#Black activists

[tododeku-or-bust]

wait sorry, what does muhammad ali have to do with drafting? /genq

I assume you're referring to my addition on this post? All right!

Well first, famed (and to many, infamous) boxer Muhammad Ali wasn't technically a draft dodger. He was a Conscientious Objector on the grounds of his religion (he was in the Nation of Islam at the time). They just didn't accept his objection.

But Muhammad Ali was very, very known for being confident and outspoken in his beliefs and in himself. And the main political reason he gave for not wanting to go to war was that he "had no quarrel with the Vietcong". He was arrested in 1967 for refusing to go, and White America swore he was a coward, an uppity n*gger, and every foul word in the book (for being unwilling to entertain and/or die for them).

Essentially, he recognized and pointed out that to go to war with Vietnam, war with other people of color, for a country that refused to respect his own people's basic civil and human rights was stupid. He has no issues with Vietnam. He had issues at home! If he went to war and died, he'd be dying for furthering the interests of Western Imperialism and white supremacy via a genocide. If he went to war and committed said genocide, lived and returned, he'd return to the very same white people who sent him to fight treating him like he was subhuman.

It happens in every war; Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, World War II. To this day, we are learning of and pushing contributions of Black soldiers and platoons that got ZERO credit in comparison to their white counterparts. Silently sent to the back in history, treated like garbage upon their return, and expected to risk their lives for a country that hates them.

Why would anyone want to fight for that? Why would I want to commit a genocide? Why would I risk my life to commit violence the world over for a country that hates me and disenfranchises my people?

Anyway, so he was arrested and convicted for refusing to go to Vietnam, his boxing titles stripped, (also deadnamed! For they refused to call him his chosen name of Muhammad Ali, but Cassius Clay!) and again, white america had nothing but vitriolic hate for this man. But he stood on it, and eventually the conviction was overturned.

Also, because he was willing to say what needed to be said as a famous face to the world, his words had an effect worldwide. Y'all know how y'all want your celebs to say something? He did! And he risked it and lost it all! So that's why I brought up Muhammad Ali. Famous Black man who wasn't just a boxer and entertainer, but an activist who did the right damn thing in the moment, and will be remembered by history as doing such.

Happy Black History Month, and Free Palestine!

[alwaysbewoke]

[everydaywithblackjesus]

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The fact that they waited until he'd gotten home... Lawd, have mercy! That's what real homegrown terror looks like - attacks at our seemingly weakest points, in our most vulnerable areas, and where we and those we love feel the safest. It's demonic, spiteful in excess, and a dirty, sorry excuse for human rebuttal. Stay safe, my people. Stay woke. Stay watchful and prepared to both struggle and endure.

[tuttle-did-it]

James Baldwin is one of my favourite writers of all time. His writing is so intimate. Every time I read them, I feel like I'm alone in a room with him as he's telling me this story. Or I'm watching through a window of a real situation and no one knows I'm there.

He was also brave enough to not only write about Black characters when no one really wanted him to, but also to write about Black queer characters as well-- in the 1950s.

If you haven't read Giovanni's Room, Go Tell it on the Mountain, Notes of a Native Son, and I am Not Your Negro. He has so many other incredible works, but these four in particular are probably the more famous ones.

His writing is incredibly intimate, authentic and raw-- and it can be heavy, at times, absolutely. But he makes every word worth it.

Please check him out. He's not nearly as famous as he should have been-- everyone should have read at least one of his works in school, but it was never a priority, because he was a gay Black writer.

And some time, watch some youtube interviews with him-- as with his literature, his interviews feel very intimate and incredibly authentic. Please check him out.

James Baldwin at Junior’s Bar and Lounge on 52nd Street, during rehearsals for his play “Blues for Mister Charlie” in New York City, 1964.

Photos by Bob Adelman

[jccheapalier]

Black People Invented Everything... One Eurasian Woman's Thoughts

[whitesinhistory]

The University of Mississippi is investigating a student who has gone viral for mimicking a monkey toward a Black woman participating in a pro-Palestinian protest.

The university has opened a student conduct investigation after the protesters were met last week by actions that appeared to convey "hostility and racist overtones."

The student, identified as James "JP" Staples, was caught on video making the sounds and gestures has also been removed from his fraternity. Phi Delta Theta General Headquarters released this statement.

"The past few weeks have been challenging for many colleges and universities across the United States as they struggle to balance the protection of free speech with maintaining appropriate and respectful discourse among demonstrators and others within the campus community.

As part of that community, Phi Delta Theta recognizes that freedom of expression is part of the collegiate experience; however, the Fraternity is committed to upholding its principles as a private membership organization.

After reviewing the incident, it was determined that the individual's behavior was unacceptable. The action in question was offensive, outside the bounds of this discourse, and contradictory to our values.

In partnership with local alumni, undergraduate leadership, and the university, disciplinary due process was initiated which resulted in the removal of membership. The situation will continue to be monitored in cooperation with any further investigation."

About 30 pro-Palestinian protesters were demonstrating in a barricaded zone Thursday when an estimated 200 counterprotesters surrounded them. Some held American flags, Donald Trump flags, and others dressed in red, white, and blue.

source @rolandsmartin

[omowale-jabali-reader]

The Black Campus Movement: Black Students and the Racial Reconstitution of Higher Education, 1965–1972

BETWEEN 1965 AND 1972, African American students at upwards of a thousand historically black and white American colleges and universities organized, demanded, and protested for Black Studies, progressive Black universities, new faces, new ideas--in short, a truly diverse system of higher education relevant to the Black community.

Taking inspiration from the Black Power Movement, Black students drew support from many quarters--including White, Latino, Chicano, Asian American, and Native American students--and disrupted and challenged institutions in nearly every state. By the end, black students had thoroughly reshaped the face of the academy.

The Black Campus Movement provides the first national study of this remarkable and inspiring struggle, illuminating the complex context for one of the most transformative educational movements in American history, and providing a groundbreaking prehistory of black student activism from abolition through the 1960s. The book synthesizes records from more than three hundred colleges and universities, including documents from 163 college archives, into one national story. This authoritative study is essential to understanding modern American higher education.

[dreamy-conceit]

The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible.

— Toni Cade Bambara

[doberbutts]

Me, a couple weeks ago: I think a lot of people who are refusing to vote for Harris are actually doing it because of misogynoir, because it is difficult for them to reconcile their hate for black women with the urgency of the upcoming election

Obama, apparently:

[foe-paw]

YOU THOUGHT THAT YOU COULD OUTSMART THE VERY THING THAT RUNS THE BLOOD OF YOUR KIND?

[royaltea000]

Hmmmm…monkey

[tododeku-or-bust]

So my friend @toiletpotato suggested this TEDTalk on another post where I suggested reading some Kimberlé Crenshaw, and frankly.... You all need to watch it. If you want to understand the frustrations, fears, and the perspectives of being Black women and how and why our needs are different, and you want a place to start? Watch this video. If you really want to be that intersectional, true feminist and ally? Watch this video. If you want to be better, it's time to do better, and I think this is a very good introduction.

The Urgency of Intersectionality- Kimberlé Crenshaw (version w/transcript)

[forever70s]

volunteer carrying cereal for the Black Panther Party's Free Breakfast for Children program (1971)

[aropride]

this post is so bad my jaw actually dropped. like. yes being trans and going thru the wrong puberty is often incredibly traumatic. that is not the same as the intentional and widespread medical abuse against intersex people (especially children). irreversible medically unnecessary often physically harmful and psychologically harmful+traumatizing hormone treatment and surgeries are not the same as having to go through natal puberty, which is also often traumatizing, but it is different. and you know damn well that is not what intersex people are talking about when they talk about forced medical intervention and abuse. it is not the same thing at all. & this is such an obviously intentional misinterpretation of what intersex activists have been talking about.

[alwaysbewoke]

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network 2024 Convention, activists and organizers from Black Alliance for Peace and PSL disrupted the event. They denounced Jeffries and Sharpton as Black Misleaders, boldly proclaiming that the duo doesn’t represent the majority of Black/African people and instead provides a Blackface cover to U.S. imperialism. Jeffries received over $700,000 in Israel lobby funding in the last election cycle alone. Last year, Jeffries led a bipartisan Congressional delegation to the CARICOM Heads of Government Conference where NO HAITIANS were in the room as the the invasion and occupation of the country was planned. The collective liberation of Africa and Africans is not guaranteed without the liberation of Palestine, Haiti, or even the Borough of Brooklyn that Jeffries was elected to represent instead of approving more money to IOF-trained NYPD!

[yourdailyqueer]

Frances Thompson (deceased)

Gender: Transgender woman

Sexuality: N/A

DOB: Born 1840 

RIP: Died 1876

Ethnicity: African American

Occupation: Activist, laundry woman, former slave

Note 1: One of the five black women to testify before a congressional committee that investigated the Memphis Riots of 1866. She is believed to be the first transgender woman to testify before the United States Congress.

Note 2: Some reports state she could have been intersex.