The current fight against the feminization of Black men is a fight to sustain an oppressive status quo of female degradation and subjugation, it’s not about preserving Black manhood. First off we need to understand that: Black manhood has never even existed in the USA! We were not men under chattel slavery, we were not even recognized as human. After emancipation and during the Reconstruction era we simply imitated the roles, behaviors, standards, dress, and values of white men, that’s all we had known as Black men in the US for over 200 years. White men were our only reference . . .
Theory Corner
Class Struggle & Higher Education
The revived discourse around student loan forgiveness has created a forest for the tree moment, yet again, in how the masses react to what is purported to be incremental “wins.” The Biden administration recently announced that the federal government will forgive $10,000 in student loan debt for Americans making less than $125,000 annually as well as extend the student loan repayment moratorium. This announcement is in stark difference to the campaign Biden ran on, yet this offering is being oversold by mainstream media pundits and journalists ultimately causing mass confusion about what is happening in and with higher education. Granted, . . .
Anti-Consumerism & Voluntary Poverty
‘Mutual Aid’ as both concept and practice was reignited under the conditions of the pandemic that called for collective approaches for survival. However, as the years have continued, mutual aid has been redefined continuously and is now synonymous with ‘charity’ (which is not a bad thing, but is quite different). Crowdfunding links are flooding the internet by the hundreds, but as time continues, pushing more people into the margins and squeezing them financially, that method seems to be increasingly becoming less and less effective. And for whatever reason requests for funds are made, the fact that it is overwhelming, continuous . . .
We Must Be Guided by Revolutionary Ideology
In this country (the u.s.), all of our experiences are the material result of ideology. The schools, the clothes, the media, the workplace, the cars, the judicial system, are all manifestations of the ideology of white supremacist capitalism. This ideology is expanded and imposed upon the inhabitants of the planet through imperialism, and the superstructures made to strengthen it – structures like NATO, the IMF, the United Nations, and AFRICOM. Many of us (especially New Afrikans, Latin Americans, Afrikans on the continent and other oppressed peoples) did not choose this ideology – it’s been forced on us! . . .
TikTok, Fascist Mythmaking, And ‘Comedy Journalists’
This essay is Part 1 of the second part in Devyn’s Patreon series exploring digital trends, themes, and analyses; the first, “on TikTok, can be found here. We were trying to find the movie “All Dogs Go To Heaven” for his niece, a giggling smile with a couple of missing baby teeth and enough energy to power a small village. Released in 1989, All Dogs Go To Heaven was one of the animated films that captivated us both as children, and I had faith that it would do the same for her. He says he coulda swore that it was . . .
Are You a Missionary or a Revolutionary?
In a recent panel, Delency posed the question to his fellow panelists: “are you a missionary or a revolutionary?” The question naturally arose since the panel featured groups and people who are actively participating in food and community programs. Over the course of the discussion, it became clear that folks are engaged in the work for different reasons. Two members of People’s Programs (Yemi & Delency) participated in the panel and it was their goal to have an honest conversation with the other panelists (and themselves) about why they are doing this work: to make themselves feel good, or to . . .
There is No Such Thing as Black Capitalism
51 years ago on 4th Dec 1969, Fredrick Allen Hampton Sr then chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP), and deputy chairman of the national BPP was assassinated by the Chicago County police in an unlawful raid. Hampton was only 21 years old when he was killed alongside Marl Clark another BPP member who was 22 years old. The anniversary to remember the life of Fred Hampton was quiet in 2021 without much celebration and recognition, obviously the mainstream media for known reasons do not have a history of celebrating radical revolutionaries. Although, maybe mistakenly one . . .
Austerity and the Apolitical Act of Self-Care
“This country fosters the idea of competitive individualism. In other words, he divides people, he tells people to ‘be an individual and do your own thing’. You can not do your own thing if your own thing is not the right thing! You have to understand one of the most counter revolutionary slogans out of last year was ‘do your own thing’. That’s what Black people have been doing for years! You can NOT do your own thing! If your own thing does not happen to be a thing that’s right for the struggle, then it’s incorrect!” Imam Jamil Al . . .