The Art of KCF: Ritual Protest
Dr. Sami Schalk, an esteemed Black feminist disability scholar tweeted out late last night a query for her Black twitter community, “How many white people do you personally know whom you would consider anti-racist & 100% vouch for them to other Black people?” She responds to the tweet “I think I’ve got like 4 & a possible.” I’m linking here to the thread for your perusal. The results are thought-provoking to say the least.
I once said to Vaimo, that people of color are always thinking about race. It’s our default lens. A lens through which we run every scenario and interaction we have with others. Especially when that interaction is not a positive one.
That was an insight for her.
On the thread, Black folks with white parents, including Dr. Schalk herself, say they could not vouch for a white parent.
Sit with that for a minute.
I have a white parent. Observing his paralysis when provided the opportunity to directly confront overt racism has impacted me on a cellular level. That combined with his and my Mexican American mama’s refusal to attend my wedding provide direct examples of how systemic oppression manifests on an interpersonal level.
And, I would consider both my parents good people.
And, I could not vouch for either of them to my Black friends.
This is painful to contend with, and requires us to truly grapple with how our intentions align with our impact. Non-racist is not the same as anti-racist. And shifting to an anti-racist perspective requires, work, time, reflection, action and consistency. It requires us to think about how is race operating in every scenario. It requires us to examine how systems are structured to elevate some and keep others down. It also requires us to do something to repair past harms and dismantle systems that continue to perpetuate inequities. Anti-racism work requires of us that we show up to do this every, single, day. It requires continual learning, sharing, reflecting, and practice.
These are not new conversations. Black feminists have been writing, theorizing, mobilizing on the very simple premise that until Black women are free, none of us are free. If you’re not seeing that as the main goal of 21st century Black organizing, you’re not connected to the right folks yet. If you are moving from occupying a non-racist space to one purposefully anti-racist, welcome to the task at hand. It is now your job to contend with how anti-Blackness is the key motivating factor to how white supremacy is upheld in the US, our worlds. All non-Black folks have a part in that. Yes, even me.
Protests have erupted across the globe, a cry of righteous rage against white-supremacy, and more of us are awakening to this cornerstone of anti-Blackness infecting all of our communities. I’m grateful for more folks walking this path. But, as my dear sister-friend Victoria reminded me the other day. Good white folks are awakening right now, and she, a Black woman is sleep-deprived. I too am weary.
Because I live in a rural area, a three hour drive away from the epicenter of this current protest, I have been trying to figure out what is my role in this struggle from the unceded land of the Oceti Sakowin on which Vaimo and I currently live. For now, I suppose it has been attempting to model different futures for us all. I’ve been working to make the case as to why this urban rebellion matters to rural Minnesota. This subject is worthy of a book, for now I will try to make some more sense of it.
I’ve met a lot of good white folk doing this work since sharing my thoughts publicly. But as we have already covered, good is not enough in these times. The protests that have resulted in actually burning structures down is just as much of an indictment of how overt white supremacist structures have stolen from our Black neighbors’ futures as it is a call-in for the good white folks. Good white folks cannot continue to live without understanding their role in all of this. While urban centers are burning I want to reiterate that these uprisings are connected to rural communities.
I want us to challenge this idea of the rural/urban divide as an important part of this conversation. The rural/urban divide first manifests geographically. Rural areas are outside of city centers because rural areas provide the material reality for urban centers to thrive. Food, building materials, minerals, land, water. Rural areas are resource-rich for the development opportunities of city centers. The rural/urban divide has most recently gained attention due to the ways it has manifested politically. 2016 was the “wake-up” call especially for the good white folks living in liberal city centers. The rural/urban divide has also manifested racially. In the imaginary, or the narratives that proliferate about rural geographies from urban centers, rural is white, and urban is diverse. We know this is much more complicated than these “divides.” We who dream of communities rooted in equity understand connection takes us further than divides. The dreammakers in rural recognize deeply that connection, collaboration, and communalism shape inclusive communities. The dreammakers in rural also understand that it is also acceptable for our communities to serve different roles. Rural and urban folks can exist in better relationship. What becomes a problem is when rural is always pegged as backward, behind, or lagging. Or, when urban or rural is articulated as better than the other.
If for nothing else, my urban dwellers, you see now, there is anti-Black racism in your “progressive” bastions of hope right? It’s everywhere. And for my rural community members, I hope you are listening to the cries of rage from your Black, Indigenous and people of color neighbors who have also brought to light that your towns, your townships, your counties also need work. Systemic racism, anti-Blackness is embedded across that urban/rural divide. Because the power centers to make policy resides in the city we have to deeply understand how urban areas shape collective responses to anti-Blackness. When large cities remain apathetic to these much needed changes that must take place, when the good white folks continue to wring their hands and say they can’t do anything about it, that response fans outward into Greater Minnesota and rural areas. It is not only the conservative racist politicians from rural areas shaping this reaction. The future of our state depends on every geography doing their part to shift toward anti-oppressive practices.
I know a lot of white folks in rural, suburban and urban landscapes. I hope by the end of my lifetime the number of folks committed to and showing up to anti-racist work vastly outnumber the good white folks I know and love.
Questions to Ponder
What does protest look like to you?
In what ways is compassion meeting action for you?
How are you protesting against harms and protecting space for joy?
How are you working to be someone Black folks can vouch for?
