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Thoughts on the Black Lives Matter Revolution

  • Writer: Maisha Mustanzir
    Maisha Mustanzir
  • Jun 5, 2020
  • 5 min read

Updated: Aug 18, 2020


Image by Kelly lacy

We are living through a revolution. This is everyone's fight. As an ally to my black siblings, it is my duty to do my part in this fight.


The death of George Floyd, an innocent black man who was murdered by the police, started this revolution but this fight has been going on for a long time. Slavery ended, but only on paper. Countless innocent black folks have been murdered, degraded, wrongfully imprisoned and are made to live in a system that still treats them as slaves.


What the agents of the state have done is not an act of security or for the betterment of the public as they would have you believe. When "foreign" forces launch assault on the citizens of America, they are labeled terrorists. Yet, when the state launches assault and murderers their own citizens its supposed to be justified? No it is not state terror, it is just as much terrorism if the state plays a hand in it versus if the state does not.


What they have done is state terrorism and it is conducted through political murder. These are the ways in which the state removes the "unproductive" and unneeded population. This is not something new, it has been happening for a long time whether its with the homeless population, indigenous folks or black folks.


This is done through state power such as enforcing laws, creating pro-state narratives, and essentially converting the population under the state to buy into these narratives such as anti-black sentiments. A system is created which makes it easy for the state to enforce this. Black people are not "bad" by nature, the system makes an unbreakable system to make sure the unneeded population has to slip up in order to get by. Then they zoom in on those slip-ups as evidence that they are unneeded.


You may call it a conspiracy theory and discard this but the lengths of state power are often beyond conception and people do not realize before its too late. Look no further than the piles of cases where white men committed hideous crimes and barely got a slap on the wrist but black people get shot for literally just being black. Look at the way in which criminal profiles are made. One such profile is called the Phenotype Report (refer to Figure 2).



When someone reports a crime and they describe the criminal as having a "dark skin tone" the criminal sketch will be intentionally made to be more black because that will make the sketch stick in the minds of the population as fitting of a wanted criminal.


This is one model of criminal profiling and it is terrifying because it assumes black people are criminals and further perpetuates this lie and does it for something "good," to create a safer space for "everyone." The police then repeat this. It's DEEPLY ROOTED AND IT IS WRONG. It's not just about privilege, its terrorism against an entire population of the state. "Riots" barely balance the scale against state terrorism that has been continuing for ages.


I am sharing what I have learned in addition to my thoughts surrounding this matter for a while now. I am not black, so please do educate me if I have said something which I should not have.


Caring for certain issues cannot be treated like a hobby as if some can be interested in it and others aren't so it is okay if they are not engaged with it. This is one of them. Everyone needs to care about this! If you know someone who doesn't care, get them to care. GET THEM TALKING. I have been hearing my parents calling people they know to talk about it all. They should be doing that and I hope everyone they spoke to calls up everyone they know and talks about it. There is work to do and everyone has a part to play.


If you cannot attend the protests, it is okay. If you cannot donate, it is okay. But, you can take two minutes out of your life to sign this FREE petition! You can call out those who are racist/use anti-black sentiments.


Educate yourself and those around you. If you do not know enough about this then do your research. Start off by reading texts such as On Lynching by Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine,The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon, Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe and Ain't I a Woman by Sojourner Truth. Read works by Phillis Wheatley, Maya Angelou and more black writers, musicians, historians, scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs etc.


Dismantle racist ways of thinking within your families and friend groups. Call people out, hold them accountable. No matter how minor that small racist remark may be, hold them accountable for it. The more we let pass by, the more we become complicit in adding to anti-black systematic narratives.


All the "small" things add up and before you know it, more authority figures harboring these anti-black views enter the system and overtake it. Discontinue the fairness creams that is built on the premise that the darker the skin, the uglier one is because that is what white colonial forces taught their non-white colonies to control them for generations to come. These are not separate problems, THEY ALL ADD UP. They are all linked.


Here is a compilation of collections of black businesses to support made by supporters:

I will keep updating this thread as I come across more black owned businesses and ways to support this revolution.


I do not have a big platform but if any black folks would like to use my platform to speak your stories, thoughts, voice - please let me know and you can use my platform to share your voice.


Change is not only just in this moment.


For all allies, we must continue to dismantle anti-black narratives within our own communities. We must stand up for black folks even when there is not one in the room. We are living through a revolution. This period of time will be in the history book and it is now that you have to decide which side of history you want to be a part of. I stand with my black siblings and I will continue to educate myself and do my part in educating others. I stand tall and strong in this fight with them.


What is your part to play?

 
 
 

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