Slogan already being co-opted. No?
I heard someone use the term ‘BLM’ today in reference to “Black Lives Matter”. For a quick moment I was confused because When I heard BLM, I thought of the “Black Liberation Movement”. It made me think of the passive language being used recently. Like “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!” Although I never liked it, I opted not to criticize this publicly because it was organic and speaking to the frustration of this current generation of activists. However, to me, “Black Lives Matter” sounds like whining and “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!” sounds like surrender.
I commend people for their actions and voices during this time, but I encourage people to be mindful of their choice of words. The slogan “Black Lives Matter”, while true, is weak. It’s a plea for recognition. It’s an appeal of the powerless to the conscience of the powerful. We’ve been down this road before. White supremacy doesn’t have a conscience. Therefore, “Black Lives Matter” is a call that falls on deaf ears. Hence, for instance, the counter-slogan of “All Lives Matter” which only serves to dilute the message.
The Black Liberation Movement was not a plea or an appeal. It was an action of self-determination. It’s power came not from the society at-large recognizing it’s existence or legitimacy, but from the commitment of those involved, no matter how few, to fight for freedom within a society that has been consistent in it’s pathological racism.
“The limits of tyrants are proscribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress… If we ever get free from the oppressions and wrongs heaped upon us, we must pay for their removal. We must do this by labor, by suffering, by sacrifice, and if needs be, by our lives and the lives of others.” – Frederick Douglas
In many ways, history seems to be repeating itself. The urban rebellions of the 60s which eventually gave rise to the Black Liberation Movement were all sparked by police brutality. However, the BLM was eventually attacked, co-opted, and derailed. There is a lot to learn from in the history of the last 50 years of our struggle (really, the last 250 years). Way too much to adequately address in this small space. So this small note is just a caution to be deliberate, mindful, and strategic in how the demands and concerns of the current manifestation of the struggle are articulated. This is in no way meant to diminish the work that has recently been done.
No. The message of Black Lives Matter isn’t strong enough. But then it can’t be. Here’s why.
The only reason any society needs a ruling class is to outlaw certain behaviors. Not everyone in society agrees with what those are. So when we are “given” freedom of speech, we come to the errant conclusion that anything we say matters. We look at the rest of the world and see all the cultures that don’t allow even that and we count our blessings. This adds to the impression that freedom of speech means anything. And lastly: the American culture is largely based on the belief that having such a restrictive system is ESSENTIAL! There are many that believe that if we didn’t have a written Constitution that we would be lost.
The reality is that the system is itself only as good or bad as those who WIELD it! Take some time to let that really sink in. Systems can NOT BE good or evil. They can be USED for either, but they can BE NEITHER. So when we have a system that allows for a policeman to get away with shooting a 12-year-old black boy, we don’t have A SYSTEM that allows this: we have a population that denies responsibility for allowing it by pointing to the necessity of having a system and can use this paradigm to continue disregarding anything that goes against what “the system” allows, and ignore the fact that there is no such thing as a system of decision-making. There are only decision-makers.
The American culture is set up to promote the denial of personal responsibility. It makes my blood boil to hear supposed leftist views that try to point to “systemic” racism. Systems cannot BE racist! They don’t exist! It’s like blaming my window or lawn mower for racism. Even if this WERE the case, somebody had to INTRODUCE it INTO the system! Until we go back to putting responsibility where it belongs, we can never have a system absent of these abuses! If we don’t hold PEOPLE accountable, then the entire purpose of having a system of rules is completely undermined! People used to understand this hundreds of years ago, and tried to encode something in order to avoid “We the people” from ever being subjects to any dictatorship, which, when you think about it, are only a small population subjugating the rest to following THEIR SYSTEM. Even the system itself, having one, deciding its rules are decisions made by people. But then everyone comes to believe that they are serving the system. THAT is THE problem. We have it completely backwards in this society.
The system is supposed to serve US. They twist it the other way around because in that way, they can always turn around and say that the system requires allowing police that kind of discretion, or we have to torture people to avoid a nuclear attack.
We need to realize that the rest of the world doesn’t work based on these fear-based paradigms. Canada has nowhere NEAR the security the U.S. has and who is attacking it? The agenda that encompasses the international abuse of human rights requires a population fearful of people at home so that they never realize that they can live in peace with others. So long as the military industrial complex needs to funnel wealth into the hands of those who already have more than they know what to do with, you will be targeted by racists with badges and guns.