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How will black liberationist movements evolve in Trump's America? | |
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< | -- By ImaniPhillips - 14 Mar 2017 | >
> | In a society where the current President of the United States captured the support of millions of Americans by idealizing an ancient paradise in a promise to make America great again, black Americans have yet to discover an idyllic utopia in this Country. Each era in this country’s 240-year history contains a set of racial structures that work to reproduce white supremacy and maintain a social order of white male hegemony. The era of Trump has proved no different and black Americans continue to search for a great America. A single vision of black freedom has never existed on account of the ethnic, economic and political diversity within the black American community. Black American freedom movements have varied on a wide spectrum from far left radical movements that call for a reconstruction of the societal status quo like the Black Panther Movement, to further right movements that adopt a conservative reformist approach like the NAACP. However, now more than ever, in reaction to Trump’s message of divisiveness, freedom movements are becoming increasingly intersectional and turning towards coalition building. | | | | |
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< | In a society where the current President of the United States captured the support of millions of Americans by idealizing an ancient paradise in a promise to make America great gain, black Americans have yet to discover an idyllic utopia in this Country. Each era in this country's 240-year history contains a set of racial structures that work to reproduce white supremacy and maintain a social order of white mail hegemony. While wealthy white males, like Donald Trump, have benefited from the colonialist and racist founding of this country, Black Americans have spent their time in this country searching for freedom. A single vision of black freedom has never existed on the account of ethnic, economic and political diversity within the black American community and primarily on account of the fact that an ideal that doesn't exist is hard to define. While many Americans may not have the capacity to imagine a different world, black Americans have long developed and explored strategies on how to arrive at an abstract ideal of freedom. Black American freedom movements have varied on a wide spectrum from far left radical movements that call for a reconstruction of the societal status quo like the Black Panther Movement, to further right movements that take adopt a conservative reformist approach like the NAACP. These varied movements have existed both simultaneously and independently. However, in Trump's America of hate and alternative facts it is not evident that previous reformist strategies of working within our preexisting political system will prove productive. This essay explores the question of how black liberation movements may develop during Trump's America; what new strategies will they employ and what old strategies will withstand the new political era. | >
> | This essay considers how coalition building during Trump’s America will benefit the struggle for black liberation and explores the opposition and criticism that this trend is likely to face from black nationalists. I will argue that it is essential that these conflicting strategies coexist to see the black liberation struggle through Trump’s America. | | | | |
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< | Trump's promise to make America great again also included a promise to drain the swamp. While it appears that Trump's presidency has come with even more corruption than that of which he criticized in his campaign, Trump has maintained his pledge of packing Washington with an entirely new administration. In just two months of Trump's presidency, we have watched him attempt to overturn Obama's legacy of progressive reform with the help of the Republican House and Senate. Given the Republican Party's unchallenged institutional dominance, reformist ideologies, typically employed by lawyers and politicians who seek policy change by working with the system, will face many impediments. Consequently, radicalists movements, movements that seek to create institutional change through radical social movements will rise to the top. | >
> | Many modern grassroots organizations like Black Lives Matter are emphasizing the importance of coalition building in their social movements. Black Lives Matter is a radicalist movement led by black female queer leaders, which recognizes racism as a global problem that intersects with class, gender and sexuality. Similarly, organizations like the Women’s March on Washington pledge to stand in solidarity with other marginalized groups; recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country. These organizations may be exactly what the liberation movement needs in the era of Trump. The new administration has instilled fear in all minority and marginalized communities. As the Women’s March on Washington states in its mission, “there is no true peace without justice and equity for all.” Coalition building is successful because it helps to get at the root of the race problem in America. Racism is not simply about race. Race is inherently rooted in a global economic and social order that affects subjugated peoples all over the world; so is sexism, classism and colonialism. Focusing on the core of what connects marginalized groups in the United States enables issues to be challenged in a nuanced way and allows these groups to be recognized as a global majority of the oppressed rather than a minority. This is a philosophy shared by the communist party | | | | |
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< | Many Black radicalist movements in the past including the Black Panthers Movement are similar in the urban working class demographic of their general membership, their transnational critique of racial capitalism and perhaps most significantly, their focus on basic fundamental human rights as opposed to liberal institutional reform. While the Black Panther Party eventually reached its demise, the movement today that most resembles their ideology and strategy and may operate as a leader in the struggle for liberation during the Trump era is the Black Lives Matter movement. | >
> | Despite the benefits of coalition building, the maintenance of black nationalist movements is equally important and likely to emerge to challenge the trend towards intersectional movements. Black nationalism, represented by the philosophy of individuals like Malcolm X and groups like the Black Panther Party, criticizes intersectional movements on the grounds that they ignore the inherent differences in the oppression of African Americans and that of other groups like white women or poor white men. Therefore, they believe in a separate liberation movement that calls for black people to love black, live black and buy black. The Panthers employed a strategy of providing black communities with its own basic needs and services, independent of the United States and local governments. The Panther’s took on the responsibility of providing basic needs and services like healthcare and policing to its local communities. These nationalist philosophies helped to strengthen and unify the black community, but they were also weakened by the lack of support of allies in other communities. | | | | |
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< | The Black Lives Matter movement rose in response to the killing of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of his killer George Zimmerman. The founder's call to all Americans to protect the bodies of the black men and women in their communities was almost identical to the Panther's strategy of patrolling black neighborhoods with guns to protect against police brutality. While todays activists are unable to adopt such a direct strategy as the Panthers, activists are patrolling their communities by recording all interactions with police forces and running to the immediate aid of black individuals that appear to be in any sort of conflict with armed forces. In addition to protecting black bodies and working to provide resources to its communities, the Black Lives Matter movement is very involved in the political climate of this country. Black lives matter has a reputation for disrupting political campaigns and forcing politicians to meet their demands. Their voices grew so loud that both democratic presidential candidates met with them during the election to discuss police reform. In line with the Panthers, Black Lives Matter works to serve the community through social programs like supplying water for those in Flint Michigan and registering voters in poor urban areas. They've sparked the attention of college students who have joined them in protest across the nation. They've even captured an intergenerational interest by calling on Black people to love Black, live Black and buy black. | >
> | Both liberation strategies offer unique solutions and philosophies to the struggle for black freedom. Therefore, I believe a hybrid movement, modeled from the Black Popular Front, would be must successful in challenging the status quo. The Black Popular Front was a movement that took place primarily in the 1930’s and 1940’s that was an extension of the Communist Party with a primary focus on incorporating trade unionism into civil rights. They had a primarily proletariat orientation and built coalitions with poor working class whites to gain access to well-paying jobs and collective bargaining to increase the agency of black workers and families. The Black Popular Front recognized racism as an extension of global capitalism and thus had a broad internationalist and intersectional perspective of condemning fascism in the Global North and other parts of the world where individuals were politically and economically disadvantaged with race, culture and class used as a rationale. Black Popular Front activists worked to transform the Communist Party by incorporating ideals of black nationalism. Within this group black nationalists and black communists weren’t seen as mutually exclusive groups. The Black Popular Front activists successfully built coalitions with other marginalized groups while maintaining a commitment to black nationalism. | | | | |
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< | While they resemble previous radicalists movements through their grassroots reform strategy, the strategy employed by Black Lives Matter that will perhaps be most critical during this unique political era is the intersectionality of the movement. They recognize racism as a global problem that intersects with class, gender and sexuality. The inclusion of gender and sexuality issues in the movement is a philosophy and strategy that our country has never seen before. The wider scope of their movement and its female queer leaders may prove pivotal during a time that coalition building is more necessary than ever. | >
> | The convergence of these liberation strategies may prove to be exactly what the movement needs in the era of Trump. Seeking policy reform from within the administration will be difficult during Trump’s presidency and thus the burden will fall on fresh intersectional grass roots organizations to advocate for the change that our nation needs to make America great for everyone. | | | | |
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< | Many other grass roots organizations like the Women's March and Washington have emphasized the importance of coalition building in their social movements during this era. The Women's March states in their mission that they stand in solidarity; recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country. They proceed to discuss how the election cycle has negatively impacted Muslim Communities, LGBTQ communities and international communities. Finally, in their mission, the Women's March on Washington pledges to work peacefully while simultaneously recognizing there is no true peace without justice and equity for all.
These two organizations joining together may be exactly what the liberation movement needs in the era of Trump. The new administration has instilled fear in all minority and marginalized communities. Seeking policy reform from within will be close to impossible and thus the burden will fall on fresh intersectional grass roots organizations to advocate for the change that we need.
I'm not sure what the primary idea is that this draft wants to convey.
At the formal level, the rhetoric/substance ratio is pretty high:
shortening the sentences and removing phrases that have the "may
prove pivotal" quality of simultaneously promising intensely and
delivering only 'might matter somehow.'
Substantively, you might be saying that the rise of
"intersectionality" means that black liberationism won't be black
nationalist in the future: that the importance of coalition-building
is greater than nation-building in Black America. Certainly this
may be right, but if it is your point, I think you would make it
stronger by analyzing the question with more history, as (for
example) by considering earlier 20th-century experience, from
Garveyism to the period of National Front cooperation with the
Communist Party, to the nationalism that underlay the Black Panther
Party and the pre-Hajj thinking of Malcolm X. The history certainly
suggests that the reasons Black nationalism is so important haven't
disappeared, and that the "intersectionality" common front is likely
to be challenged by re-energized nationalism as well.
But I'm not sure that is your primary argument, and if not, it is
all the more important for the next draft to make its theme clearer.
I would start the next draft with a simple declarative statement of
your essay's primary idea, so that the reader can be perfectly sure
what she is going to be reading. Then you can develop your idea out
of its materials in the center of the draft, and conclude by
offering some further questions for the reader to follow up on her
own, with what you've given her as a point of departure.
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