Let's Talk About Monday's Opening Thought: March 22, 2021

So...my opening thought of the week that I posted yesterday around Black folx not spouting anti-Asian sentiments and perpetuating white supremacy got me a few messages from Black folx on multiple social media platforms. And, well, some of y'all wasn't all that pleased with me. Some of y'all felt that your experience with AAPI communities aiming racist rhetoric and actions toward Black U.S. Americans negated standing with them. Some of y'all felt that white supremacy will only be addressed when some AAPI communities stop perpetuating white supremacist class dynamics in their hate toward other races. I wanted to address all of that because real talk?

Now is not the time for that debate.

I’ve had that debate in times when hate crimes weren’t on the rise, and I will go back to discussing the intersections of class and race and social pecking orders...but now just ain't the time.

Racism and white supremacy between the Black community and AAPI communities is legit and something that needs to be addressed. It's a topic I have addressed in the past. I've been on the receiving end of anti-Blackness from AAPI communities. I have spent time learning about and understanding how AAPI communities have been weaponized by whiteness against not only Black and Brown communities but against one another. But I’m not going to go on the offensive toward any communities that have lost their friends and family mere days after a hate-based mass shooting. I'm not going to kick people while they are struggling to feel heard in the face of a wave of white nationalist hate. Now just ain’t the time. This ain't about me. And it damn sure ain't about y'all, Black folx who slid into my DMs. Not right now, at least.

I feel like we can and should stand with people while they’re hurting and healing. We can resume the debates we need to resume later and resume them from a realm of building mutual support and understanding. We definitely have work to do. But I’m not willing to center myself in someone else’s pain, even if I have faced racist words and actions from them in the past. Now is the time for solidarity. I'll get back to the unpacking later.

#stopasianhate

____________________________________________

Soon Chung Park, age 74

Hyun Jung Grant, age 51

Suncha Kim, age 69

Yong Yue, age 63

Delaina Ashley Yaun, age 33

Paul Andre Michels, age 54

Xiaojie Tan, age 49

Daoyou Feng, age 44

These are the names of the people whose lives were taken by white supremacy in Atlanta, Georgia, in a terrorist-level anti-Asian hate crime. Say their names. Do not let their deaths, and the hate that led to their deaths, be another footnote in the history of U.S. white supremacy. Make your self-work, your own dismantling of your connections to and perpetuation of white supremacy, be not about you but about the many melanated lives taken at the hands of white violence. 

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Our Stories (June 18, 2020) - Full Panel Discussion

If you were unable to attend the virtual panel discussion "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Our Stories" that took place on Thursday, June 12, 2020, you can watch the discussion in full at the link below! Shout out to AMA PDX for hosting this discussion, Kim "Kimfer" Flanery-Rye for moderating, and Reland Logan, Antjuan Tolbert, and Christian Aniciete for being in community as my fellow panelists!

White Supremacy and the Not-So-Subtle Art of White Kudos

I saw something this morning on my Facebook timeline, a post with a list of things that have happened since the current protests began - Officer arrests, appeals from city and state officials for legislative change, things of that ilk. It was posted with the caption, “Keep protesting! Keep donating! It’s working!” I’ve been seeing a lot of lists like this lately, from white folx and non-Black persons of culture.

It annoys the hell out of me.

I have always been saddened by the fact that somewhere deep inside of the concepts of whiteness and the structures of white supremacy white people, and even some persons of culture who have acquired levels of white privilege, have an ingrained urge to give themselves kudos for being, in their eyes, “good” people. Like, that list wasn’t posted for Black people, was it? It couldn’t have been. Because that would be a slap in the face of a race that has been fighting for the right to matter for their whole existence on a continent of unceded land. So definitely not a message for Black folx. Wouldn’t want to devalue the hard laborious work of Black people for over a century just to pat yourself and your fellow white people on the back for a few days of action now, would we?

White people, who are the original arbiters and creators of the classifications of race, are patting themselves on the back and cheering one another on for taking a few days off from 300+ years of oppression on unceded land and compiling a list so they can be like, “We did it!” when they feel like this has “calmed down.”

Most white folx will go back to their lives. Most already have. So have some persons of culture. But Black folx will continue to fight, with Indigenous folx beside us, both parties carrying the trauma this land has inflicted upon us for generations. Most white folx will have moved on to the next thing, back to life in progress. And they’ll look back on this time in United States history with a sense of accomplishment. Some will even use this time to make other white folx feel bad for not participating.

And they’ll have a list to refer to so they can show just how “good” they are and were.

You can miss me during your victory laps.