident’ is a perfect example of why organization and political education are crucial.
The person who got arrested, capitalist media is once again using the opportunity to highlight how ideologically undeveloped he is. The dude takes issue with the death cult of the insurance industry; however, he is not ‘anti-capitalist’ like the press has been saying. What he did was personally motivated; it just happens to be that the majority of people in this country connected with what he did, because most people experience the same thing. It’s clear that he, a person with relative economic privilege, received the same treatment as everyone else regarding medical care; so it should show anyone that capitalism is no respecter of political identity.
Yes, you could say he committed ‘class suicide’ (if you wanna be technical); however, what he did was NOT a revolutionary act like some are claiming, because (a. His act was personally motivated and (b. the action was not based on ideological consistency.
Capitalist media aims for these ‘expose pieces’ on him to again, divert attention from the inhumanity of these capitalist death cults, and have people fighting among themselves about the ‘left/right’ binary again.“
So much of what we observe, we do it viscerally, because we are conditioned to think of everything as an event, versus interconnectedly. We are conditioned to look at every event in a binary way. Many who support Palestinian resistance also cheered for what is called (in both right wing and liberal (and some left circles) as) ‘the fall of Assad’ in Syria, without understanding that this ‘fall’ has now put Palestinians in an inauspicious position, as Syria was one of Palestine’s biggest geopolitical allies- hence, the ‘neighbor’ analogy i made.
Without a dialectical analysis, one would accuse another with that position of being an ‘Assadist’. A lack of a dialectical analysis lacks both critique and context. If the objective is to ensure both the people of Syria and Palestine were strengthened, supporting or advocating for the protracted struggle of the formation of revolutionary blocs would have been a stronger strategic move in my eyes, as opposed to not making a distinction between the forests and trees, and outright praising any Western-backed force to do some semblance of their bidding, because ‘Assad is now gone.’ Utilizing a strategy that can be seen as advantageous to the west, both Palestinians and the people of Syria are more likely to be put in harm’s way.
Doesn’t anyone remember when the U.S. backed the ‘falls’ of both Iraq and Libya, and the context as to why it happened? Do people not remember the aftermath? Doesn’t anyone remember Operation Cyclone– when the U.S. supported the Mujahadeen in the battle against the Soviets in Afghanistan? Do people remember what came of that?
And frankly, we can look to the history of Israel’s support of utilizing Hamas as a counter to the left-wing Fatah Party (until they decided Hamas, like the Mujahadeen, etc. went off script)… History is a great way of informing us of how we can can respond to similar ‘events’; because if we know anything about capitalism and imperialism, their eyes are on the same prizes of the acquisition of land and resources, and the exploitation of labor. ———————————————————————————————————-
“If we are not careful we allow mobilization to become events. The struggle is never an event–it’s a process–a continual, eternal process.”
“Those of us who are revolutionaries are not concerned with issues; we’re concerned with the system. The difference must be properly understood.”
-Kwame Ture
We should observe the arrest of Luigi Mangione (and the events which preceded it) in the same fashion.
His actions were also seen as an ‘event’, unifying a majority of the people who live in the U.S. People saw it as not only avenging the experience they’ve had with ‘insurance injustice’; but also avenging their loved ones who succumbed, due to lack of affordability or rejection of claims.
Similar to what happened in Syria; the U.S. is full of mirth, as it is an opportunity to exploit the anger and pain of the masses. While people are in a state of desperation, capitalism surely recognizes that the anger will dissipate into hopelessness, and focused conversation will fracture into memes… because while the masses may now be unified, the masses are not organized.
We are currently in the process of seeing this. Alongside comments regarding the (deliberate) bewilderment of capitalist media as to why the masses are upset, are the seemingly more frivolous or jocular takes, one example being a focus on Mangione’s looks- unfortunately leading to another conversation that if he were not deemed ‘conventionally attractive’ (or European), there’s the possibility of him not being viewed as prominently as a hero.
As i was writing this, i saw a message a friend sent me. They sent me an image of a portion of a piece from a writer they enjoy, Leo Herrera. The post succinctly describes exactly what i mean: “The ER was packed with folks choosing between groceries and medicine, going bankrupt over these bills. Instead of gratitude or relief, we were all thinking, “What will this cost me?”… Luigi’s popularity is communal grief masked as jokes and lust. We feel so abandoned by this healthcare system- and by extension, this “great” country. We need victories and heroes so badly, we’ll settle for a murder and cheer on an unwell young man. He’s hot AF, though. i hope we unpack this catharsis of solidarity into something more than just memes.” ———————————————————————————————————-
Inspired (and frightened) by the actions of Luigi Mangione, ‘wanted’ posters have been placed across cities, with CEO’s photos on them, and said CEOs are ramping up personal security.
While i could be wrong, something inside of me says the persons who put up the posters are not necessarily coming from the position of revolutionary and organized armed struggle. Just as the news reports are strategic in scaring off both the more liberal and right wing portions of the population (by deeming Mangione an “anti-capitalist” when his admiration for people like Elon Musk (as well as his antipathy towards what he considers the “woke mind virus”) proves he is far from that) or an “extremist”; fear-mongering reports of these posters do nothing but perpetuate an already over-saturated surveillance state, and encourage the passing of more draconian laws.
While we are angry at the death cult of insurance agencies; we must hold the same anger for the government that consistently allocates funds toward state-sanctioned violence, both domestically and internationally- the same government which colludes with corporations to prevent the masses from receiving the care they need, or ensuring that basic material conditions are met for all (such as housing and medical care).
A couple of days after Brian Thompson was shot, the U.S. House Of Representatives passed H.R. 5349: Crucial Communism Teaching Act. This bill (which was was first introduced on 5 September 2023) echoes many other bills that were lying in wait, and were passed at a moment when passion and fear ran high- not unlike S. 735 (104th): Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which was introduced on 27 April 1995, and signed into law by Bill Clinton. Communism is already demonized in this country, and this bill (which is inspired by the heavily debunked by multiple sources (including contributors) The Black Book of Communism) further sets it in stone, proving once again (as if you needed further proof) that McCarthyism never left.
Also proving that there’s not much difference between democrats and republicans, this was supported via bipartisanship- 156 democrats and 172 republicans voted yes for this, while 34 democrats and 27 republicans voted no.
Of course, instead of addressing the contradiction of capitalism and the inequities that fall under its umbrella, the only response by its agents is both the threat and reality of mass criminalization and surveillance…. Which is why simply celebrating the actions of an (ideologically inconsistent) individual who ‘got to one of the bad guys’, albeit unified, can never be a solution.
Brian Thompson may be gone, but another CEO will replace him. You can get rid of all of the CEOs, but until capitalism is severely dismantled or outright destroyed, it will continue to dictate the conditions of distribution (or lack thereof) for medical care (and all other material needs) in this country. You can remove an Assad, but as long as the west participates in and supports that process, the people of Syria (and by extension, Palestine) are not going to immediately be able to participate in self-determination on their terms, in the ways that are hoped or expected. ——————————————————————————————————-
As there are calls to ‘free Luigi Mangione’, we must remember that he currently has a lawyer and is most likely able to afford it, either on his own, or through his family. Most people living in the U.S. most likely can not. Most people in this country are not organized with jail support, community defense or counsel, or mutual aid. Most people will also not be backed with mass support (both on the ground, or on the internet).
While seemingly absolutely planned; what Mangione did, echoing what ancestor comrade Kwame Ture stated, was an unconscious act. It was a reaction to whatever mental and physical pain he was experiencing. His unconscious act surely stirred something within the masses to make connections between said actions and the system which negatively impacts us all. Upon this new awakening, as Kwame Ture also said, we must never get discouraged in struggle. We must stay on message. We must understand if the masses have ideological disunity, capitalism will ensure that susceptibility persists.
In the past week or so, a scenario i bring up a lot in conversation has once again surfaced.
A European friend of mine has invited me to their house, to have dinner with members of their family. All seems fine, until someone (also a European) spouts off racist and queer-antagonist epithets. i, an African, am forced to struggle with this person, while the friend who invited me sits in silence. Once we leave, the friend laments how horrible it was i had to endure said epithets.
The film Get Out has also been on my mind in relation to this scenario; you know, that film which dispels the conventional narrative of the most damaging actors of racist violence. In fact, the film shows this very scenario. While we are conditioned to admonish these caricatures in film and literature as ‘uneducated hicks from the South’; Get Out depicts a more realistic account for many of us: that those who claim to be allies are among the worst offenders.
Many who disassociate themselves from the racist actions and sentiments of those depicted in both scenario and film have potentially voted for Kamala Harris this year, as well as cut themselves off from their Trump-voting family members. This serves as a problem, as the focused perception of racism and racist violence is individualist. It lacks a class analysis (while being simultaneously classist). it lacks intersectional and international awareness.
While we in no way advocate someone staying with an abusive partner; it should be clear that abuse crosses political party lines, and anyone experiencing abuse should find spaces and communities of support and healing. Who we are addressing here are those who renounce membership in families and partnership, simply because those they have renounced voted for Donald Trump. It does lead us to wonder why, if at all, there have been no discussions regarding principles, ideological frameworks or political leanings, prior to November of 2024.
Leaving a partner, friend or family member singularly based on who they voted for is due to a lack of ideological development. It is also, again, an individualist position. What is going to ultimately happen is what ALWAYS happens: The problem becomes urgent when it is personally felt by you, and because you don’t want to deal with it, those who are on the political and social margins are going to have to deal with it. You will once again leave others to deal with what you don’t want to deal with.
Because you go in ‘freeze mode’ and don’t want to deal with your racist uncle, we are being left to deal with him, while you tell us, ‘That’s horrible what my uncle did.’ ________________________________________________________________________________
Concerns regarding a Trump presidency tend to be universalized. When people are lamenting the incoming of further injustices on reproductive health under a Trump administration, the fact that this injustice has ALREADY been happening to African women for decades (and i would argue, the foundation of this country) is barely up for discussion. This has been discussed in variousacademic studies, as well as articles; nor is the fact that violence against trans and gender non-conforming folks has increased over the past few years (during both democrat and republican administrations). There is also little discussion of the “pandemic within a pandemic” of violence against African trans women.
i have also seen little to no discussion regarding the already existingclass inequities/economic disparities of queer and trans communities. The primary problem/contradiction is not Donald Trump. The primary contradiction is capitalism and imperialism.
As i keep saying, Trump is the manifestation of the foundation of this country, which was founded to protect those who uphold white supremacy, patriarchy and class exploitation. Every single president in this country has represented that, and Trump’s role is to uphold it. The difference between Trump and other presidents is that he pronounces that manifestation in the most vociferous manner.
If you are not willing to ideologically struggle with those closest to you, how are you going to be prepared to strategize and struggle against larger systemic structures of oppression- unless you are going to sit back and watch others do that, then reap the benefits of it all when liberation of the masses has finally been achieved?
If this is you, you must ask yourself, which is actually the most harmful- those who remain silent or apathetic in the face of oppression, or those who make mistakes, while actively fighting it?
If people continue to emphasize Trump’s platform as harmful (which most people, outside of his staunchest defenders can agree on) and therefore are want to actively fight; yet continue to rationalize the violence which democrats wage upon the masses every day, simply because it doesn’t appear as egregiously evident (despite there being ample evidence)- which is ultimately more dangerous in the long run?
If you are not willing to struggle with those closest to you based on their voting preferences, how can we expect you to be sustainably present alongside the most marginalized of us, when it actually counts?
We all have to remember that none of us were born (unless we were born into a revolutionary family) with an advanced analysis, and we all have to do decolonizing work every single day of our lives. You voting for Harris (or any democrat) does not make you morally or ethically better than a Trump voter (or any republican), since again, both parties not only support repression of populations in this country through means of state violence, but also contribute to funding and supporting the destabilization of any global movements of self-determination. _______________________________________________________________________________
Imagine another scenario- that i, or anyone who has chosen not to support the capitalist/imperialist duopoly of republican or democrat decided not to talk to our democrat-voting friends, partners and family members, because it was a democrat (Bill Clinton) who signed the 1208 Program into law, under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997? This law (which has expanded into what is now known as the 1033 Program) undoubtedly affects African and poor people directly, via the militarization and mass surveillance of African and poor communities directly.
What if we stopped talking to you because you support a political party that consistently oversees the destabilization of democratically elected governments, as well as sanctions and blockades upon countries that take an anti-imperialist position? What if we stopped talking to you because of the increased building of Cop Cities under the watch of the democrat party, and the repression and imprisonment (and RICO charges) of land protectors, and those who protest police militarism and violence- or, the fact that teachers were fired and students tear gassed (while the democrats’ watch) for protesting US tax dollars being utilized for what is, by various human rights organizations in the world (including Israel-based B’Tselem), either an apartheid state, or a genocide? If we stopped talking to you because we considered you a ‘genocide defender’ for voting for Kamala Harris (or ANY democrat, if we wanna keep it real); would that be a fair assessment on our part?
Would it be disingenuous to see your vote for Harris (or any other democrat) as remaining silent while Palestinians, Africans (both diaspora and Continental) and other folks who have been directly negatively impacted by her policies, both as Attorney General, and as vice president? You know, ‘That’s really horrible what my uncle said/did to you,’ but on a larger level?
Or would it be more productive if we continued to struggle and organize with you, because that is the most effective way we are going to effect actual change against the systems which oppress up all (regardless of who we did or did not vote for)?
Regardless of which of the imperialist warhawks were chosen, not much would change for the material conditions of the working classes and poor folks of this country. State-sanctioned murders of unarmed Africans would still exist. Sanctions and blockades would not be lifted on places around the globe that have challenged imperialism and colonialism and its acronymned appendages.
That said…
Donald Trump’s selection should be of no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to the sociopolitical environment of the imperial core of the U.S. As i’ve written and stated previously, Donald Trump is the manifestation of the foundation of this country. He is also the manifestation of the realization of hypercapitalism, and the individualism that is encouraged within it. He is the realization of the worship of celebrity culture, and the parasocial relationships that have developed in turn.
He is also the realization of an increasing disillusionment with the notion of ‘America’ as a beacon of morality and equitable jurisprudence.
Trump has been selected not only because the billionaire class and political elite align with him (and his (still) political naivete); he has been selected because so many of the masses recognize that the system that exists is devoid of humanism; the dearth of its intersections is evident for all to see. The fact that Trump was selected (despite indictments, impeachments, and more) is, again, the clear manifestation of what this country was founded on, as opposed to the facade of what the ‘party of Kennedy and LBJ’ claimed to be.
You cannot repair a system in which its very foundation is exploitation and death. And with that, the masses spoke. They spoke by either not voting for a candidate at all, or voting for an alternate candidate.
What will happen is that this section of the population will be blamed for ‘letting Trump win’, their reasons ignored. There are those that have lamented and feared a(nother) Trump term, who will admonish the sociopolitically marginalized among us. As i echoed in the previous piece, i will bear no surprise if the recipients of the liberal wrath will be Africans, Arabs, Muslims, student protesters and poor people, Trump voter or not. The racism and classism (be it covert or overt) will perhaps be festering for a good while.
The idea that spamming our emails and phones (or doling out celebrity endorsements) over the past few months was going to guilt trip anyone into voting for a Harris/Walz ticket, is a form of denial of the ever-increasing disillusionment with the democrat party.
While admonishing Trump for a slew of anti-trans advertisements; there are trans people who have not forgotten Harris’ role in preventing gender-affirming care in prisons, as Attorney General in California. Sex workers also have not forgotten. And we all know for certain that the people of Haiti, the Sahel states, Cuba, Venezuela and Palestine have a fresh memory in their minds… with wounds that haven’t even had time to heal.
To tell people that ‘now is not the time’ to make a principled decision to not vote for Harris, despite a genocide being on her watch is ultimately (whether or not people want to acknowledge this) an aspect of right wing ‘American exceptionalism’. Despite U.S. politics affecting the whole world (actively aiming to neutralize any movement of self-determination), it is only what occurs in the U.S. that matters, when it comes to one’s vote. It also reeks of a covert white supremacy, since we are being goaded into ignoring the fact that the majority of places most affected by the hegemonic violence of U.S. empire are occupied by ‘Black and Brown’ and Indigenous people. ————————————————————————————————————
While i am saying that Trump is the manifestation of the foundation of this country; it is clear to see that Kamala Harris is as well. While people are fixated on the titles of ‘democrat’ and ‘republican’, anyone who has seen Harris’ Democratic National Convention (DNC) speech should easily attest that the only differences (if any) are the cultural, low hanging fruit ones, to keep people in a stupor. The material conditions would be the same, as well as international policies. There were LITERALLY chants of ‘USA! USA!,’ as she echoed red scare-era sentiments of defeating China in the tech war, and also as she stated: “As commander in chief, I will ensure America ALWAYS has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world.”
People who claim to be ‘anti-MAGA’ and pro human rights are literally cheering for the U.S. to be the world’s militaristic enforcer. World police, if you will.
As she addressed “the war in Gaza”, advocating for a ceasefire, she also said directly after this: “Let me be clear. I will ALWAYS stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, and I will ALWAYS ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself, because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on October 7.”
She also mentioned (despite it being over a year at this point… No, 77 years) that “what has happened in Gaza over the past ten months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost. Desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, over and over again. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking.” She added that she and Biden were “working to end this war, such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.”
So yes…. talking out of both sides of your mouth is not gonna get you support, especially when “The expansion of Israel and its proxies is vital to US interest.” The man you are supposedly “working to end this war” with has claimed that Israel “is the best three billion (at the time) dollar investment we make.” and that “Were there not an Israel, the US would have to invent an Israel.” This is a man who openly says he is a zionist.
Harris, Biden, Obama, Clinton and any other democrat have always appealed to the right wing. While there was always some hope that these people ‘could be moved to the left,’ their policies have always indicated otherwise.
And by virtue of this clear evidence over the past few years, the people have spoken.
Liberals have taken for granted that because Trump is so egregious., that Harris (or any democrat) should be an obvious choice. It should be noted that it is also egregious to think that one is entitled to a democrat candidate’s vote.
There’s only so far you can take a discussion about ‘reproductive rights’ without acknowledging the US’ role in preventing it for other places around the world. There’s only so far you can be saddened about what is happening to the people of Palestine, without recognizing that the people you vote for are invested in ensuring the ethnic cleansing of the very people you are saddened for, in order to have direct access to the land and resources.
Kamala Harris’ loss is no one’s fault but her own. Displaying an assured hawkishness and taking a cavalier position on a genocide in order to protect fellow settler colonials- and disregarding the voices of those negatively affected by it- is no one’s fault but hers. Allowing protesters’ voices to be silenced, sitting by idly as the state assaults them; stating that the U.S. is ‘a country of laws’ while violating all sorts of human rights across the globe (including consistently voting in favor of a blockade on Cuba)… It is no one’s fault but hers, that the people decided to speak.
i am sure a few people here and there will take what i write here as being in support of Donald Trump, since we are conditioned to process things in a binary way. My only response to that is, go back and read what i have written- not only this post, but past ones as well.
What i AM saying is that, Donald Trump has (once again) been selected to be president, not only because those who actually control the political system find it advantageous for him to be in that position; but because the masses are increasingly seeing this country for what it actually is.
The music business killed you Phil They ignored the things you said And cast you out when fashions changed Says Phil “But I ain’t dead” Says Phil “But I ain’t dead”
The FBI harassed you Phil They smeared you with their lies Says he “But they could never kill What they could not compromise I never compromised”
“Though fashion’s changed and critics sneered The songs that I have sung Are just as true tonight as then The struggle carries on The struggle carries on”
-Billy Bragg,I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night
Every single day of my life, i think about dialectics- in short, that relationship between the positive and not-so positive aspects of our existence. That relationship between our material conditions, and the roots of what shapes those conditions. The relationships between the past and our current actions, which inform the future.
It would be of little surprise to anyone that i am certainly thinking about it now.
i have been thinking a lot about it in relation to Phil Ochs, a clinically bipolar man whose abusive actions toward partners and other women were documented in books such as Phil Ochs: Death of a Rebel, by Marc Eliot. i think about how people attribute mental illness to Ochs’ demise (and eventual suicide the year i was hatched onto this earth), without consideration of the demise being prompted by a system that doesn’t address mental health (or intimate partner violence) in humanistic ways. i think about how artists whose works were once fueled by a righteous anger at an unjust system have quelled said anger to varying degrees, because they didn’t want to experience the same fate as Ochs, who in many cases has been written out of the annals of ‘protest music’, despite him being one of its strongest voices.
Ochs is a potent figure of contradictions; like most humans, he should never be singularly admonished or lionized. This certainly is another discussion for another time; no artist, regardless of how ‘connective’ they are, should be absolved of their abusive actions, or other problematic behaviors. Again, past actions (and our current responses) inform what occurs in the future.
While it is an accurate assertion that music itself cannot save the world; it would not be inaccurate to state that the best art is the one which challenges the status quo. From the ‘Satanic panic’ outrage, the ‘Disco Sucks!’ movement, the development of the bi-partisan Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) and the steamrolling of rap records; there has always been an active opposition to those on cultural, social and political margins. The folk movement Ochs was a part of was no different. While the FBI’s files on artists were given a wide berth (regardless of political affiliation), there was heavy concentration on those who were most outspoken against capitalism, imperialism and colonialism- those who not only sang songs about freedom fighters, but participated in organizing and mobilizing themselves.
It again, should be of no surprise to anyone to know that Ochs (who wrote songs such as the still applicable ‘Here’s to the State of Mississippi’ and was friends with Victor Jara) was on an FBI watch list.
Yes, even though lyrics such as “All the rudiments of hatred are present everywhere/And every single classroom is a factory of despair/There’s nobody learning such a foreign word as fair”; as well as “They’re guarding all the bastions of their phony legal fort/Oh, justice is a stranger when the prisoners report/When the black man stands accused the trial is always short”; “And criminals are posing as the mayors of the towns/And they hope that no one sees the sights and no one hears the sounds” and “Unwed mothers should be sterilized, I’ve even heard them say” were all written in 1965, they absolutely still apply, regardless of what administration is representing the white house.
This is why, as accurate as many of Ochs’ songs are regarding the state of U.S.-based injustice (as well as songs that extend to imperialist violence in South America and Africa), there is a specific song i am thinking about. People love this song, but have not necessarily heeded the words. Its brilliance stands among the lines of songs such as the Dead Kennedys’ ‘Holiday In Cambodia’, and films such as Jordan Peele’s Get Out.
‘Love Me, I’m A Liberal’, while perhaps being one of Ochs’ most recognized songs (and one which is continually updated as the years go by), is simultaneously undervalued. It is a brilliant, biting satirical reading of the individualist selective ‘moral compass’ of those who identify as (of course)… liberals. In his performance of the song, he even prefaces it with this scathing quip: “In every American community, you have varying shades of political opinion. One of the shadiest of these is the liberals. An outspoken group on many subjects. Ten degrees to the left of center in good times, ten degrees to the right of center if it affects them personally. So here, then, is a lesson in safe logic.” Phil Ochs’s commentary is in the musical tradition to what Glen Ford or Chris Hedges have been to the journalistic tradition, regarding this subject: that democrats are the ‘more effective evil’, due to the complacency people develop, as people do not see what the democrats do as abject violence. Democrats are able to perform and support global/imperialist/state violence, when the illusion of individual/personal comfort is assured.
Ochs’ satire also takes a similar position to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s more sobering approach, in his Letter From Birmingham Jail: “First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.
In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. But is this a logical assertion? Isn’t this like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery? Isn’t this like condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided populace in which they made him drink hemlock? Isn’t this like condemning Jesus because his unique God consciousness and never ceasing devotion to God’s will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion? We must come to see that, as the federal courts have consistently affirmed, it is wrong to urge an individual to cease his efforts to gain his basic constitutional rights because the quest may precipitate violence. Society must protect the robbed and punish the robber.” ________________________________________________________________________________
“In America there’s no such thing as Democrats and Republicans anymore. That’s antiquated. In America you have liberals and conservatives. This is what the American political structure boils down to among Whites. The only people who are still living in the past and thinks in terms of “I’m a Democrat” or “I’m a Republican” is the American Negro. He’s the one who runs around bragging about party affiliation and he’s the one who sticks to the Democrat or sticks to the Republican, but White people in America are divided into two groups, liberals and Republicans…or rather, liberals and conservatives. And when you find White people vote in the political picture, they’re not divided in terms of Democrats and Republicans, they’re divided consistently as conservatives and as liberal. The Democrats who are conservative vote with Republicans who are conservative. Democrats who are liberals vote with Republicans who are liberals. You find this in Washington, DC. Now the White liberals aren’t White people who are for independence, who are liberal, who are moral, who are ethical in their thinking, they are just a faction of White people who are jockeying for power the same as the White conservatives are a faction of White people who are jockeying for power. Now they are fighting each other for booty, for power, for prestige and the one who is the football in the game is the Negro. Twenty million Black people in this country are a political football, a political pawn an economic football, an economic pawn, a social football, a social pawn…”
-El Hajj Malik El Shabazz (Malcolm X)
Regardless of the many iterations of the song over the years, the message is always the same: ‘I support human rights and global justice, but I have a deep-seated fear of any direct action to ensure systemic change, in order for the justice i claim to support to actually be a reality.’ Just as there is bi-partisan support for the perpetuation of U.S.-based hegemony in the global south and anywhere in the ‘third world’ (via coups, sanctions and blockades, etc.), there is a particular idealism that both liberals and conservatives share, regarding the U.S. being a potential (or direct) example of what ‘freedom’ is… or could be, if you tweak it.
The potential of an idyllic America could never be a reality, when its very foundation was based in theft and exploitation. Just because someone may currently live in what is assumed to be relative comfort does not erase the fact that the U.S. is a settler colony. The reason why one may live in comfort in the first place, is because it is at the expense of other places around the world, which have been held hostage as outright neocolonies, or military bases. In this way there’s more access to resources and land, but also control of political operations. To think that democrats have a more humanistic position on global affairs- or that you can further push an established (neo)liberal politician ‘to the left’ is an idealistic (or naive) position at best, and a decided refusal to study historical documentation at worst. It is also an ironic position, given that dedicated democrats (particularly those of the ‘vote blue no matter who’ persuasion) tend to hold positions that are again, not left at all, as there is an adverse reaction to the actual struggle/conflict that is required to affect deep change to the status quo.
I cried when they shot Medgar Evers Tears ran down my spine I cried when they shot Mr. Kennedy As though I’d lost a father of mine But Malcolm X got what was coming He got what he asked for this time
I love Harry and Sidney and Sammy I hope every colored boy becomes a star But don’t talk about revolution That’s going a little bit too far
While there is the obvious opposition to the abolition of the forces behind the actors of state violence (while simultaneously being ‘saddened’ by the fact that this state violence consistently occurs); one of the more fascinating bits of opposition has always been for the ‘third party vote’. There are the common statements: “I want to vote for a third party, but now is not the time. There’s too much at stake.” “Voting for a third party (or not voting at all) is a bit too idealistic, with everything going on.” “A vote for (name third party candidate) is a vote for (name Republican candidate).” “A third party vote is a wasted vote.”
We are being told we need to take the process of voting seriously; however, the way we are conditioned to look at the elections process is in a binary, myopic way. The common analogy to sports teams is a perfect way of observing this: i want ‘my’ team to beat ‘your’ team. While the game lasts for a number of hours though (and is confined to two teams in a specific location), one’s vote undoubtedly affects the whole globe for a much more significant amount of time and a not insignificant amount of people.
Your name’s Martin, hello Martin You disagree with our stated policy Well Martin to tell you the truth I couldn’t agree with you more I think it’s outrageous, disgusting But unlike my colleague on my right, were the party who say what we do, do what we say You can bank on us Martin
Good evening, Shirley I’m so glad that you’ve rung The matter is as dear to me as it is to you Give me four years and I’ll get right down to it Because unlike my little balding colleague on my left, we don’t make promises we can’t keep
-Chumbawamba, ‘Always Tell The Voter What The Voter Wants To Hear’
It is a game of ‘political football’ which happens every four years, on the second Tuesday in November. It is the the one time the masses are significantly and openly invested in their future. It is the one time that ‘discussion of politics’ is acceptable in polite society. That said, voting for a candidate that is an alternate to the primary imperialist/capitalist parties (or again, abstaining from voting) is out of bounds, and there are particular penalties you will face.
This concept that voting for a capitalist/imperialist candidate, running against another capitalist/imperialist candidate as a means of ensuring or protecting democracy in an imperial core as the most important act one can do not only ignores the varying levels of activism and organizing many people do on a daily basis (which directly address and respond to the barbarism of capitalism, from food bank shifts and mutual aid, to prison abolition); it also ignores that the candidate we are being asked to vote for has no qualms about supporting the destabilization of a democratically elected country (via coups and sanctions) as a means of ‘liberating the people’ or ‘bringing democracy’, if that country in any way practices some level of anti-imperialism or socialism.
When we are asked to vote for a democrat versus a republican, we are being asked to focus on issues such as education, gender equality and reproductive rights. While these are crucial things to be concerned about, we are never asked to reckon with the history of this country, the remnants which still exist to this day. While the lament regarding the banning of books (at the behest of right wing philosophy) is not at all unwarranted, there’s not as much emphasis on the connectivity between educational and economic disparities. Blaming everything solely on republicans lends to a forgetfulness regarding the dependence on a neoliberal, market-based approach to education from the democrats, thus perpetuating these disparities. As people cried and were angered due to the cessation of Roe v. Wade (again, not unwarranted), it must be remembered that Barack Obama, a democrat, ran on stating one of the first things that would happen once in office was the codifying of Roe v. Wade, via the Freedom Of Choice Act. Once in office he declared that this was “not the highest legislative priority.” He added, “I think that the most important thing we can do to tamp down some of the anger surrounding this issue is to focus on those areas that we can agree on.”
This was a man who, also in 2009, went to Ghana and said that Africans should not blame colonialism for the problems that exist today. In this same speech, he says what is an obvious lie: “America will not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation — the essential truth of democracy is that each nation determines its own destiny.” With the institution of AFRICOM (which was established in the Bush era but strengthened during Obama’s tenure); the support of NATO’s invasion of Libya (and more); and with the continued occupation of Haiti and blockade on Cuba, this statement cannot in any way be true. And of course, in line with Malcolm X’s point regarding liberals and conservatives, there is bi-partisan unity on this speech.
While people are lamenting the cessation of Roe v. Wade; while there is great concern for our queer, trans and gender non-conforming family, friends and loved ones here in the U.S., we must also remember that those living under occupation and/or experiencing a genocide at the hands of U.S. imperialism do not have the opportunity to freely express gender, nor do they have reproductive freedom. Their highest priority is trying to survive in an environment they did not ask for, which is being funded directly by U.S. dollars. People are trying to not die.
And currently, it is a democrat in office, overseeing it all.
You cannot move an established warmonger who supports the establishment of neocolonies to the left, no matter how hard you wish for it.
The real question would be, is this what people actually want? Are people truly serious about wanting a world that is more humanistic, equitable and compassionate? Or is it relative, individualist comfort they are ultimately aiming for? Are people okay with being complacent to what ‘their candidate’ is doing, as long as it does not personally affect them, their community or their surroundings?
If the answer is ‘no’, one would really have to sit with their decision.
It is easy to blame an ‘illiterate, uneducated person’ for voting for Trump (or some other republican); with that, not only would a person need to sit with the contradiction of voting for someone who is just as anti-people’s class, but they would also have to sit with their own classism, since many who vote for democrats don’t particularly educate themselves on their preferred candidate’s policies and political histories either. Many people vote for the simple fact that ‘they don’t want the other person in.’ People have to sit with how potentially similar they actually are to the people they are making fun of, or denigrating.
It would be hypocritical to call Trump and his supporters out as racist, while denying, absolving or rationalizing the just as egregious racism of the current president.
After seeing scores of young people over the years discuss why they joined (and then ‘abandoned’) a movement to ‘Make America Great Again’; after some keen study the realization became, even if disillusionment occurs at the end, that the right wing and republicans are experts at recruitment in ways democrats have not learned to do. You have people who are feeling isolated in society, and don’t necessarily connect that capitalism contributes to said isolation. The right wing presents a more detailed hypothesis that confirms a young person’s already burgeoning confirmation bias around certain subjects. As the saying goes, ‘Organization decides everything,’ and the right wing contingent of the population are, again, better at it.
Why would people leave the MAGA community then? Just because they are organized regarding recruitment does not mean they are necessarily as effective at retention. What i have observed is that the young people (in particular) who renounce any connections have done so, because they studied the policies and inner workings. Even if the now-MAGA expats have decided to vote for a democrat, their grievances are not unlike what i’ve seen from people who decide to vote for a third party candidate.
People who are fanatically dedicated to a MAGA ideology are more similar in scope to someone who will ‘vote blue no matter who’, as both hold a more ‘them vs. us’ perspective, and rely on cultural references or single issues as a means of defending their line. Qualifiers used to describe the opposition are also similar: ‘stupid’, ‘uneducated’, ‘too educated’, ‘communists’, ‘Marxists’, ‘hicks’… _______________________________________________________________________________
It also should be much easier to recognize- particularly since the news of Elon Musk paying others to vote- that the marriage of commerce and electoral politics is one of the primary problems. Donald Trump (who is a manifestation of the foundation of this country) is indeed a symptom of the celebrity worship and parasocial relationships that have developed in more recent times; he is also a malleable individual who loves attention (and the prestige the title of ‘president’ brings). His malleability and conceit allow for him to be manipulated by those who collude with the government to enact destructive policies.
We must observe Trump dialectically as well. For those who wield political and economic control, the existence of a Trump is advantageous for them, because they can also control the illusion of the power he is assumed to have; as he is, again, attracted to the power, and will most likely not ask questions. He is a perfect diversion, as the focus will therefore be concentrated on him, and not on ‘the people behind the curtain’. There will be those who will either continue to blame him for the rise in fascism and white supremacy (despite those things being the foundation of this country), or those who will continue to worship him (and consider him to have committed class suicide, and was ‘divinely chosen to protect America’- despite him still building wealth from his enterprises).
The more you singularly focus on trying to prevent a Trump presidency, the less time you spend fighting against the system that created and enabled a person like Trump, especially if the opposing candidate you vote for upholds this same system.
And with that; simultaneously, it is not necessarily advantageous, because he is too unpredictable, and doesn’t have the political sophistication. If Musk (and others like him) are already utilizing space exploration, AI and surveillance technology (and holding perspectives on ‘foreign affairs’), it would better serve them to have a seasoned politician. It could be seen as an asset to have a ‘more effective evil’ as a representative, because the populace- save the hardcore right wingers- would be too complacent to resist.
Because of the conditioning we were hatched onto this earth with (specifically if we live in the imperial core)- to hold a binary perspective on everything- there may be someone reading this (that is, if that someone hasn’t closed the page and stormed off in anger yet) who considers this piece to be a condemnation of those who vote; specifically, people who vote democrat or republican. As someone who abhors capitalism- that is, the system (and the ideologies which frame/support it) in which a handful own the means of production and profit off of the exploited labor of the majority- it would be hypocritical of me to refute the humanity of the masses who are fearful of an even more repressive future.
Like anything else i’ve written, this piece poses a question of the reader. Not just the reader, but also, myself, the writer. One of these questions would be: if there is indeed a fear of a more repressive future, why would the concern be assuaged by the presence of a democrat, given the repression we are currently seeing (and experiencing), with a democrat currently sitting in office?
It may also be assumed (if one has gotten this far) that i am in opposition to voting. These assertions would not be accurate. Watching days upon days and multiple hours of the most recent elections in Venezuela (from television networks that presented the process from all sides, in a place on the map that is facing repression from the U.S.), i know it is possible that elections can work in ways that are not antithetical to the masses.
What i am opposed to is the idea that a candidate is entitled to my vote for whatever reasons they’ve claimed (such as, ‘If you don’t vote for (insert democrat candidate) you are racist’, or ‘If you care about the social order, you would vote for a republican’). i am opposed to the idea that voting is seen as a competition or a numbers game. i am opposed to the fact that the process of voting in the U.S. is generally devoid of a dialectical analysis.
In particular, i am opposed to the gaslighting and attacks that occur when someone makes the decision to vote for a third party candidate, or makes the decision to not vote at all. One of the biggest concerns i have is that if a democrat is not selected for the presidency this year, those who will be blamed will be students of voting age (many who have been in the streets and at university encampments), Africans, Muslims, people of Arab descent, and antizionist Jews and Christians- people who, for all intents and purposes, are opposed to the current administration’s funding of a genocide. Those who will also be blamed most likely are the (once again) ‘ignorant’ and ‘uneducated’ Trump voters. The recipients of the blame (if and when it happens) will undoubtedly be those who are on the sociopolitical and class margins.
And liberals who make the decision to distribute blame have to sit with that.
This post is nearing its end, but not before i ask the questioned we opened with: When will it ever be a right time?
Because voting in the U.S. is seen as an event and not a process (like damn near everything else in this country), voting for a third party candidate is never the right thing to do, because seemingly every four years, ‘this year is the most important election.’ If this is the case EVERY SINGLE TIME; if the people claiming this is the ‘most important election’ continue to vote in imperialist and capitalist candidates, how are they expecting any change to occur? What elections are going to be any LESS important, where people would be comfortable enough to not vote for someone not backed by billionaires, multinational corporations, banks and military contractors?
Or is comfort all you want, and not actual change?
As a voter, if you think change is imperative, what active steps are you taking outside of that one second Tuesday in November, to enact it?
These are questions that need to be sat with. Whatever your answer is though, guilt (whether internal or external), blame or shame are not productive. However, anger is indeed productive, if you utilize it to effect positive change, not only for yourself, but for humanity.
i have no interest in loving you as a liberal. i have a vested interest in loving you as a person who desires justice for the peoples of the world. We may hold different ideologies (or even different paths), but if you’re serious about the work, i am there with you on the front lines.
(Note: This piece contains mentions of suicide and sexual assault)
“The role of the artist is exactly the same as the role of the lover. If I love you, I have to make you conscious of the things you don’t see.”
-James Baldwin
i think it was Jesse Michaels (of the band Operation Ivy) who said that “Music is an indirect force for change, because it provides an anchor against human tragedy.” i can never understand when someone creates or interprets music to be ‘simply for entertainment’, when music has always been a tool to communicate the will and desire of the masses. Music has also been a key of expression and connection for those who may otherwise struggle with their feelings. Music has been known to save lives.
At this time, it was a little song about a bullet that saved mine.
i have listened to ‘Just A Bullet Away’ by the band Metallica (a band i have written about plenty of times on other sites) on many an occasion with no problems. i actually have a tattoo inspired by the song. On this occasion though, i happened to listen to it at the moment intrusive thoughts were occurring. As it played i continually thought to myself, ‘if i had a gun right now, i would use it.’ i thought about what else i could use. i mean, there were a lot of things i have done and used in my life during previous attempts (which i will not name here). i didn’t even think to stop the song; in fact, i ended up additionally watching someone do a cover of it. In the middle of the video though, right before the song’s bridge flashed the number for the suicide prevention hotline. Despite me calling this number various times over the years; and despite these incessant thoughts, i didn’t even think to call.
All roads they lead to shame All drowning in the blame
All hide beneath a skin A hope so paper thin I’m at the door again
Redemption purify Will nothing satisfy The scars just multiply
Eternal borderline All the faces intertwine Oh God… now I see mine In the shine of the midnight revolver
Even the promise of danger has gone dull Staring down the barrel of a .45
Do all reflections look the same In the shine of the midnight revolver
Just a bullet away Just a bullet away from leavin’ you Just a bullet away Stop the voices in my head
Whether metaphorical or literal, whether about struggling with addiction or actual incessant ideation; the song certainly reflected how i was feeling in the moment. i wanted the voices to cease.
Still, not thinking, i decided to also listen to another song, ‘Screaming Suicide’, and i began to cry deeply. About the song, James Hetfield (vocalist and rhythm guitarist) says, “The intention is to communicate about the darkness we feel inside. It’s ridiculous to think we should deny that we have these thoughts. At one point or another, I believe most people have thought about it. To face it is to speak the unspoken. If it’s a human experience, we should be able to talk about it. You are not alone.”
Then my voice appears Teaching you of fears Are you good enough? You don’t recognize Head is full of lies You should just give up
Curse another day Spirit locked away Punish and deprive Hate to be awake Living a mistake More dead than alive
i almost did give up.
Then a voice appears Whisper in your ears “You are good enough” Throwing down a rope A lifeline of hope Never give you up
i have spoken its name many times. Still, i ask myself almost daily, ‘Am i really good enough?’ i have trouble believing i am. The first voice fights with the second voice constantly- and the first voice always seems to win.
i am taking a risk making a huge generalization here, but most people who experience ideation (whether minimally or incessantly) or opt to attempt and/or end their lives do not necessarily want to do it. It’s just that life has become so unbearable, and (i can only speak for myself here) for whatever reason there’s the constant thought that life would be better off without us.
But… as the song ended, and i sat there in tears, i made the decision at three am to phone the hotline.
Metallica (and by extension Alex Young) saved my life.
“…not many people have ever died of love. But multitudes have perished, and are perishing every hour…–for the lack of it.”
-James Baldwin
What does Metallica (or ending one’s life) have to do with work or jobs?
Both my critical/analytical and creative brain are constantly going, which means that sometimes some of the most pronounced ideas or thoughts i have in terms of writing happen at the least opportune of times- on the toilet, in the shower or as i am trying to get to bed. These thoughts also happen during the late nights and early mornings, while most are in bed.
But again, what does any of this have to do with this blog? Because a brain that never stops and wants to create at seemingly inopportune hours isn’t beneficial for living under capitalism. Because spending time on this earth sometimes feels like a job. And it is tiring.
The work we do on ourselves is severely undervalued; the action to what is usually seen as ‘resolving’ depression is work, but acknowledging a struggle with depression or ideation (and acknowledging you need help) is work as well.
We are conditioned to observe this work as a hindrance to everyone else around us. People speak of suicide as ‘selfish’, because it’s assumed they did not think of the loved ones they left behind. It’s seen as a ‘permanent solution to a temporary problem.’
However, the jobs we do to keep afloat are rewarded when we appease the managers of society, who are being paid to do the bidding by their bosses- who profit off of the same constant struggles we are encouraged to sweep away. We are rewarded when we smile, and only smile.
Music can be used as a mirror to confront the ills of the status quo (as Michaels alluded to). It can also be that reward for the mirror we hold to ourselves. In many cases a response to someone’s trauma, sadness or depression is to immediately send a message to cheer them up. Many of us who receive these messages do not feel heard. The need to always avoid the subject and respond with extreme positivity can be invalidating. Even if that is not the intent, it feels as if our struggle is a burden to those we have confided in. i just told you i am experiencing self-doubt and depression, or was about to end my life, and the immediate response is to send a cat picture. Just a cat picture. Or a comedic sketch. Some people suggest happy music. And most people’s response (in my experience) is no response at all.
We want to know we are heard and feel supported. Sometimes, people listen to ‘sad’ music during these times, because the music says, ‘I see you, and I hear you.’
As a human species, community and connection are important. Therapists are also important and serve a purpose; but therapists exist in a lot of ways, because capitalism has ensured isolation. It has idealized depending on ‘the one’ to save you, whether that’s a therapist, a romantic partner, or a friend. It has romanticized nuclear family structures, as opposed to espousing the benefits of consensual non-traditional relationships and chosen families. Also, not everyone has the economic ability to obtain regular therapy. We go throughout our day, not necessarily recognizing that the person right next to us needs community, connection and comfort. People may reach out in a text, or through a phone call, but we have become so busy that we miss the text or forget to call back. Reaching out appears to be a daunting task; we don’t feel we have the capacity to ‘do enough’ for someone, even when all they may need is something as simple as a hello, or a hug. It’s similar to how organizing is viewed- it’s always seen as a larger than life task, when organizing involves everything from making and folding flyers, to childcare, to cooking to being in the streets. This fear leads us to stop communicating when someone is experiencing intense trauma, because under a capitalist society we have never learned how to deal with trauma in humanistic ways.
In the thrall of internalized shame, one is gripped by the compulsion to hide his face from the world. One’s own thoughts and feeling seem a foul pestilence from which to flee.
Cue: Existential dread. We are approaching the endgame of (global) capitalism; the system is headed straight to the landfill (its own creation) of history (that is, if global, late stage capitalism doesn’t bury the human species first by means of ecocide). Therefore, it is imperative, as we move towards the future, that we straddle the past as we become attuned to the lamentation of the ghosts of memory, personal and collective.
Deep emotional scars can warp libido; thus, in our age of corporate state hyper-authoritarianism, obsessive materialism, and neo-puritan pathology, all too many people have become terrified of their own passion–from sweat plangent lust to incandescent enthusiasm, right down to even accepting the shadows and perfumes borne of an inner life–and have withdrawn into forms of self-exile such as addiction, alienation, depression, compulsive materialism, and narcissistic striving.
Back to ‘permanent solutions’ as mentioned earlier: capitalism and neoliberalism consistently are at times sold as temporary solutions to what end up being permanent problems for many- a market-based economy itself (this and this), high-interest loans through the IMF; the right-wing Heritage Foundation also critiques the role the IMF has played), austerity, sanctions and blockades.
In Mental Health Challenges Related to Neoliberal Capitalism in the United States, Anna Ziera’s report states, “Neoliberalism encourages individualism, which has decreased emphasis on the need for community and social connection for fulfillment. Since individualism is viewed as a desirable moral characteristic, asking for help, especially financially, is frowned upon. With complete faith in the free market to provide for all who wish to work, people who do not achieve financial success are blamed for their misfortunes increasing the stigma of poverty.”
In thinking about what (and how) i was going to write, i hearkened back to Karl Marx’ essay on suicide, based on economist Jacques Peuchet’s writings (Du suicide et de ses causes). Marx’ essay was written in 1846, two years prior to his (and Frederick Engels’) oft-quoted (and many times misinterpreted) Communist Manifesto. Marx’ essay was one i purchased as a teenager, simultaneously experiencing ideation as well as exploring where my political ideologies lie- a search i began from the age of 14. This copy of the book is one i still physically have.
Marx (whom two of his daughters also ended their lives) added his interpretation (which is in bold lettering) of Peuchet’s writing by saying, “All that has been said against suicide stems from the same circle of ideas. One condemns suicide with foregone conclusions. But, the very existence of suicide is an open protest against these unsophisticated conclusions. They speak of our duty to this society, but not of our right to expect explanations and actions by our society. They endlessly exalt, as the infinitely higher virtue, overcoming suffering, rather than giving in to it. Such a virtue is every bit as sad as the perspective it opens up. In brief, one has made suicide an act of cowardice, a crime against law, society, and honor.”
Also, “A dull bourgeois, who places his soul in his business and his God in commerce, can find all this to be very romantic and refute the pain that he cannot understand with derisive laughter. We are not surprised by his derision. What else to expect from three-percenters, who have no inkling that daily, hourly, bit by bit, they kill themselves, their human nature. But, what is one to say of those good people who play the devout, the educated, and still repeat this nastiness?”
An unjust, inhumane environment where labor is exploited, mental health struggles are reduced to an unspoken burden (or a series of slogans), and those on the margins of society are further marginalized is going to continually produce a population of people who are going to question the existence of life.
In the Zeira report, it states: “Attitudes toward people who receive government financial assistance can elicit feelings of shame from those who receive benefits.” There’s such an emphasis on ‘picking oneself up by the bootstraps’, the ‘self-made man’, and becoming ‘high value’; however, in a system that is dependent on economic disparities in order to thrive, the paths in which to achieve this ideal are unsustainable. Most people who hope to achieve some modicum of a CEO-style upper-level income do not aspire to exploit. The reality is though, this is what one must do if they’re going to maintain that level of wealth. If one has any level of empathy; if one’s value is based on building substantial relationships based on mutual respect and collaboration (as opposed to capitol acquisition and exploitation); if one has any level of respect for humanity, they are going to experience a dilemma.
Even after all this, even as i consistently rail against capitalism i acknowledge that i still fall subject to its pull.
All roads they lead to shame.
There’s also a shame associated with desirability. i want to address two types of desirability under capitalism here- one that is structural, and one that is personal. The social model of disability (which was coined by professor and activist Mike Oliver, but was adopted early on by the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS)) examines the systemic or structural obstacles which prevent disabled people from participating to their fullest capacity. On music, i used to constantly wonder why it was i rarely saw people in wheelchairs at shows. As a person who, at this point in my life spends most of my time in a wheelchair, venues do not make it easy to navigate. The house i live in, i have had to adapt; but it’s not ideally accessible. It costs money to make it so.
Under capitalism, the role is to ensure you’ve got as many bodies as possible to exploit. If a society is going to at least present the illusion that some humanity exists, you will have funds allocated to assist folks who are disabled. However, the caveat is the hour upon hour of dealing with paperwork, phone calls with people who just see you as a number, and the ‘promise’ that you will not earn over a certain amount if you are going to continue receiving disability, even if that amount is not enough to cover rent/mortgage, bills and food combined.
In How Capitalism Contributes to Ableism, Chris Costello (who has cerebral palsy) writes, “Not only does capitalism give rise to disability oppression, I believe it also perpetuates it. The capitalists have both an economic and ideological interest to exclude workers based on perceived disability… The capitalist needs the average worker to produce commodities — that is, goods and services to be sold on a market. The capitalist also needs the worker to produce these commodities to be produced in the average amount of socially-necessary labor time. If a worker is too slow and cannot meet these requirements, the capitalist loses time that could be adding more value for himself. If a worker is too slow, they earn less profits for the given capitalist. Thus, there are purely economic reasons for a capitalist system to reject disabled people as workers. These workers cost more and cut into profit.”
Also: “The oppression of the disabled does not depend on the individual will, good or bad, of any particular capitalists. The objective, systemic laws of capitalist production confront the capitalists as a coercive force external to them. Even the bosses are not in full control of the system: market forces are. It is not about a capitalist being good or bad, it is about the logic of the system.”
In How Capitalism Contributed to Modern Conceptions of Disability, Costello opts towards a solution. “I believe disability oppression will cease to exist when we can overcome production for the sake of profit. We currently exist in a society that values human beings in proportion to their capacity to contribute to the production of surplus value. But that is not the only way to produce things. We could just as easily organize the economy around meeting human needs, rather than profit. We would be able to slow down production so impaired people could keep up and contribute to society fully. Organizing production in an anti-capitalist/socialist direction would combat disability oppression.”
i now want to address the personal ways in which capitalism shapes desirability. Costello addresses further in the Ableism piece, the steps sometimes taken to ‘fix’ folks on the disability spectrum, similar to how well-meaning (and not-so well meaning) people singularly suggest or utilize positive thought to fix’ or ‘cure’ depression. “Parents are generally advised to take measures, whether medical or therapeutic, to make their child as “normal” as possible. They face tremendous pressure to pathologize their children instead of working to make their lives as meaningful as possible.”
Also: “Ableism in the United States promotes the idea that disability is a personal tragedy. As we have seen, nothing could be further from the truth. The personal tragedy narrative is about the idea of “overcoming” disability through rehab or surgery, or else acknowledging their impairment and bravely going on in spite of it. In both cases, we are encouraged to look at disability as simply a set of obstacles that inexplicably arise to thwart us, rather than examining the barriers capitalist society puts in front of us.”
Sounds patronizing, doesn’t it?
“(C)consider(ing) the economic and societal factors that promote ableism and oppression” are of utmost importance, if we as a people are genuine about solutions. If a child ‘lashes out’, there most likely is an underlying reason they are doing so. People lament the existence of crime without addressing class and social inequities, as well as the question of who is determining what crime is what. The factors that drive ableism are the same factors that drive the stigmas toward people experiencing and living with depression and/or ideation.
‘Cause you lied
Subconsciously, i still believe these lies, and project them onto myself.
i am a person with a disability- a very apparent one. i have no problem saying that, as it is a reality. While there are days i do struggle (basic things like chores and getting the mail are not necessarily the easiest), while leaving and returning to the house is a whole event, and while i have to physically adapt to every single thing in my life now; i am very grateful to be alive (despite the ideation and depression). Being an amputee has been an incredibly humbling experience.
That said, whatever anxieties i have had about my body have now been heightened. Prior to being an amputee there were particular parts of my body i was fixated on, to the point of dysmorphia. i don’t talk about it much at all. There are times- pretty much daily- that i feel relief in being an amputee in that it’s a little more of a struggle for me to get out of the house. If i don’t go out, the world doesn’t have to see me. Simultaneously i do want to leave the house, so i can just be outside… but i fear people looking at me.
Photos by Harry Langdon
For all reflections look the same In the shine of the midnight revolver
It took me 38 years before i could even be okay with looking at my reflection in the mirror.
For years (since i was a teenager) i wanted to look like the front cover of Diana Ross’ first solo album in 1970: tiny, flat chested… She looked like a tiny child, despite having a whole adult romantic relationship with Motown CEO Berry Gordy, and giving birth to a child they both produced, in 1971. We could have debates all day about the moral or ethical nature of that relationship (due to the power imbalance), but i will save that for another time. One thing i do know is when i first saw that cover it encapsulated everything i wanted to be.
Invisible.
Despite the photo on the back of the album of the same person who was on the front; while i thought she was beautiful, that woman was not something i aspired to. She was womanly. She was going to be seen. And sexualized in some capacity.
i remember being 10 years old and going on a strictly tuna fish diet for a week. That was the beginning of a relationship with food, based on control. i aimed to do it not simply because i wanted to lose weight, but because that weight loss was tied to not being looked at. i always wanted to be as straight and slim as a board, so i wouldn’t be adultified or ogled by catcallers walking down the street. It is disgusting that i would even have to worry about that kind of thing as a child.
i never told anyone at this point that i was sexually assaulted on the back of a school bus at the age of 8, with onlookers laughing at me. i do not know if that moment triggered the relationship i developed with my body. i really cannot say. i briefly mentioned it in a poem i wrote when i was 15, but i finally told my story in my early 30s.
My fears about ‘growing in certain places’ got more pronounced as i hit puberty, and i saw my sister growing, and getting comments. She also liked boys though, and i did not desire that attention. i never developed anorexia or bulimia, but i became a vegetarian at 14 (and a vegan three years later- which i still am), and i was very active, so i stayed small enough. i was also a punk kid, so people thought i was weird enough to stay away from in that way- another reason why punk is a blessing.
As a teenager i started to develop feelings for a few people i considered friends; however, the feeling was never mutual. This was a pattern that repeated itself over the years, well into adulthood. The feelings were romantic, but a lot deeper than a focus on the physical. However, because i was raised in a society that equates/conflates romance with sex, even though i couldn’t see it i assumed my feelings or attractions were also physical or sexual, as opposed to simply aesthetic or emotional.
There have been times where i did binge eat as a means of control and hiding as well. If i hid behind food, then no one would pay attention to me.
It got to the point where there were a few people who were interested in me primarily in a physical way, and that scared me. i had moments where i was physical with others, but the first time i had what people usually define as ‘sex’ was at the age of 21. It was not exactly consensual as i did not say yes, nor did i say no. i was like a deer caught in headlights as it was happening. i didn’t have anyone to talk to when this happened to me, as this conversation wasn’t even in the public lexicon in the 1990s.
The sexual experiences i have had over the years have been with cis-hetero men who have been abusive (and coerced me into not using protection), or primarily wanted something physical, but not much beyond that. (Women and trans, asexual, pan or nonbinary folks don’t really approach me or show interest like that; i don’t know why.) There was something these men wanted from me (besides the sex)- either to exploit any low self esteem i may have had, or to (in retrospect) use me as a muse to access a connection to their own ‘Blackness’.
One of these men (who told me when i was laying there in the hospital that i was one of the bravest and most important people to him, but also eventually texted that he could no longer talk to me) asked me (again, as i was in pain in a hospital bed) if now being an amputee was going to make me fat.
While i could sit here all day and write a dissertation on how ableist and vain that question is- That is not a question i would ask someone who almost died but eventually survived being hit by a truck, and lost a leg- the one thing i was aware of was how fast any dysmorphia i had returned. As i lay there naked and completely vulnerable as nurses and techs cleaned and wiped me every single day; as i lost 20 pounds as my body worked on healing itself, and as i gained the weight back after i did heal… i maintained a fixation on wanting to still be invisible.
i worked really hard over the years to accept and love myself, and my body. It finally happened at the age of 42. i did jiu jitsu and striking/kickboxing. i was getting better at pullups. i loved riding my bicycle everywhere. Now i have to start over again; when i go outside everyone will see me with just one massively swollen foot and a skin grafted leg.
When i go out people are generally nice to me, but i don’t necessarily feel desired.
i feel like a giant blob with one leg. i dread the summer months, because i cannot be comforted with a sweater or hoodie, concealing my body.
Here is where my contradictions lie. i don’t necessarily feel infantilized when people see me, but at times i do feel patronized, when people tell me i’m brave, or that they wouldn’t know what to do if they became an amputee. Or when people stare at me as if i’m helpless. It is dehumanizing. i question if i was used/dehumanized in some capacity in my sexual experiences (pre-amputation) as well, because i ultimately was a means to a particular end- i’ve begun to question if any non-physical interaction was a calculated way to achieve whatever ends they had in mind. i honestly don’t know.
It comes around, back to desirability. Even as i talk about desire and being desired, i write about it with the understanding that it’s going to be interpreted in a particular way by people who view it with that particular lens. Desire tends to be observed in a specific way, with regards to physical/sexual attraction. If attraction is a reflection of the world around us, then systemically it would make sense why i have never been seen as desirable, in terms of a romantic relationship.
In the Book Sexed Up, Julia Serano discusses sexualization “as a more general tactic to delegitimize and dehumanize people.” If we fall outside of the socially accepted desired norms, people who have been marginalized by the expectations of the norms (whether it’s orientation, gender, ethnicity or disability, etc.) will be seen as “sexually deviant, or predatory, or hypersexual, or desperate, or undesirable, or exotic, or… a ‘fetish object.'”
i have never truly been desired in ways where i am seen as a full human. i recall being told more than a few times over the years that i’d be “a good wife and mother.” i’ve always been told that i’m a ‘nice person.’ i was never sure what any of that meant ultimately, especially as the people who tended to tell me that were married (sometimes with kids themselves), and they had no real interest in me romantically (fortunately).
On the surface, being told you’d make a good wife and/or mother may sound like a compliment; however, like a lot of things i’ve mentioned here it can also be pretty patronizing. Being a wife and/or mother is viewed as virtuous (as opposed to someone who makes the conscious decision to not be those things); it is something that is valued in a heteronormative/heterosexist society and yet mothers are devalued, because it is ‘unpaid work.’ You have to wonder if it’s assumed i’d be a ‘good wife and mother’ because women who are caretakers (or assumed to be so) are not seen as ‘desirable’. Was i often seen as being viewed as a potential ‘good wife/mother’, because it would be expected of me to produce constantly free emotional labor, in addition to a nurturing side that women are expected/assumed to have?
Who is going to care for me?
Anyone i had a real interest in did not reciprocate those feelings; so with what very well may be considered to be an aspect of compulsory sexuality, as mentioned, in order to know what it felt like to be with someone i did get with abusers, or those who had no interest in forming a substantial relationship with me. Had i not done those things, my guess is that at my current age (which is almost 50) i still may not have known what it was like to be with anyone.
i am not writing this for anyone to feel sorrow or pity for me. i learned a lot about myself in these experiences; and like everything else in life, i see these experiences as dialectical.
But we are still here, at the question of desirability. And capitalism.
There has been such a focus on ‘the loneliness of men’, or ‘How masculinity has failed’ as of late. Queries such as these (and there are many) are consistently (and at times, singularly) tied to the brokenness of men. Even if it’s being touted as a it’s a biting critique of ‘toxic masculinity and the manosphere’, there’s still an underlying heteronormativity in the critiques. And a overwhelming emphasis that it’s primarily men who are affected by feelings of rejection and loneliness. Some, but not all pieces on this touch on capitalist frameworks of masculinity being the primary contributor to this ‘epidemic’. Boys and men are being asked to perform tasks that are impossible to fulfill. Their desire to belong and be heard is not fulfilled, and they find someone (usually on the internet) who speaks to them.
Based on my experience of being rejected and being seen as ‘just a friend’ more times to the point where i’ve stopped counting, i could have just as easily fallen into one of these alternate universes. It may not make sense to some, but recognizing the importance of political education in identifying the ways in which we are systemically conditioned to view various types of relationships helps me to make sense of my own misery, which in turn prevents me from acting said misery out on others.
As a darker skinned, very openly anticapitalist, not traditionally feminine woman with a lot of tattoos (who has at some points semi-regularly been called ‘mister’ or ‘sir’ by adult strangers and asked if i was a boy or a girl by children), i’ve certainly over the years been (unfortunately) catcalled; but most (if not all) men who catcall are not looking for a meaningful companionship with you. Objectification more or less warrants a type of control, as opposed to a type of desire i am speaking of.
i live with the understanding that i may never have that experience of being desired, or be in a healthy (romantic) companionship. As i was not deemed desirable enough (beyond the physical) to have a healthy/non-toxic companionship with someone prior to being an amputee; as a woman who now has an apparent disability (in addition to all the other things) i have another set of anxieties, as i wonder if i am going to be fetishized by those who claim interest.
i have never been online to seek out a companion (nor do i ever intend to), but i do think of my own experiences offline, and the experiences of people who tend to not be seen, because the online world (just like music communities in general) is a reflection of what goes on in the ‘real world’.
What happens to all the broken people in the end? They get thrown away, because they cannot function in a way capitalism needs them. So exploiters of a different kind become the new heroes.
See what i mean by all of this feeling like a job?
‘Cause you lied Yes you lied
All the shame i feel about my body is a lie. Because someone created the lie.
i know this, and yet still…
i cannot stop the voices in my head.
i want to be desired, but not objectified. i want to be desired, but because i am not desired i want to disappear. i want to disappear because i don’t want to be looked at. i don’t want to be looked at because i have returned to hating my body. i am not even talking about my body being desired sexually. i just hate my body right now. i hate admitting that. And if i hate patriarchal notions and conditioning of how we view the body, why do i hate mine?
i hate that i have this contradiction. i hate it because the body i have now, it’s more likely to be objectified. It’s more likely to be attacked.
i want to be Diana Ross in 1970 (without the fame) so bad. i want to be invisible.
But i also want to be desired. And loved. i want to be held. i want intimacy.
i want to be and feel heard, and seen beyond my body.
When i go out into the world, that is the first thing you see.
All any of us want is to be and feel heard. It is, again, one of the reasons people look for connection wherever they can find it, whether that’s in a community, a writing or a song.
What i have written here hasn’t even scratched the surface of what is happening in my brain. i honestly don’t know where i fit in, when it comes to my life right now. i don’t know where i fit in with my body. i don’t know where i fit in with the people in my life. i feel out of place with everything, and overwhelmed.
Life feels like a job. But through it all, it was a song that saved my life.
The police are the same way… They put their club upside your head, and then turn around and accuse you of attacking them. Every case of police brutality against a Negro follows the same pattern. They attack you, bust you all upside your mouth, and then take you to court and charge you with assault. What kind of democracy is that??!!
-Malcolm X
You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.
-Malcolm X
The way they pull you over it’s suspicious Yeah, for something that just ain’t your fault If you complain they’re gonna get vicious Kick you in the teeth and charge you with assault Yeah, but I can see the chickens coming home to roost Young people everywhere are gonna cook their goose Lots of kids are working to get rid of these blues ‘Cause everybody’s sick of the American ruse
-MC5
i have been (slowly) working on several blog entries before this one; however, i wanted this particular subject to have its own entry.
i’ve been receiving several calls, texts and e mails, concerned about me in the midst of all of the uprisings going on. When people ask me (in general) how i am doing, my answer tends to be, “i am doing the best i can in the midst of capitalism.” When people are asking if i am okay in the midst of the uprisings, my response is, “i am never going to be okay as long as capitalism is alive.” Both responses are variations of the same subject: capitalism is the root cause of any struggles in existence for the masses. HOW the masses respond is crucial.
i am open in saying that i support the global uprisings happening. That said, as organized as the system of capitalism is, guarantee that it’s 200 steps ahead of those who are out in the streets. It’s a system based on exploitation, inequity and inhumanity, and it continues to develop, based on technological and informational advances. We must remember that the only constant is change. Humans are increasingly beginning to recognize the illusions presented to them about a system (many centuries old) based on their exploitation. The only response is going to be to rise up against the illusions. As it should be. This is why it is crucial to have an organized a response to the illusions.
This morning I woke up in a curfew; O God, I was a prisoner, too – yeah! Could not recognize the faces standing over me; They were all dressed in uniforms of brutality. Eh!
-Burnin’ And Lootin’, The Wailers
Dealing with the condition itself is not enough. And it is because of our effort toward getting straight to the root that people ofttimes think that we’re dealing in hate.
We are oppressed! We are exploited! We are downtrodden! We are denied- not only civil rights, but even human rights. So the only way we’re going to get some of this oppression and exploitation away from us or aside from us is come together against the common enemy.
-Malcolm X (May 20, 1962, after the murder of Ronald Stokes by the police)
i do not watch videos of police violence upon our bodies…. Just as i did not watch the torture and murder of Muammar Ghaddafi. Capitalism replays these videos over and over again (via news programs and social media) to keep us in a loop of trauma. We stay in this loop feeling tired and helpless, asking ‘What do we do? They keep killing us!’ We continue to protest every time it happens, and the cycle continues. History will always inform us of the solution. Political education will inform us of the reasons.
The story will always be the same: the police decide to be the judge, jury and executioner when it comes to the lives of African, Indigenous, poor and other marginalized communities. A man (George Floyd) was murdered for allegedly making a purchase with a counterfeit $20. Only under capitalism is someone ‘deserving’ of physical death because of something a cashier could have marked and refused, if the bill was actually counterfeit. Having been a cashier at one point in my life i can tell you that counterfeit bills get detected once in a while. Not once have i or any of my coworkers felt an urge to phone the cops when the marker emits brown or black ink, as opposed to the yellowish ink that signifies a ‘proper’ bill. We just told people that the bill was counterfeit, and asked if they had another bill to replace it.
As Mr. Floyd was still directly outside of the store, the co-owner (Mahmoud Abumayyaleh) or cashier who interacted with him could have mentioned the bill was counterfeit. It’s highly likely he was not aware, which does happen. The cashier calling the cops (which is store protocol at Cup Foods, apparently) is not the focus though, nor should it be. A man is gone at the hands of the police, while Bernard Lawrence Madoff still gets to walk, despite participating in one of the largest Ponzi schemes in the world.
There’s a slight irony in the whole current situation: kneeling historically has been known to represent some sort of deference, in a religious or cultural sense. In more recent times it primarily represents protest. When Colin Kaepernick publicly ‘took a knee’ in protest of police terrorism upon African people, it was a division among ideological and political lines. These lines are STILL occurring. As well-meaning as people who support (the intention of) the protests are, the request for the masses to ‘not meet violence with violence’ is still upholding property over people… Or in the words of MLK, these are the people who say “‘I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action’; (people) who paternalistically believe(s) he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom.” The point of mass protests SHOULD be to disrupt capitalism.
The white liberal must rid himself of the notion that there can be a tensionless transition from the old order of injustice to the new order of justice…. The Negro has not gained a single right in America without persistent pressure and agitation….
Nonviolent coercion always brings tension to the surface. This tension, however, must not be seen as destructive. There is a kind of tension that is both healthy and necessary for growth. Society needs nonviolent gadflies to bring its tensions into the open and force its citizens to confront the ugliness of their prejudices and the tragedy of their racism.
It is important for the liberal to see that the oppressed person who agitates for his rights is not the creator of tension. He merely brings out the hidden tension that is already alive. Last Summer when we had our open housing marches in Chicago, many of our white liberal friends cried out in horror and dismay: “You are creating hatred and hostility in the white communities in which you are marching, You are only developing a white backlash.” I could never understand that logic. They failed to realize that the hatred and the hostilities were already latently or subconsciously present. Our marches merely brought them to the surface….
– Martin Luther King Jr. (Where Do We Go from Here – Chaos or Community?)
And I came to see that so many people who supported morally and even financially what we were doing in Birmingham and Selma, were really outraged against the extremist behavior of Bull Connor and Jim Clark toward Negroes, rather than believing in genuine equality for Negroes. And I think this is what we’ve got to see now, and this is what makes the struggle much more difficult.
And this leads me to say something about another discussion that we hear a great deal, and that is the so-called “white backlash.” I would like to honestly say to you that the white backlash is merely a new name for an old phenomenon. It’s not something that just came into being because of shouts of Black Power or because Negroes engaged in riots in Watts, for instance. The fact is that the state of California voted a fair housing bill out of existence before anybody shouted Black Power or before anybody rioted in Watts.
It may well be that shouts of Black Power and riots in Watts and the Harlems and the other areas are the consequences of the white backlash rather than the cause.
What it is necessary to see is that there has never been a single solid monistic determined commitment on the part of the vast majority of white Americans on the whole question of Civil Rights and on the whole question of racial equality. This is something that truth impels all men of good will to admit.
Let me say as I’ve always said and I will always continue to say that riots are socially destructive and self-defeating. I’m still convinced that nonviolence is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom and justice. I feel that violence will only create more social problems than they will solve. That in a real sense it is impractical for the Negro to even think of mounting a violent revolution in the United States. So I will continue to condemn riots and continue to say to my brothers and sisters that this is not the way. And continue to affirm that there is another way… But at the same time, it is as necessary for me to be as vigorous in condemning the conditions which cause persons to feel that they must engage in riotous activities as it is for me to condemn riots. I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. Certain conditions continue to exist in our society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard.
And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality and humanity.
And so in a real sense our nation’s summers of riots are caused by our nation’s winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again. Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention.
– Martin Luther King Jr. (The Other America, April 14, 1967)
Derek Chauvin is but one individual. He ‘took a knee’ (and took an African’s life) in honor of all the cops who could not. To singularly focus on and protest the case of George Floyd/Breonna Taylor/etc.’s murder (and to focus only on police terrorism at all) is still going to present MORE Chauvins. The increase in uprisings is going to produce policies which will enact mild reforms in order to squelch ongoing mass dissent, and people will see it as a ‘step forward’ amidst increases of an even larger surveillance state and national militaristic strategies. After all, Chauvin was arrested and charged (of course only with 3rd degree murder– a rare ‘feat’, as cops are rarely arrested and charged). Then there’s this:
Remember that capitalism is 200 steps ahead. You cannot ‘take a knee’ in honor of someone who was murdered by the very system you remain silent about every other day. This is the organized deception it’s crucial to look out for. If police are supposed to be seen as ‘protectors’ or upholders of the law, wouldn’t that tell you the laws don’t serve the interests of the people? If cops are supposed to be so beneficial, why are they globally viewed as the enemy by workers and peasants? Why would it suddenly be accepted that their being in the streets marching and ‘taking a knee’ serves as anything other than to divert attention?
(David Shankbone / Flickr)
The role of the police is to protect private property and prevent mass uprisings– there is no other way around it. There is no such thing as a ‘good cop,’ or a ‘bad/good apple.’ You make a conscious decision to put on the uniform or badge, you make the decision to protect capitalism. These cops people claim are good usually remain silent in response to state-sanctioned violence. There are ‘nice individuals’ who happen to be cops. These ‘nice’ people are still employed to be the enemies of the people. However, this is not what i am addressing. A focus on individuals is a distraction from addressing the system in which policing is founded. Though police are working-class individuals, they make the decision every single day to work against the best interests of the people. There are people with good intentions who sign up to be a cop in order to ‘change things from the inside…‘ We see every day how this turns out. You CANNOT reform a system which is based on the system of violence against the bodies of marginalized and oppressed peoples. You cannot reform a system which assures that class inequities are upheld.
Let’s not get it twisted- humans in the U.S. still fall under ‘private property.’ Humans are still enslaved- i mean, McGraw Hillknows what’s up. Capitalism had to evolve as well, based on the fact that humans constantly revolt against their subjugation. Capitalist governments don’t introduce human rights laws based on some moral compass. Mass uprisings occurred in response to the exploitation of child labor, of the 12+ hour work day… So labor laws and the 8-hour day was established as a means to satiate that desire for job/life balance. However, because capitalism be capitalismin’ costs of living have increased, yet wages have not. The masses still have to have jobs in order to cover basic material needs. Educational institutions under capitalism function in the same way: education is said to be ‘the great equalizer,’ and yet schools are funded in accordance to map location. Schools are defunded and funded according to students’ test scores, ignoring the class inequities which contribute to the results of the scores. Teachers who come in dehumanizing African and poor students are the ones scoring the tests and papers. The school to prison pipeline is a reality many students face; and under capitalism, the role of an educational institution is to prepare you to never question authority, and to continue to unquestioningly ‘clock in and clock out.’
The day i write this piece (May 31, 2020) is the 10th ‘commemoration’ of the murder by the Israeli military of unarmed peace activists on the Mavi Marmara, one of the six ‘Gaza Freedom Flotilla’ ships. It is crucial to recognize that police terrorism is interconnected- it can never be observed myopically. If policing falls in line with upholding and perpetuating capitalist interests we should never make the mistake of thinking it happens in a bubble, or just to our singular communities. The links (two out of many are here and here) between Israel and the U.S. police are nothing to ignore. It would behoove those who don’t recognize that the Palestinian struggle for land and self-determination is not separate for the African fight for liberation and self-determination (and land!!!) to also study why this is the case.
Exhibits A, B, C and D:
Life in occupied Palestine- courtesy of muslim.daily
Sanctions occur in both the U.S. and outside of it. In the course of this current pandemic, we see how sanctions (on Zimbabwe, Iran, Venezuela, Syria and more) have prevented medical, food and other supplies from reaching the people. Sanctions exist for marginalized and colonized communities in the U.S., via educational, medical, housing, food, electrical, sanitation, and economic inequities. The government places drugs in a community (or looks the other way in the face of a natural disaster), waits for said community to be ‘uninhabitable’ to realtors (who don’t have an income if they don’t sell or fill up ‘property’); then developers come in and contribute to pricing out longtime residents. Gentrification is the localized version of an imperialist takeover.
From the Negro Seaman’s Act to the current wave of curfews, African bodies in the U.S. (and the world) have always been policed, so as to curtail uprisings. And as usual, executives and the bourgeoisie are doubly running scared, as their ‘way of life’ is being disrupted- first, due to the pandemic, secondly due to the uprisings. There are now many calls to read books about ‘racism in America’; there’s feigned concerns for the voices of African employees. If the CNN headquarters were not targeted, would this response happen? How about this one from Amazon- the same union-busting company that sells facial recognition software to the very police who contribute to that “inequitable and brutal treatment of (African) people”?
The bourgeoisie is also singling out the current administration’s reaction to Mr. Floyd’s murder (and the uprisings which have ensued), as if Donald Trump is the only U.S. president to support a system of white supremacy. One of the many arbitors of white supremacist policies, Joseph Biden, is calling for a “restraint” from violence in the uprisings, as he and other neoliberal politicians remain silent amidst the violence of Zionism, the violence of the prison industrial complex, and the violence of capitalism in and of itself. Not only is Biden playing up the sympathy in relation to the state-sanctioned violence upon African people for political gain, it’s clear from the myopic outrage based on one statement out of the wholly condescending interview with Charlemagne (who has his own problematic histories with colorism, misogynoir, assault jokes and more), that people are actually not aware of his political history. As Margaret Kimberley wrote in 2017, “It is an error to be swept up in useless argument about whether the current president is a white supremacist without also discussing the racist underpinnings of American society.”
“In 1956, I shall not go to the polls. I have not registered. I believe that democracy has so far disappeared in the United States that no ‘two evils’ exist. There is but one evil party with two names, and it will be elected despite all I can do or say.”
– W.E.B. DuBois
He was not or never had been in favor Of letting us vote so u c… Abraham Lincoln was a racist who said “U cannot escape from history”
-Prince Rogers Nelson
Kimberley, author of Prejudential: Black America And The Presidents, also wrote:
“We had a white supremacist nation even when the president was black. Barack Obama was indeed the more effective evil. He is now proving it by doing what former presidents always do. He is lining his pockets giving speeches to the banksters who stole what little wealth black people had managed to earn. But he had better manners than the erratic and, yes, bigoted Donald Trump and he went out of his way to make nice even as he worked to enhance the neo-liberal and imperialist projects.
Obama never prosecuted killer cops or thieving bank executives. He destroyed Libya, Africa’s most prosperous nation. But white racists still hated him and he benefited from their animus. They gave him the Teflon coating that Trump can only dream about.”
Keep Ms. Kimberley’s words in mind when reading Obama’s statement regarding the murder of George Floyd- the same Obama who has supported and funded increased militarization of the police during his administration. Capitalism understands that people are reactionary. Capitalism understands that we are conditioned to resist the intense study of these policies, which are an exacerbation of past ones. Capitalism understands that if you put in a president that’s so bad, you’ll forget that the last one was just as bad. This is also the same Obama who represented MLK’s concerns about ‘white liberals’ dictating how Africans should protest:
“As a general rule, I think that what, for example, Black Lives Matter is doing now to bring attention to the problem of a criminal justice system that sometimes is not treating people fairly based on race, or reacting to shootings of individuals by police officers, has been really effective in bringing attention to problems… One of the things I caution young people about, though, that I don’t think is effective is once you’ve highlighted an issue and brought it to people’s attention and shined a spotlight, and elected officials or people who are in a position to start bringing about change are ready to sit down with you, then you can’t just keep on yelling at them,”
Has any true victory of the people been won by compromising with an immoral capitalist power structure?
i’ll wait.
As the focus is on Trump’s description of protesters as ‘thugs,’ lest we forget, Obama also called those who rose up in Baltimore “criminals” and “thugs.” He actually stopped himself from completing the word ‘protesters’ to do it. He also utilized similar pathologies framed by Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
While Obama, Trump and many others give negative connotations to ‘looting’ (when it comes to mass protest); people generally ignore that the very foundation of the U.S. is looting.
A racial analysis cannot be had without a class analysis, and vice versa. The refusal of unionized bus drivers (most recently in NYC and Minneapolis) to assist police in transporting protesters is nothing new, however it is a major example of why an intersectional analysis cannot be ignored. The reason why Africans continue to be recipients of state violence in ways which are holdovers from legalized ‘classical’ enslavement is because the forced labor as we’ve been conditioned to know it is no longer ‘acceptable’. However, capitalism and the exploitation and subjugation of African bodies (all over the world) never ceased. We’re not dying fast enough for them collectively, partly due to the so-called ‘Emancipation proclamation’ (signed by white supremacist Abraham Lincoln). Hence, there are a disproportionate number of Africans in jails and prisons for non-violent offenses; unarmed Africans are affected by no-knock raids and gunned down by police without question; economic sanctions prevail in the hood, and and people continue to act as if the Moynihan Report (which ultimately looks as if Biden has worshiped at the feet of it) is some bearer of truth about the African family structure.
Long rap about no knock bein’ legislated For the people you’ve always hated In this hell hole that you, we, call home
No knock, the man will say To keep that man from beating his wife No knock, the man will say To protect people from themselves No knockin’, head-rockin’, inter-shockin’ Shootin’, cussin’, killin’, cryin’, lyin’ And bein’ white No knock
No knocked on my brother Fred Hampton Bullet holes all over the place No knocked on my brother Michael Harris And jammed a shotgun against his skull
– Gil Scott-Heron
Who’s watching the watcher? Tell me who’s keeping an eye On those who claim to be keepers Sitting safe with their view from the sky Who is watching their morals Tell me who says they’re okay Oh, won’t you tell me who is gonna protect us When it’s a watchman’s holiday
– Nona Hendryx/LaBelle
1971
But I thrive to survive, I pray to God to stay alive My attitude boils inside And that ain’t it, you think I’ll every quit Still I pray to get my hands around The neck of the man wit’ the whip 3 months pass, they brand a label on my ass To signify, owned I’m on the microphone
Sayin’ 1555, how I’m livin’ We been livin’ here Livin’ ain’t the word I been givin’ Haven’t got Classify us in the have-nots Fightin’ haves ‘Cause it’s all about money
There are many Africans (in particular) who have been dreading having ‘the talk’ with their children. The ‘talk’ has had many iterations: the doll test/colorism, draconian drug laws, police terrorism… While it’s crucial to speak with children about these matters as a means to prepare them for the world that sees them as less than sentient; one thing that’s missing from the conversation is the why. It’s not enough to tell a child to ‘pull your pants up, always keep your hands up, never raise your voice,’ or all of these other means of respectability just to survive. Is a society which sees us as less than human, and only as a means to siphon labor from something to be respected? People eventually get tired, and they will fight back.
And make no mistake- capitalism will use this as another opportunity to profit off of trauma. Families get torn apart, and it will be played 24/7 on news cycles. It honestly would not be surprising if the protests are being encouraged/accepted as a means of increasing the spread of SARS CoV-2/Covid-19 (especially among African communities) and stating this spread as the reason to extend lockdowns/curfews… but with even MORE surveillance. Facial recognition technology has already been developed to deal with the wearing of masks.
When the masses resist, capitalism has already planned the response. It needs to for its survival.
(Photo: Quinn Dombrowski/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0))
“Time is on the side of the oppressed today, it’s against the oppressor. Truth is on the side of the oppressed today, it’s against the oppressor. You don’t need anything else.”
― Malcolm X
We call their names, in remembrance and in protest:
Aiyana-Stanley Jones
Atatiana Jefferson
Tamir Rice
Bobby Hutton
Michael Brown
Eleanor Bumpers
John Crawford III
Finan Berhe
Amadou Diallo
Abner Louima (who lived to tell the story)
Miriam Carey
Eric Garner
Amílcar Cabral
Robert Sobukwe
Steve Biko
El Hajj Malik El Shabazz
Yvette Smith
Tanisha Anderson
Breonna Taylor
Thomas Sankara
Sean Bell
Aaron Campbell
Philando Castile
All MOVE organizers
Laquan McDonald
Martin Luther King Jr.
Leonard Peltier
And the millions more, named and unnamed
We call on the names of those who did not physically survive terror upon our collective bodies, minds and spirits… We call on the names of those who have been targeted, tortured and assassinated under the system of U.S. and European imperialism. But it’s not enough to speak their names. How will we HONOR their names?
There’s only one solution.
All of the concerned calls, texts and e mails i’m getting are very nice; however, the system has been the same towards African and other colonized and marginalized peoples in all of the 42 years i’ve been on this earth. If one is concerned for me as a result of what is currently happening, there can only be one response. It may not be the answer people want right now, but it is the answer people need. JOIN AN ORGANIZATION WORKING TOWARDS JUSTICE AND LIBERATION!!!
My mother read the first entry from this blog. i went to visit her yesterday, and she mentioned to me that i should be a writer.
This means a lot to me, coming from my mother. i honestly do not know what has held me back all of these years, because certainly i love to write. it’s one of the things which calms me; and i am a much better communicator in this medium than i am verbally (though i also do video commentaries)… It’s not even the work/job conflation that holds me back. Then again, it is.
i still have difficulty seeing that something i love to do could be a ‘potential business opportunity.’ You see articles everywhere saying, ‘make money off your blog!’, or ‘increase your brand’… While i would LOVE to not have to clock in at a job, i (once again) do not have an entrepreneurial spirit. i still want to be free to be able to do work without meeting quick deadlines, or dealing with overhead. Somehow, i cannot see past that part.
It’s only in the past few months where i began shifting the idea of myself as a writer. Whenever people would ask if i were a writer, i’d tell them “i like to write.” i was uncomfortable with the title of writer, just as i was uncomfortable with the title of artist, despite studying photography in college (a student of the great Roy DeCarava (RIP)- we would have several conversations about our love for jazz. One thing he told me, i will never forget. i asked him if a piece i was working on was any good. He asked me if it was something i would hang on my own wall. After i told him yes, he said, “then it is a good photo.”)
Despite the many years of painting i’ve done; despite all the collages, the picture books, the fanzines (yes, i’ve done those too), the text for comics, the drawing for most of my tattoos, the public access television, the playing in bands, the songwriting, creation of music recordings… i have had trouble with calling myself an artist, a musician or a writer. Despite doing all of these things, i had difficulty with the concept of ownership of these things- linking it all to the concept of a brand. The anticapitalist in me (since the age of 15) wanted to share my works with people, without thinking of… overhead. ‘Major’ projects i have done were used to donate money to different organizations.
One thing i’ve learned though, is that it is crucial to think dialectically, and not to speak lack or loss into the universe. While a profit motive is not the main goal, simultaneously, to say “no, i am not an artist- i just make art” is minimizing my own power to reach people in the way i want to. i have had several people in my life who encouraged me to not give up writing; but it was Lorraine Hansberry who contributed to the altering of how i saw myself as a writer.
It wasn’t just her ability to convey narratives that reflected realities of many people of African descent; it was the ideological conversations she had with herself (and others) that were the impetus for said narratives. She developed an anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist analysis that fueled her work.
Of course, anyone doing this kind of work (of creating art, or even organizing around it) has mulled over the contradictions at some point. That would be impossible NOT to do in a capitalist society. One of the many things she asked in her journal writings was “Do I remain a revolutionary? Intellectually – without a doubt. But am I prepared to give my body to the struggle or even my comforts?… Comfort has come to be its own corruption.”She also said of herself, if her health were to improve she looked at traveling to the South to organize amidst the turmoil, “to find out what kind of revolutionary I am.”
The great Nina Simone (who of course was inspired by Lorraine Hansberry, as Lorraine Hansberry was inspired by Langston Hughes) spoke of these same contradictions. She once said, “We don’t know anything about ourselves. We don’t even have the pride and the dignity of African people. We can’t even talk about where we came from. WE DON’T KNOW!” In another interview she stated: “My job is to somehow make (African people) curious enough… persuade them, by hook or crook, to get more aware of themselves and where they came from, and what they are into, and what is already there… Just to bring it out. This is what compels me to compel them. And i will do it by whatever means necessary.”
She also says in the same interview that the work she does “completely takes all (her) energy, unfortunately”; however, because she recognizes the magnitude of this work by acknowledging the “kids who come backstage afterwards, who want to talk or who are moved… Sometimes they are moved to tears…” She took time out despite being tired, “perhaps to hear some of their grievances, or just to make them feel that they’re not alone.” She adds, “The most important thing is, they are our future! It’s an investment, as far as I’m concerned. When I invest time in young people from colleges, I know that I’m gonna get that bread back. You know, bread cast upon the water comes back. Because when i see ’em doing their thing one day, and I’m too old to do anything but sit and look at them I’m gonna say, well, I was part of that.” She saw it as her, and other artists’ “duty to reflect the times… How can you be an artist and NOT reflect the times?”
Lorraine Hansberry speaks of the same sentiments. Amidst her illness, she stopped to visit a group of young people who won a national writing contest: “I wanted to be able to come here and speak with you on this occasion; because you are young, gifted and Black. In the year 1964, I for one can think of no more dynamic combination that a person might be. Look at the work that awaits you; write if you will. But write about the world as it is, and as you think it ought to be and must be. Work hard at it. Care about it. Write about our people. Tell their story.”
In terms of the contradictions, Nina Simone said: “if I had my way, I’d’ve been a killer. I would’ve had guns, and i would’ve gone to the South and gave ’em violence for violence; shotgun for shotgun… if I had my way. But my husband told me I didn’t know anything about guns; he used to teach me. And the only thing I had was music, so I obeyed him. But if I had my way… I wouldn’t be sitting here today. I’d be probably dead (her emphasis) somewhere, because i would have used guns during those years. I was never a nonviolent person.” She would have discovered what kind of revolutionary she was, had her husband not discouraged her. The contradictions (and evidences of misogyny) definitely lie there, in that such a strong-willed woman was coerced (or forced) by her husband to not fight for her people, or against injustice in the matter she wished to.
This was not unlike what happened with Lorraine Hansberry. Her husband colluded with doctors and others, to not inform her of the magnitude of her diagnosis, exacerbating her inability to heal in ways she most likely could have, had she been informed.
To be able to fuel my art (whatever form i take on) as a means of reaching and inspiring people (as well as myself) is work; and i do not have to perceive it as a burden (or a job) to get a message out, based on whatever analysis i have about the society i live in. If i am to truly stand on the shoulders of these two phenomenal women (who are also ancestors); if i am to continue the mission they sought out to do in terms of their creative journey, i have to alter how i look at what i do.
i am a writer.
a writer.
An artist.
A human that has the capacity to receive love, and to love back.
Overjobbed and Underworked 