Black Lives Matter, My Life Matters - Essay Example

Black Lives Matter, My Life Matters Autobiography As a Black female, I grew up in Oakland; CA. Life was not anything smooth for me. I was no exception to the harsh treatment exercised on the Blacks and completely had no sense of belonging to my land of birth. Even then, I grew not ever to discover my roots in the alien land. My parents divorced at my tender age. My mother bore the responsibility of taking care of my six siblings and me. Ours was an unstable family of a single mother and seven children and life was sometimes unbearable. Dad was put in custody. At 14 years old, I had to move to Marin County to take care of my ailing father who had a mental illness. I was the only black girl in high school sometimes living a completely isolated life. Nevertheless, I swore never to give up the fight for a better life for myself and my family through education. After all, Black was the skin and not the brain inside me. Through my efforts and hard work, I graduated a valedictorian. Throughout life experiences, I cannot solely attribute my success to hard work. Rather, God has been good to me all through. My life as Black matters and I have grown to make this dream come to be. Introduction In all of our devoted struggles, it is important to acknowledge the footsteps that tread the paths we walk in the fight for justice and equality. White patriarchy and supremacy in the United States in the mainstream culture and media invisibilizes the historic Black peoples resistance to oppression and injustice (Alexander 126). The resistance took the form of gender and racial oppression and the white privilege. Black are people equal in all aspects to the whites and the reds. Their lives matter just like those of any other dignity-deserving race. The spirit and vigour of the ‘Blacklivesmatter movement in the United States are real and unstoppable. With brilliance in its simplicity, the new action makes an outcry against the anti-black racism especially that exercised by the racist police in their violence against the Blacks. One would wonder, do Blacks too have a right to a meaningful life devoid any condemnation? Do their lives matter? The lives of the Blacks in the Americas and beyond matter. Indeed, my life as Black matters. The Blacklivesmatter movement lives the spirit and call of Martin Luther King Juniors assertions of the 1960s on the fate of freedom of the Blacks and their plight in the America amid discrimination. Martin Luther King Junior cherished the dream of a time when Blacks and Whites in America would have equal rights when the children of Blacks and Whites would mingle insensitive of their skin colours. He painfully observed that the problem of the 20th century in America was the problem of colour line. In this paper, the basic argument, having lived and experienced the life of Blacks in the United States, is the urgent and pressing need for equality and dignity of Blacks (Hill 92). The argument is that Blacks have a right to be treated in an equal manner with the Whites. Like any other race in America and elsewhere in the world, the Blacks have a choice. Their choices about a better life matter. The struggles of the Blacklivesmatter movement and other individual and group struggles against racial discrimination from the foundation of the literature in this paper. The resistance and oppression theories of the Blacklivesmatter movement and their significance are critical concerns in this paper. The analogy of how these ideas relate to other theories that describe the lives of Blacks in the United States is made with a view to making a logical conclusion. My standpoint as a black having lived the fate is also a significant contribution through my assertions for a better life in the making of the conclusions in this paper. The agonistic autobiography is more of an exposition of the plight of Blacks in America that needs attention from both within and beyond. An exploration of Theories of Resistance and Oppression in Wild Seed, Assata and The New Jim Crow Her assertion that appears to have been a rally for action amongst the oppressed, Assata postulated that when one is dumb, deaf and blind to the happenings in the world, they are obliged to do anything. She argues that if one knows what happens in the world they are living and takes no action, and then they are nothing but punks (Shakur 63). Her flee from America to seek political asylum in Cuba can be interpreted as resulting from the racist and unfair persecution in the United States for her Black Revolutionary politics. Assata, like other Black Panther Party members, believed so much in the equality of Blacks and Whites. In her writings, Assata confesses to having committed one crime that ironically is not the reason for her detention and persecution by the US authorities. She admits to committing the crime of attempting to overthrow the imperialist, racist and patriarchal capitalist system that oppressed the Blacks and not the murder of a cop. For this one crime, Shakur proudly pleads guilty. The treatment offered to the blacks in their struggle against racial discrimination in the United States raises questions about the position of a black person in achieving a better life. Just like Assata, other black people who resist the oppressive and discriminative systems in the United States are treated as terrorists. They are in the eyes of the FBI and the authorities people that threaten the well-being of the United States. In a recent case, for example, Joanne Chesimard, in 2013 appeared on the top ten list of the most wanted terrorists in the US. Unfortunately, there were no extra charges placed on her by the FBI. She is black. She resisted oppression and cherishes the dream of the freedom of Black people in the US (Shelton and Emerson 17). In the process of resisting oppression, it appears that Blacks in the United States only open up the pages for a much more abuse by the police. They are branded terrorists and accused of crimes they have no knowledge of. The big worry becomes, when and how shall the Blacks win this endless war? Assata’s story is one of an astute narration of a Black woman’s oppression, alienation and exploitation. Her explicitly evolutionary consciousness, expressed in her relatable account makes a damn exposure of courtroom corruption, state repression and police terror against the Blacks in the US. The structure of Assata’s writings makes a juxtaposition of the narrative of incarceration. A focus on the years of 1947-77 explains a struggle for the freedom of Blacks (Street 46). The 1973-87 story of education focuses on the peoples struggle for consciousness. The struggle for self-consciousness is set against the struggle for freedom although with observable interrelations. The incarceration narrative explains her legal efforts, police terror, prison and jail conditions and the stream of biased court judgments. The description of Shakurs life from childhood to elementary, high school in the New York streets is an expression of what the Blacks are exposed to. Their lives are fateful and sometimes death defying. They are characterised by poverty, oppression and suffering. These, Assata and many others believe, are not naturally their portion as Blacks. Rather, racial discrimination has mounted them on the Blacks (Shakur 24). Realizing what happens in the American world, Assata like many others decides to take action, lest she would be a punk. The result is the revolutionary activism whose primary aim is to liberate the Blacks from all kinds of oppression and discrimination. The capture, imprisonment, trial and eventual conviction of Assata are an implication of how narrow the gates are for the Blacks in the United States. The rewards for those who resist the sexist, racist and class-stratified American society is an egregious abuse in prison cells and suffer injustices in courtrooms. For Shakur, small acts of human kindness exist in unredeemable systems of oppression. For her, these small acts matter. They are acts of consciousness and struggle for better lives for the oppressed and the discriminated. The ‘Wild Seed’ is a Black science fiction that explains the present and the past of the African-Americans in the United States and elsewhere in the world (Gower 67). According to Octavia Butler, slavery is a form of alien abduction. The novel outlines the experiences of the Africans in the Americas after their abduction to slavery during the 18th century and the fate they go through after the abolishment of slavery. In the fiction, Anyanwu, is a victim of allegorical alien abduction and is taken as a slave to the United States by Doro. The US becomes her foreign nation. Although slaves may have wished to go back to their native countries and live the lives of their choice free from any compulsion to do things, this remains a dream and their freedom is compromised. Octavia presents a critique of the current African-Americans. She explores the way Africans in America live in a foreign land, coerced to forget their cultures and adopt the American customs against their will. The wild seed ultimately explores the ways in which western modern systems employ racialization and patriarchy to maintain and build their colonial projects (Gower 74). The rationales of Western modernity are envisaged in the so-called seed villages. Slavery and Colonization of the Africans, as portrayed in the novel, exposes the deep humiliation that Black people went through, and that persists in the so-called modern era of justice and equality. The fate experienced by the Blacks through racial discrimination today can be likened to the oppressive and harsh treatment faced by the slaves in the plantations. The perspective of White supremacy over the Blacks must not be contemplated as having been extinguished in the modern world. When the best schools and hospitals are for the Whites, and the best job opportunities indirectly preserved for them, what equality is there to celebrate for the Blacks? When the 26% of the young men and children shot dead recklessly by police across the states and many others jailed without trial, what justice do the Blacks have in America. When there is no room for expression of the injustices, oppression and discrimination suffered by the Blacks in the United States, what freedom is there for the Blacks? Butler observes that the fate of Africans in America has not changed with modernity. Indeed, what has changed is the form through which the evils of slavery and colonialism continue to be perpetuated on the Blacks in America (Perkins 27). According to the Wild Seed, colonialism is an ongoing process that has no contemplation for a set end or beginning. The difference between the cry of the oppressed in the colonial era and the post-colonial era is marked by their aggressiveness and demands. The demand in the post-colonial era is equitable treatment, justice and indiscrimination of whatever kind (Gower 79). The post-colonial theory suggests that nationalist movements do not exist in the post-colonial era. In the neo-colonial period, the colonial masters continue to exploit the economic resources of their ancient colonial states in furtherance of their political and economic interests. The novel portrays the continued oppression of the Africans in America as a means through which the Whites aim to maintain the same control they had over the Africans in the plantations and the seed villages. The New Jim Crow ‘Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colour blindness is an important contribution to understanding the theory of resistance and oppression of the Blacks in America (Alexander 82). In this book, Michelle Alexander discusses at length the plight of African-American men and the mass incarceration in the United States. According to him, the prevalence of the discrimination exercised on the Blacks in the United States escalates among the minority groups and the economically and socially disadvantaged populations. For Alexander, ‘mass incarceration is metaphorically the New Jim Crow. It is observable that the US systems of criminal justice use the war on drugs as an essential tool for enforcing new modes of discrimination and oppression against the Blacks. The new patterns of perception have resulted in the highest number of Black men being jailed in the US. With the trends of the penal systems that can primarily be defined by racism, the plight of Africans in America is doomed. Alexander fears that one-third of the African-American men would end up imprisoned this trend to continue. These theories explain why the resistance movements with the aim of liberating the future of Black people in the United States are and will remain an ongoing process. The Blacklivesmatter Movement: Resistance against the Oppression of Black People The Blacklivesmatter movement has had a noble beginning but may have one of the greatest impacts ever in the history of resistance to the oppression of Blacks in the US (Bassett 19). Alice Garza and her sisters started the movement as a call of Blacks to action following the posthumous placement of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year old boy into trial for his murder. It was painful that Zimmerman, the alleged killer was left scot free despite the criminal act he committed. The Blacklivesmatter movement is an outcry to the anti-Black racism that in the view of Alice permeates the American Society. As a political and ideological movement, it makes an intervention in the American society where the lives of Blacks are intentionally and systemically targeted for demise. The movement is an expression of the broad contribution of the Blacks to the society, their resilience and humanity amid deadly oppression. The movement, having received a great applause and approval from the oppressed Blacks has expanded exponentially from the social media to the streets for a practical fight against discrimination and oppression of Black people in America. The movement’s resistance against the unexplained killings and imprisonment of many young Black men in the US is an expression of the vitality with which it pursues the dream of liberating Blacks (Jha 45). It is a significant contribution that patrols beyond the extrajudicial killings of Blacks by vigilant and the police. All along, the movements, mission has been broadened to constitute all forms of discrimination, oppression and injustices committed against the Blacks. It is the profound belief of the movement that when the lives of Blacks change, all other lives are bound to Change. The Blacklivesmatter movement is an energetic revival of the historical struggle against the suffering of Blacks. The movement aims at instilling consciousness into the police and authorities to realize the importance of appreciating the dignity of Blacks like any other race. The slogan ‘Blacklivesmatter’ is made up of few words. Three words indeed. However, it expresses so much in the few words (Bassett 33). More striking than its brief slogans ability to communicate voluminous contents about the Blacks in the much-summarised slogan is its painful message that deserves assertion. Neither the Democrats nor the police can stop this visionary movement from trudging along the rough road to its desired destiny of recognition, freedom and appreciation. Does the freedom of Blacks in the United States lie in the marches from New York, Chicago to Manhattan and the rest of the states? Historically, many black lives were in the Black struggle for freedom in the Americas. Their bloodshed seemingly a prize that was generously made for the freedom of the later Black generations in America. Even then, the freedom of Black people remains compromised and an endeavour to pursue with all manner of vitality to the sweet or bitter ends. The words envision the spirit of the movements for the struggle of the freedom of the Black people against racial discrimination. Black must not be White and White must not be Black. Nevertheless, Black and White have lives that equally matter (Carmichael and Abu-Jamal 154). Many arguments have been made concerning the plight of the freedom of Blacks in America. However, it is important to re-examine the widely discussed subject matter in the difficulty of emerging new talks about the anti-Black racial practices as manifested in the practices of the police force in todays United States. The essay reviews the significance of the black movements and the reality of racial discrimination against the Blacks in the United States at an era contemplated to be a ‘post-racial discrimination age. It is important to scrutinize the possibility of anti-Black racism in the United States. Considering the much recent unrest, demonstrations and all manner of literature addressing the plight of Blacks, the issue of freedom for the Blacks deserves a careful and prudent review. The irony of the societies of the 21st-century manifests in their many theses about equality and non-discrimination. However, these societies more than often practice the very anti-thesis of their professed credence. One may be forced to the conclusion that equality is by theory, discrimination by practice. It is the world we live in. Like the other pioneering theories of resistance and oppression against the Blacks in the United States, the Blacklivesmatter movement is similar to them in the sense that the central drive in both is the concern for the welfare of Black people (Leovy 113). The proponents of these theories have the ability to observe the suffering of the Blacks and the racial discrimination advanced on the Blacks similarly. Common to these approaches is the painful contemplation of the killings and imprisonments unjustifiably committed on the Black men and the abject poverty to which the majority of Black women and children in the US are subjected. The theories converge in their radical approaches towards the struggle for Black peoples liberation. Conclusion The Blacks in US have lives that matter. However, the prevailing oppression and racial discrimination have made their lives unworthy to live. At the very most, Blacks have been treated like lesser beings in the systems of justice and by the police. It appears as if it does not matter when a black dies or lives in abject poverty and absolute isolation from the rest of the American society. There is a need for a review of the systems of administration and justice to make inclusions that will ensure the redemption of the plight of Blacks. Killings and unjustified imprisonment of Black men must cease, black women must be erased from the state of abject poverty to the levels of meaningful living. There must equal opportunities between the Blacks and Whites for the American society to live practically as a community of one people. It all starts with perception. Then, when will the perception of Whites towards Blacks change? References Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow. 2nd ed. 2008. Print. Bassett, Mary T. Blacklivesmatter” A Challenge to the Medical and Public Health Communities. New England Journal of Medicine 372.12 (2015): 1085-1087. Web. Carmichael, Stokely, and Mumia Abu-Jamal. Stokely Speaks. Chicago, Ill.: Lawrence Hill Books, 2007. Print. Gower, Iris. The Wild Seed. London: Bantam Press, 1996. Print. Hill, Lawrence. The Book of Negroes. London: Black Swan, 2010. Print. Jha, Sandhya R. Pre-Post-Racial America. 2015. Print. Leovy, Jill. Ghettoside. 2015. Print. McWhorter, Ladelle. Racism and Sexual Oppression in Anglo-America. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009. Print. Perkins, Margo Valencia. Writing Resistance. 1996. Print. Shakur, Assata. From Somewhere in the World. [Place of publication not identified]: [publisher not identified], 1980. Print. Shelton, Jason E, and Michael O Emerson. Blacks and Whites in Christian America. New York: New York University Press, 2012. Print. Street, Paul Louis. Racial Oppression in the Global Metropolis. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. Print. Read More