The easiest thing to lose
- is the hardest thing to re/gain ...
The easiest thing to lose
As the inevitable consequences continue, the responses are predictable. One calendar year in and, the poison that is racism and anti-blackness, has the country in the grasp of violent uncontrollable madness. A madness telegraphed with pageantry and merchandise. Wrapped in titles ending in foundations and pacs. Yet, they only used what is known to be a guarantee.
No. We do not need or have to stay here. But the easiest thing to lose - is the hardest thing to re/gain. Trust.
Death and torture are expected in the execution of white supremacy, that was confirmed by the US Senate with every approved cabinet appointment. Presented as procedure with deference to an incoming administration, the current environment has blossomed as any well nurtured one would be. This, while pointing to polls showing “… percent of Americans approve of…” “They’re acting like Nazis!”, and targeting communities of color
“Tijerina was responding to the suggestion by some LULAC colleagues that Mexican Americans ally with African Americans. "[The Negro's] problems are not mine," he retorted. "I don't want to ally with him" - Brown, Black, and White in Texas Brent M. S. Campney REVIEW 3/12/2013 Southern Spaces
Black people .. YOU’RE NEXT!!
I have cerebral palsy so I can’t hold your hand when I tell you this .. that is disrespectful. The sentiment remains the same as it relates to Black America. Nightly programming revolving around Federal White Nationalism, being cast as “MAGA” and fascism, consistently brings into stark relief the reason - POC communities are where they are .. again, they do not have to be. However, you can not solve a problem you refuse to acknowledge.
Absolutely, those who can and are called to protest in the streets, must and should help push back against the government. As far as engaging Black Activism .. the simplest of things has yet to be proffered. Each analysis cherry picks moments in history to draw comparisons. Each think piece decides that only confirmation biased views are to hold influence. “Legacy Organizations” and their Political Parties in an election year are, hedging bets. They still will be killing us indiscriminately.
To dismantle this system for some, is to kick an addiction - adjacency and privilege. “I’m a leftist…” “Democratic Socialist..” “Deport the illegals…” “.. the agents spoke Spanish. They’re Latinos..” “.. they’ve hit our community to but, in our culture we don’t speak on those things.”
Across online platforms, Asian Americans spread warnings and advocated for the protection of Asian elders and neighborhoods. At the same time, a troubling narrative of anti-Black sentiment emerged on social networks. Video footage from national news organizations displaying Black men as the suspects in some attacks reignited anti-Black stereotypes in many Asian-American communities. Days after the explosive attack in my hometown, I listened to older members of my Chinese community hypothesize about the motives for the crime in a discussion punctuated with anti-Blackness. - “ABGs”, Affirmative Action, and Anti-Blackness in the Asian American community - Lucy Tu Harvard Political Review 3/2021
They are still kidnapping people off the streets in plain sight.. The hardest thing to gain.. is the thing you had and, through it away.
The shift was tectonic and palpable. The affirmation of the known - damn was hoping it wasn’t true - a collective step back. Explaining to people that, “No. You do not get to escape the repercussions of your anti-blackness. You want me to believe the playing Dixie from a known racist was ..” They called him “nigger” as he was there to support the Venezuelan people.. the hate is global.
It’s the local variety that now has the world in the hands of madness.
Daily we watch white men do what they always have done. We watch them as the world witnesses the swift and cruel callousness - surgical precision - of reinforcing white. This for all of its evil still, has communities of color and now some whites requesting - Black empathy and solidarity. It is there to be had .. but .. yall couldn’t be told .. gotta be showed. To ask or demand absent of reality - trust.
On Martin Luther King Jr Day, he will have been in office one calendar year. In that year every group that disparaged Black America, has unfortunately been touched by this evil. The profiting off hate. The rage baiting for content. The blatant racism - as they want it to be. Wait .. ain’t that what yall was told was gonna happen?? Violence and cruelty..
Decisions must be made in order to change this current reality. Decisions around anti-blackness and white adjacency. Decisions around racism and humanity. Decisions around political power and a functioning equitable society. We did not just arrive at this point .. America sprinted to this very spot.
2016 ..
The White vote for Trump 58%
The Asian vote for Trump 29%
The Hispanic vote for Trump 29%
Others vote for Trump 37%
2024 ..
The White vote for Trump 57% .. [-1%]
The Asian vote for Trump 39% .. [+10%]
The Hispanic vote for Trump 46% .. [+17]
Others vote for Trump 54% .. [+17%]
.. and some skin folk joined in ..
Effective coalitions are rooted in shared reality and trust. This movement requires America to address the truth of the moment.. if they slap a Black face on it you all hop to whatever conclusion.. We have never been the enemy. The numbers tell us that we have no allies either..
The hardest thing to gain is the easiest thing to lose ..