I Smell the Appropriation From a Mile Away
I see white and non-black people using Black Lives Matter (BLM) everywhere I go. I have seen the, “Black lives matter, MF! WTF is wrong with y’all?! Enough with the murders of Black people, with impunity. ENOUGH!!!” hashtag—which was created following the 2015 murder of 17 year-old, Trayvon Martin, by the movement’s Founders, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi—on store fronts, social media posts, out of the mouths of celebrities’ Instagram posts, on commercials, in the ads of various and sundry companies, etc. I see a trend unfolding. This barrage of well-meaning (mostly) BLM tags feels eerily reminiscent of Black cultural it appropriation—as in Our hairstyles, music, fashion, and slangs. The co-opted Black slangs of Squad Goals, YOLO, Yaaasssss, Fuckboy, Basic, Turn Up, and Bye Felicia, come to mind (Huffpost’s “12 Words Black People Invented and White People Killed” by Zeba Blay). To be clear, of course I want Everybody to Know Like They Know Like They Know that Black Lives Matter. Of course I want that. However, white [and non-black] people do have a history of taking Black slangs (culture), never thinking to give credit where it is due, and then going forth and contextually misusing the slang.
.
.
What I mean to say is that, if the Trend constitutes jumping on the bandwagon that not only makes you money and puts you on the right side of HerstoryHistory, white [and non-black] people will do it, whether they want the changing tides or not; and by any means necessary. Even if they do not understand the meaning or context of the words/terms/slangs that are being appropriated, if there is something to gain, it will be utilized (for context: white people tricked the American/African/Australian/New Zealand/Caribbean/Pacific Islander/Alaskan [Palestinian] Indigenous peoples in order to steal their lands—so you get an idea of what we are working with here).
.
.
That is my concern. White and non-black people are not and will not take the time to read and learn the truth of the HerstoryHistory of Black people in these United States of America. If We (Black people) do not and they (everybody else) do not learn and have the truth of the United States, then we will not see sustained change in this country—and the world, for that matter. Not, at least, without mass bloodshed in a bloody revolution. If things do not systemically and substantively change, a bloody revolution is next. And I’ll tell you now, most Black people would rather not have a bloody revolution. But We will fight for lasting change.
There is no going back to that ameriKKKa; regardless of what the white Liberals and Progressives love to constantly proclaim in response to Donald Trump’s latest vile Executive Order, “This is not who we are; this is not who our country is.” For Black people, this country, as it is now, is exactly who country has always been.
.
.
What I mean to say is that, if the Trend constitutes jumping on the bandwagon that not only makes you money and puts you on the right side of HerstoryHistory, white [and non-black] people will do it, whether they want the changing tides or not; and by any means necessary. Even if they do not understand the meaning or context of the words/terms/slangs that are being appropriated, if there is something to gain, it will be utilized (for context: white people tricked the American/African/Australian/New Zealand/Caribbean/Pacific Islander/Alaskan [Palestinian] Indigenous peoples in order to steal their lands—so you get an idea of what we are working with here).
.
.
That is my concern. White and non-black people are not and will not take the time to read and learn the truth of the HerstoryHistory of Black people in these United States of America. If We (Black people) do not and they (everybody else) do not learn and have the truth of the United States, then we will not see sustained change in this country—and the world, for that matter. Not, at least, without mass bloodshed in a bloody revolution. If things do not systemically and substantively change, a bloody revolution is next. And I’ll tell you now, most Black people would rather not have a bloody revolution. But We will fight for lasting change.
There is no going back to that ameriKKKa; regardless of what the white Liberals and Progressives love to constantly proclaim in response to Donald Trump’s latest vile Executive Order, “This is not who we are; this is not who our country is.” For Black people, this country, as it is now, is exactly who country has always been.
Comments
Post a Comment