Michelle Obama stands next to Barack Obama and points at the inauguration

African Women, Don’t Be a Mammy for Empire

All too often these days we are witnessing petit-bourgeois African women willingly taking positions of leadership, power, and influence within the political and military infrastructure of the United States. Positions that require, as part of their job descriptions, acts of extreme ongoing violence against the world’s most oppressed populations, including their own people. . . .

Feminism & Women’s Liberation Are Not Imperialist

In modern-day politics, figures such as Meghan Markle, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Michelle Obama, and Kamala Harris are seen as heroes of our times who have overcome the odds in order to make the world a better place for women everywhere. By taking up space in male-dominated settings, they are sending the message that they’re a force to be reckoned with. Powerful. Commanding. In control. However, this doesn’t automatically mean that they’re making progress on behalf of women everywhere. . . .

Political Copaganda & The General Elections

Earlier this week, after months of viral pleas and open letters and less than 100 days from the general election, Joe Biden finally announced his Vice Presidential running- mate would be Senator Kamala Harris.  With a political career predicated on the criminalization of poor working-class Black people in the Bay Area of California, it came as no surprise to many that Harris would have been chosen. However, what is surprising is the inability of many of us to recognize counter-insurgency and neo-colonialism when directly facing it.  Harris was both a chief legal advisor and chief law officer to the California . . .

Aren’t We Tired Of The Obamas Yet?

One of the biggest issues with perceived notions of Black excellence is the ways it is contributed to uncritical perceived notions of success. There is an avoidance in acknowledging that “Black excellence” is rooted in a colonial narrative of what makes someone exceptional. Circumstantially, that perception is determined by what we deem “success”. The contradictions of Black excellence is most evident in the romanticizing of The Obamas.  Barack Obama’s 8-year presidency has been a surface level achievement for the Black community based on identity reductionism. After all, he is the FIRST Black president. But a closer inspection of those 8 . . .