Being asked how I would improve my community feels timely. I have been getting more views on my website. I think I have reached the level of content (not necessarily in quality but definitely in quantity) where I come up in searches organically.
I now find that I have views on my page even on days that I have not posted. It’s always a surprise to me because there was a point when the only views consisted of me checking to ensure the post had been published or that the site was live because the views were so little but I digress.
I started this website when I was at college and my aim was to quote me quoting Seneca,
“I am acting on behalf of later generations. I am writings dow a few things that may be of use to them; I am committing to writing some helpful recommendations, which might be compared to the formulae of successful medications, the effectiveness of which I have experienced in th case of my own sores, which may not have been completely cured but have at least ceased to spread”
I spend a lot of time reading and I started learning, like really learning and understanding what it means to be black in university. I had a year or two where I found all I could about Malcom X, which lead me to start reading and listening to some black philosophers and eventually start learning about black history, in the context of “our struggles”.
I have always known the superficial, stereotypical identity and explanations of what it means to be black . I am aware of the fact that people are racist, they have a fascination our hair, bodies and music and culture which always corresponds with a desire to “fix us” and our problematic corrupt african nations. These are the things are easy to see and only surface level highlight surface level problems.
When I started reading and comprehending at a higher level I started to understand something that I think even as a “clever person” I wasn’t aware of. The fact that it is not enough that we are not only hated by “white people” but many so called people of colour (POC) also play a role in our oppression and also hate us because of how any solidarity may highlight our similarities and result in them being compared to us.
I also started to see and understand the different structural systems in place that reinforce our lack of power but the most important thing I learned was the fact that some of the issues that I felt were unique to this this time and place had already been observed and documented. Texts like “It’s in Your Hands” by Fannie Lou Hamer succinctly summarized some of the problems we are having with EDI/POC discussions, which never seem to reduce racism or the marginalization of the poor. Biographies like As I Stand by Paul Robeson also showed me that no matter your position you cannot excuse yourself from blackness.
I realized that I could do my small part in reading, and instead of annoying everyone around me with the often very depressing information I found, it may be best to write it down till another me is looking for information and guidance on what they could learn which would assist in understanding, trying to fix the problems persistent in our community and the identifying the mechanisms that are utilized to reinforce our oppression.
I think I am in the process of improving my community by gathering information and reminding them that:
Reed is dead now. He won no honours in classroom, pulpit or platform. Yet I remember him with love. Restless, rebellious, scoffing at conventions, defiant of the white man’s law – I’ve known many negroes like Reed. I see them everyday. Blindly, on their own reckless manner, they seek a way out for themselves; alone, they pound with their fists and fury against walls that only the shoulders of many can topple – Paul Robeson
TIGERE.CA 