Machine pumped out another think piece this morning . . .
Eat Jay-Z
Jay-Z recently had an incoherent rant on Twitter Spaces that ‘Eat The Rich’ and being called a capitalist is racist. This is a good reason to keep identifying him as a capitalist and to keep trying to ‘eat’ him. People who talk much about not being intimidated are actually intimidated most of the time. The capitalist class is afraid and so are the Black capitalist class, the gatekeepers, that they use to hold down our race. But why are Black capitalists like Jay-Z afraid? The oppressions of the Black race and that of the poor masses intersect, so much so . . .
The Lethal Threat of the White Boss
In the early morning hours of October 2nd, relatives of 20-year-old Porter Burks called Detroit police because the young Black man, who was challenged by schizophrenia, wandered the neighborhood brandishing a knife with a blade slightly longer than three inches. He slashed his brother’s tires and was otherwise acting out in ways that concerned his loved ones. The specific request was that police assist with getting control of the young man so that he could be transported for treatment. When five officers arrived, they took positions more than fifty feet away from Burks. As they shouted pleas for cooperation, they . . .
For Peace in the Americas, We Must Center Haiti
Adapted from remarks given by Austin Cole, Interim Co-Coordinator of Black Alliance for Peace’s Haiti and the Americas Team, as part of “America v. CELAC: Whither the Monroe Doctrine at 200?” hosted by the International Manifesto Group. As the crisis of imperialism in Haiti continues and US-led ‘Western’ nations debate how best to sell an escalated military invasion, it is imperative that we continue to say No to Military Intervention in Haiti. Yes to Haitian Self-Determination. But this is the bare minimum, we must also understand and center the critical role that Haiti plays in the Western Hemisphere – particularly . . .
and this city is a grave
“Atlanta showed me my first pig carriage in flames.
I am learning how to pour gasoline on discourse.”
— Mohammed al-Kurd . . .
The African Middle-Class is Either Sleeping or Disarmed
Capitalism and its fraying edges should be discarded, its presence grows dull and boring even though millions of Africans experience capitalism in its most vicious expressions, maybe this is why there is a kind of passiveness to its observation or critique. It becomes the most affected, the most harmed, and the most vulnerable that move to educate whoever will listen on the contradictions staring everyone in the face and how to resist and change the status-quo. With the Nigerian, and by extension, African middle-class in mind, it is vital to note the subtle complicity with neoliberalism within our societies. The . . .
Black & Indigenous Solidarity Takes Root in Ecuador
Last week the Black and Indigenous Liberation Movement (BILM) organized a coalition congress between Black and Indigenous communities throughout Abya Yala, which includes the regions of North, Central, and South America, and the Caribbean. BILM held the congress in Quito, Ecuador which has been the center of nationwide strikes throughout this year. This strike led by Indigenous and Black community leaders, against rising food and fuel costs, awakened a decades long issue of the Ecuadorian government excluding Indigenous and Black Ecuadorians politically, socially, and economically. The strikes brought together Black, Indigenous, student, and women groups, to bring the country to . . .
Hashtag Activism and US Imperialism
The abundance of “hashtag activism” has created a false sense of importance for the everyday individual being driven by weaponized empathy to speak out about a cause or injustice happening internationally. This false sense of importance, brought on by the use of hashtags as awareness, is ignited by already held biases about the colonized world, which inevitably leads to both overt and covert calls for western intervention to “save” whoever has been deemed needing of saving. The use of hashtag activism has certainly all but replaced in-person community organizing. It has allowed an array of people across the country and . . .