How will black liberationist movements evolve in Trump’s America?

-- 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 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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.