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At various points in my life, I’ve encountered gaps between my performed politics (lived) and the performance of my politics ( rhetoric, gesturing, signaling). Committing to a body of politics is just that, a commitment.
& commitments are hard. They require tools, discipline..
& commitments are hard. They require tools, discipline..
You need to constantly be equipping yourself to show up better for yourself. You need to do the work so you can give your politics a backbone, give your dreams your courage, give your concerns and observations language
And you won’t always be able to do it. At least I know I haven’t been. What I have been trying to cultivate however, is the ability to measure the limits of my wokeness and to not weaponise my politics in a way that harms people who view my politics as a space of safety.
I’ve been thinking about this: how we weaponise our political positions in ways that may cause harm, or at the very least exacerbate it.
But our wokeness has limits. And sometimes these seemingly inflexible wokeness dictums end up serving perpetrators beneficially
But our wokeness has limits. And sometimes these seemingly inflexible wokeness dictums end up serving perpetrators beneficially
When the Lekki Massacre happened, my woke kinfolk were in my mentions telling me not to post bodies of dead black people. & while I understand why, i firmly believed and continue to believe that I was not at fault by doing so, even though I had fallen foul of wokeness
Now for a word we’re not really fans of on the TL this week: nuance.
With the nuances of what was happening in Nigeria (a state sanctioned massacre, the gov denying it, the police hiding bodies), the activism was there in the bullet ridden bodies, in the screams, in the blood..
With the nuances of what was happening in Nigeria (a state sanctioned massacre, the gov denying it, the police hiding bodies), the activism was there in the bullet ridden bodies, in the screams, in the blood..
To not post the evidence would be to support the Nigerian gov in saying that there was no shooting, no people hurt, no people dead.
My “don’t post dead bodies of black people” politics just could not apply there without making me complicit in all the harm that has happened
My “don’t post dead bodies of black people” politics just could not apply there without making me complicit in all the harm that has happened
I had encountered what I perceived then as a clash in my politics. That to do what I felt was right then would require me to be a wokeness betrayer.
Or at least to extend the bounds of my politics to include other possibilities?
Or at least to extend the bounds of my politics to include other possibilities?
So, I’ve been having convos with friends about this.. the limits of wokeness, the limits of our tools because as we’ve seen capitalism evolves, patriarchy evolves, should our activism not evolve too?
Without fail, the conversation always ends up at cancel culture. Conversations with phrases like “restorative justice” and “healing” and “grace” and “compassion”.
I’ve observed that when these words are invoked, they’re generally directed at perpetrators and victims
I’ve observed that when these words are invoked, they’re generally directed at perpetrators and victims
We’re more concerned with rehabilitating perpetrators than we are to bringing justice for victims.
We’re calling our willingness to cape for abusers “empathy”
We’re calling our willingness to cape for abusers “empathy”
Speak to people about any well known case of abuse. Watch for when words like “restoration” or “education” or “rehabilitation” or “empathy”.
More often than not, these are sentiments that are held for abusers you love.
Victims on the other hand, get love and light.
More often than not, these are sentiments that are held for abusers you love.
Victims on the other hand, get love and light.
This is a long way to say that you may find yourself in spaces where you betray your politics. You may find yourself on places where your politics betray you.
How you respond; which tools you use, which direction you go in, that’s actually what makes who you are
How you respond; which tools you use, which direction you go in, that’s actually what makes who you are
