TW: Discussion of murder and Black folks’ deaths, allusions to police brutality, gender-based violence

“Like Kate and Queens-bred rapper Nas, I also believe that when it comes to the story of Black girls in the Americas, ‘it was written.’ However, we diverge radically on the beginning and end of this mythic tale” (Shange 110-1). 

Crenshaw, Kimberlé. “The urgency of intersectionality.” Oct. 2016. Lecture. 

Shange, Savannah. Progressive Dystopia : Abolition, Antiblackness, and Schooling in San Francisco. Duke University Press Books, 2019.

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Say Their Names   

TW: Discussion of murders, violence, and Black folks’ deaths, allusions to police brutality and policing

@TrevonDLogan (adapted from someone else, author unknown). “Black people are so tired. A Roll Call Repost. We can’t go jogging (#AmaudArbery). We can’t relax in the comfort of our own homes (#BothemJean and #AtatianaJefferson).  We can't ask for help after being in a car crash (#JonathanFerrell and #Renisha McBride).  We can't have a cellphone (#StephonClark). We can't leave a party to get to safety (#JordanEdwards). We can't play loud music (#JordanDavis). We can’t sell CD's (#AltonSterling). We can’t sleep (#AiyanaJones) We can’t walk from the corner store (#MikeBrown). We can’t play cops and robbers (#TamirRice). We can’t go to church (#Charleston9). We can’t walk home with Skittles (#TrayvonMartin). We can’t hold a hair brush while leaving our own bachelor party (#SeanBell). We can’t party on New Years (#OscarGrant). We can’t get a normal traffic ticket (#SandraBland) We can’t lawfully carry a weapon (#PhilandoCastile) We can't break down on a public road with car problems (#CoreyJones) We can’t shop at Walmart (#JohnCrawford) We can’t have a disabled vehicle (#TerrenceCrutcher) We can’t read a book in our own car (#KeithScott). We can’t be a 10yr old walking with our grandfather (#CliffordGlover). We can’t decorate for a party (#ClaudeReese). We can’t ask a cop a question (#RandyEvans). We can’t cash our check in peace (#YvonneSmallwood).We can’t take out our wallet (#AmadouDiallo). We can’t run (#WalterScott). We can’t breathe (#EricGarner). We can’t live (#FreddieGray). We’re tired. Tired of making hashtags. Tired of trying to convince the world that our #BlackLivesMatter Tired of dying. Tired.” Twitter, 6 May. 2020, 8:39 p.m., https://twitter.com/TrevonDLogan/status/1258194797543723014.

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#WhiteFeels

“Finally, to rationalize her #WhiteFeels and the denial of Black subjectivity, Kate positions Robeson as a colonial settlement in which she has rightful dominion. Rather than a benevolent vision resonant with the ‘Community, Social Justice, Independent Thinkers’ mission of Robeson, Kate here advances a plainly imperial view of the school space: ‘This is not your school—it is our school’ (Shange 79). 

“In the afterlife of slavery, this ubiquity of enforcement has transmogrified into the figure of the white police officer, whose #WhiteFeels, closely related to #WhiteTears, is a hashtag used by race-con-scious social media users to highlight the fragility of white liberal allyship, and to more broadly critique the centering of white people’s emotional experiences at the experience of material costs to Black lives and lives of color. For more on #WhiteFeels, see Damon Young, ‘White Tears, Explained for White People Who Don’t Get It’” (Shange 79).

Article Savannah references: https://verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/white-tears-explained-for-white-people-who-dont-get-i-1822522689

Shange, Savannah. Progressive Dystopia : Abolition, Antiblackness, and Schooling in San Francisco. Duke University Press Books, 2019.

Young, Damon. “White Tears, Explained, For White People Who Don't Get It.” Very Smart Brothas, Very Smart Brothas, 29 Jan. 2018, verysmartbrothas.theroot.com/white-tears-explained-for-white-people-who-dont-get-i-1822522689. 

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IntegrateNYC 

IntegrateNYC is a “is a youth-led organization that stands for integration and equity in New York City schools” (IntegrateNYC). Please check out IntegrateNYC’s website: https://www.integratenyc.org/home/#introduction 

“[K]ids should be groomed for college, not prisons” (Shange 135). 

“Robeson Justice Academy pours immense resources into avoiding the school-to-prison pipeline through restorative justice and democratic practices, and yet still reenacts the logics of Black punition and disposability by counseling young people to transfer out of the school and criminalizing the border between the school and the neighborhood" (Shange 15). 

“IntegrateNYC Wins Recognition for Integration, Mik Moore Creates Funny Videos for a Good Cause, and More!” IntegrateNYC Wins Recognition for Integration, Mik Moore Creates Funny Videos for a Good Cause, and More!, mailchi.mp/socialinnovation/we-the-people2-1342489?e=d7fff9b334.