why we may never see black liberation: a thread.

i’ve been told so much to keep my head down and keep working on liberation regardless of who shows up. i made excuses for my people and the most prominent members of society. just assuming that they’re working or busy or tired from capitalism.

i submitted to this up until recent: when i looked up and saw that people show up. they show up everywhere. to everything. BUT black liberation.
they show up at NBA games. they show up at NFL games. they show up at concerts. they show up at Gucci. they show up at Juicy Crab.

and noticed how much my people love capitalism and consumerism. and how all it takes is a million dollar check to turn an honest man into a dishonest man.

frankly, i’m tired of people absolving the most prominent members of society (celebrities) from their due diligence to speak out about the wrongs going on in the world. celebrities in the 1960s lent their voices to the Civil Rights Movement without MLK begging and pleading.

from Muhammad Ali (sports) to Nina Simone (music), black entertainers were not stingy about supporting the movement. even if it meant being blackballed, blacklisted, and losing support from their white fan bases. they decided FREEDOM was greater than any amount of money.

celebrities today do not wish to directly challenge these systems. they do a performative action or two and go back to enjoying the comfort of privilege. while black people go back to dying and experiencing the same abuse decade after decade

but they swear that because we dominate the entertainment industry, it’s “not as bad.” the NBA for example, they painted the courts, changed the names on the jerseys, and did a one day walk out and said enough. that’s performative.

a truly impactful sentiment would be players unifying and saying “we’re not dribbling another ball until shit is changed!”

we as black people hold nearly all the entertainment capital here in america and even internationally.

if we withhold out greatest power, these companies lose money.

they didn’t change the “back of the bus” rule until they lost so much they were forced to succumb.

take notes!

so once everyone hood on board and we come together and truly decide enough is enough, i will always have a job in activism. there will always be a protest somewhere. there will always be a new hashtag and a new victim and a new lawsuit and a new distraction. and that’s scary.