After some interesting reflections on some conversations I have had with some friends and in concert with the information and knowledge that I have learned from a myriad of literary works on R{EVOL}utionary struggle I have come to realize something that I have recently attempted to enact in my own life: we need a language of liberation, a language of love, we need to speak R{EVOL}ution. So let me take a moment to explain myself. We consistently speak of systemic oppression and domination, the struggles that POCs, the underclass, and the LGBTQI* communities suffer from everyday. But we usually speak of them alone, we speak of the oppression, the domination, the hurt, the suffering. But are we mentioning that there are solutions to these systemic pathologies? When you discuss the inequalities do you mention that politics of liberation are a means of hope, a means of empowering, a means of acting out r{EVOL}ution? Another problem is that fact a lot of people make the mistake of forgetting that they also have the capacity to oppress others. So when you speak, do you oppress the individual you are speaking to? Do you selfishly consider yourself and your interests and not the communal interests? When I say communal interests I mean the well being of all people, the interest of their liberation and NOT some status quo (that many people assume is some selfish belief they have that usually goes so far beyond them). So many times the personal fear and paranoia of an individual will cause them to make blanket oppressive statements against entire populations of people and that consideration is never outside of their supposed “feelings” or “opinions”. When you speak are you speaking with the intent to liberate, show love, critically evaluate, and empower? Continue Reading
In light of some recent events that I have witnessed, I think its time to have this very much needed conversation. I recently did a guest lecture in a Hip Hop & Social Issues class talking about the intersections of Black Feminism & Hip Hop. I had the students analyze “Flawless” by Beyonce & then “Lookin’ A** N****” by Nicki Minaj. One general theme surfaced from the overall analysis: Nicki Minaj was confrontational & her confrontational stance was seen as completely unwarranted & unnecessary. I thought this was interesting seeing that there were other issues with the song (e.g. transphobic lyrics) but the one thing that came off as most important to the students was the fact that Nicki had the audacity to be angry. Continue Reading
Introduction
