Black Liberation on Broadway, Featuring Cosplay Activists
Big words are the costumes, theory is the script, and Twitter is the stage.
Almost everyone on Twitter has something to say about Black business, whether they are Black or not. The VP nomination of prosecutor Kamala Harris is not progress in the slightest for Black liberation. While Harris’ nomination does not improve the life of oppressed Black people in America, it does make it easier to determine who is for our people, and who is against us.
Over the course of this dumpster fire known as 2020, most Twitter users have been forced into acknowledging the various, layered realities of Black existence, that have existed since the establishment of this imperialist empire. While this year has forced many people to see what has been going on for centuries, it has also caused many people to unrightfully speak on what needs to happen moving forward.
Increased participation in any revolutionary movement is always encouraged. But, acting like you care about the revolution for clout/social capital is not participation. It is an empty reflection of one of the first traditions established on this stolen land: The use Black suffering for personal gain.
Anyone can say that they want Black people to be liberated. Some have said it so much, that they might have tricked themselves into believing that they actually do. But after checking the actions of some of these so called “activists” , it becomes clear to people who genuinely working towards liberation that they are just performing.
I am not calling these people out to discourage others from continuing to learn the theories critical to guiding progress or to limit involvement in the continual fight for liberation essential to Black survival since this country has been performing targeted genocide of African peoples. I call them out to achieve the opposite. Those that want to be involved in the fight for Black liberation must base their participation on the realities of the material conditions of Black communities. African people have fallen victim to too many broken promises to continue to rely on words over actions.
If your intent is not to overthrow the systems of oppression that have caused the genocide of Black people across the globe, but rather reform them, you have never experienced the violence and harm it is designed to cause. If you have and continue to side with these systems, you have sacrificed the humanity of yourself for your minimal inclusion at the expense of people from our communities who are the most effected.
Pushing the narrative that Black people can work within the system to progress is disrespectful to the lives of those who dedicated their entire existence to the Black liberation struggle. In the words of Assata Shakur, who participated in revolutionary attacks on the systemic structures of oppression weaponized against African people, “Nobody in the world, nobody in history, has ever gotten their freedom by appealing to the moral sense of the people who were oppressing them.”
Preying on Black people’s hope for freedom in order to sell us a pipe dream that improvement of our conditions will come from; an imperialist who has continually defended the Crime Bill of 1994 that systemically strengthened state terrorism towards oppressed peoples (mostly Africans), a career prosecutor who established her political career through terrorizing her own community, then proceeding to vilify liberationists for recognizing the whole system is a scam, thus choosing not participate, makes you the opposition.
It is time to listen to the communities that too many outsiders have grown comfortable speaking for. Stop the Act-ivism, Black people have seen this show before. Critical review: The plot is tired and unoriginal. The cast lacks diversity. And the acting stinks. Overall a 0/10 performance.
Turn to yo community and stop listening to the outsiders who do not have your best interests at heart. This shit is more than an “aesthetic”.
