Black-Ass Quittin’ Time
Welcome to This Black-Ass Life! Happy New Year! Have you quit your job yet? We also cover Black-ass happenings like another resurgence of The Game and Black-ass babies being the best.
I. The Facts
By November last year, the number of people quitting hit a record 4.5 million and Black people know a thing or two about quittin’ some bullshit.
Some scholars are making parallels between the "Great Resignation" and the "Great Migration," a period in the early 20th century when Black people in the South said, "fuck this shit, Imma head out."
The combination of Jim Crow South, the violence that accompanied it, and economic conditions that weren't really that much better than slavery (namely sharecropping) led an estimated 5 million Black people to move up North for better opportunities. Black people literally moved to the coldest and still racist AF places in America because the whites in the South were just that terrible. The master race has the worst people in it.
And instead of, we don’t know, not terrorizing Black people, paying higher wages or just leaving them alone, white Southerners doubled down and preferred to watch crops die rather than do right.
See the parallel? So it’s not really surprising that today, low-wage Black and Brown workers and Black teachers, among others, are leading the way in saying fuck it. And again, instead of corporations and governments doing right by workers, wages remain stagnant and conditions remain horrible.
Quitting is a privilege and many who can’t are fighting back. October 2021 was dubbed “Striketober,” with over 100,000 mostly low wage and workers of color leading the movement walking off jobs. There were also movements to unionize at Starbucks, Amazon, and HelloFresh.
Why does it matter?
Hours and cost-of-living is increasing. Wage and union membership rates are decreasing. The gig economy is replacing any hold workers had on reliable schedules, benefits, and pay. American workers specifically work more hours than most nations in the world - pandemic or not.
Beyond that, workers are asked to “find meaning” or passion in the labor they’re doing so it “doesn’t feel like work.” Again, America is on some fuckshit. Seriously, of all the things in the world to feel passionate about (food, fauna, your favorite play cousin, flora, people who still have CD towers), a zoom with people who annoy you is the diametric opposite of finding meaning.
And as someone who subscribes to this newsletter, you already know you multiply the above factors by a fafillion for Black workers. This is why Black workers around the world have always been on the forefront of labor rights dating back to colonialism and slavery. Black laborers joining together in protest of untenable, inhumane conditions is a tale as old as (and older than) the U.S. as we know it.
Ultimately, the conditions of capitalism make work unbearable for the masses. It’s not just that we work so much, it’s the way we work within this exploitative system.
What can my Black ass do?
PUT YOURSELF BEFORE YOUR JOB. Do the bare minimum, y’all!
Here’s a how-to guide courtesy of UFCW for how to start a union.
If it’s time for you to peace out, here’s some advice on how to quit your job.
II. Other Things
Black-ass happenings
Rest in paradise, Sidney Poitier. Thank you.
No matter who is crowned at the end of Drag Race this season, Kornbread is THE ONE.
Marsai Martin is hosting a design show to renovate teens’ spaces. HGTV is SHAKING.
Blue Ivy is the tallest person in the world.
Are y’all ready for round 3 of The Game?
Speaking of, check out this thread on the CW’s profitability, UPN and Black TV viewers.
And then check out this thread of ridiculous moments on CW. Perhaps the funniest, most unhinged thing we’ve experienced.
I (Mitu) recognize Mary is bad, but I need Andy to not fire her for skipping the RHOSLC reunion. I ( Jumoke) will take her as “friend of,” but she shouldn’t have a snowflake!
Our Black-Ass song(s) of the week (Jumoke):
The joyous part of my seeing my parents for the Holidays was watching my parents dance to Skelele.
Things we look forward to / don’t look forward to:
I (Jumoke) look forward to rewatching Jackie’s Back! and what Mitu said below!
I (Mitu) look forward to more Grand Crew and Abbott Elementary, two FAB new Black-ass shows.
lll. Text from a Black-Ass Parent
My (Mitu’s) mama is having a good laugh this morning about my return to work from vacation!
Stay Black, thrive and put you first! We'll hit your inbox next on January 24.