On Black Futures
And here we are, our first Black Futures Month since the Covid-19 pandemic took firm hold globally, our first within an aftermath that continues unabated.
Yes, Black Futures. Which is not to say our histories are no longer of note, no longer worthy of mention, examination, or honour. No, instead it is to say that we are casting our sights to bright expanses ahead. History is, after all, now. And, we must continue on, and rest, and thrive, and be all of who we are in every space and place. That has been and will continue to be my personal focus this month, my Black Futures Month practice is and will be to care for all the parts of me that have been deeply wounded by anti-Blackness over the course of this lifetime. My practice will be to be in community with those who share my experiences, to share in joy and hope with them, to share in healing, to share in life, put simply. So you won’t find me posting endless information or performing uncompensated labour in the service of anyone’s awakening, not this month. And, I hope, as rarely as possible.
In the multiple aftermaths that we now weather, I have some questions for reflection for non-Black people during this Black Futures Month, especially in the wake of the awakening last June created in so many. Especially after so many engaged in the most egregious displays of performative activism and allyship the movement for Black lives has ever seen: an endless barrage of black squares, of profile filters with Black power fists overlaying selfies, of hashtags and commitments and promises, most of them empty, most of them ignorant of the work that this thing called justice takes.
I cannot express the uncanniness of feeling that rose up in me to see so many millions appearing to take up a torch that Black communities the world over have been carrying for decades and centuries. Uncanny because it could not, would not, seem real. Uncanny because it turned out not to be. Not even not to be real, not to be, at all. Not really. Not in a sustained way. Not in a sustainable way. Not in a way that reflected the urgency of the situation in kind.
What I felt was assuredly a trauma response. A result of so many years of disappointment, of being engaged with and invested in this work of social justice, of Black liberation, in the classroom and the workplace(s) and sometimes on the streets, and in my home and in the homes of my families and friends and friends who are family. Of being gaslit, reduced, ridiculed for the kind of vocality that now thousands of until-June silent and disinterested white and non-Black "allies" are awarded for in every way. Uncanny in the darkest of ways. Exhausted, infuriated, disenchanted to the very marrow of my bones. And, still, somehow, who knows how, hopeful. Change is happening, bit by bit. It must.
So, back to those questions:
What does Black liberation actually mean for you? How would the realization of Black liberation reshape your life, as a non-Black person? What would it require you to divest of?
Who are you, in all of this? What is your role in dismantling these structures, and then in their reimagination?
How do you participate in, and combat, anti-Blackness? Rare is the anti-racist who doesn't participate in anti-Blackness in one way or another. How can you reconcile these actions?
And, how are you supporting Black businesses, Black entrepreneurs, Black educators, Black content creators, Black artists? Are you investing? Are you putting your resources where your mouths are? Are you advocating within your organizations to shift hiring practices? Are you ensuring that there is no speaking about us without us, especially in monetized frameworks? Are you genuinely open to being educated by us? Have you the humility, really? To step into the spaces of knowing what you don't know, and trusting us to show you, and paying us to show you?
Well, here are just a few chances. And if these aren't for you, there are countless other Black voices ready to lead, if only you'll invest in them.
SIGN UP for the Spring ROOTS Cohort HERE.
SIGN UP for Unlearn with Ro Sessions HERE.
Set up a Consulting session for your workplace/organizational space HERE.
SAVE THE DATE March 21, 2021 and stay tuned for signup info for the second instalment of Unlearning in Practice with Wambui and I.
You ready?