Detroit, MI
Since George Floyd was murdered we have observed #BlackLivesMatter protests in all 50 states and around the globe call for his murders to be brought to justice. This response suggests that people everywhere understand that systemic racism and abuse of power cannot be tolerated. The diversity seen among protesters indicates that even those with white-privilege recognize the danger of this unchecked abuse of power by the state.
However, this widespread support offers little comfort. Since protests began, those invested in white-supremacist power structures have doubled down: corporations lending support to police (for example Little Caesars Arena being used as a holding cell for brutalized protestors) enable further abuse and highlight the links between the state and private companies. In Detroit, protesters have been beaten, gassed, detained and arrested, often illegally. Nationally, the President ordered troops deployed against sovereign citizens exercising their constitutional right to assemble. The irony of the response reveals the depth of the problem.
Left to business as usual the United States is doomed to follow in the path of the dictatorships it has installed for so long in other countries. Indeed, in many ways we are already headed down that road: Citizens rights are violated. Members of the media are targeted. Mainstream outlets echo blatant lies from the fascist mouthpiece without due diligence or fact checks. Organizers that advocate for anything beyond token reforms and self-congratulatory performances are beaten, abducted, intimidated, and assassinated.
When confronted about their wrongdoings, those who abused their power for so long knew no other recourse than to double down and escalate the violence. Many in the American zeitgeist subscribes to the propaganda espoused by white-supremacist institutions. To others it is obvious that institutions in America are evil, born from the original sin of genocide and slavery, infused with a lust for power, exploitation, and control.
The only shot at redemption lies with honestly and vulnerably acknowledging this history, identifying the places where it still exists, and rectifying it through material reparations and spiritual healing. Black thought offers insights into ways to transform the evil that surrounds us and help us imagine a new way of being. The radical Black imagination already provides a road map for what the future could be. This is the moment for Black Liberation!
We all must remember that the struggle is not to improve the systems that cause harm but to usurp them fully. The time for half-measures is past, the center cannot hold. Fascism will win in America unless we commit to metamorphosis. White people are needed as allies, and instruments, for creating positive social change. We must throw our power into the movements and organizations that work for Black liberation, in securing Black liberation we will be securing our own liberation as well. The turns in the road ahead can not be known, but the path in front of us remains open. Let us steady each other and move forward together, one step at a time, by any means necessary.
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