State(s) of Black-Ass Disarray
Welcome to This Black-Ass Life! If you are an African living in the Western world, you’ve most likely had conversations about Africa’s governance being Very Bad 100 times. 200 times? More. 500 times?? MORE. Your country has likely even been listed on a fragile or failed state list! The cognitive dissonance of Americans thinking other countries are failing when insurrectionists literally took over the Capitol to take selfies and vibe… an unserious country with unserious people.
Anyways, join us for a listicle to count down a non-exhaustive (but very exhausting!) list of fascist happenings across these United States.
I. The Facts
We live in an America where anti-intellectualism and book bannings have become ubiquitous and where the scapegoating of a minority population has led to an increase in hate crimes. At the state and local level, particularly in red states, there are clear markings of a head-first plunge into fascism.
After a record-breaking book ban run in 2022, U.S. school book bans are still on the rise with a 28% increase in the last six months. Conservative movements are using educational gag orders to erase books that cover the history of slavery or any discussion of race/racism. They are also using obscenity and sexual content claims to remove books that include LGBTQ+ characters or themes; this includes targeting nonfiction, histories, and biographies. From George M. Johnson’s gorgeous All Boys Aren’t Blue to SCOTUS Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s biography, to children’s books, and everything in between, the intention is to erase us.
Y’all, Texas even tried to ban Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
Now let’s talk about abortion. Most abortions are now banned in 13 states following SCOTUS’ decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The bans are leading to people getting ARRESTED for accessing healthcare. The states with the most restrictive abortion laws also have the most abhorrent rules around exceptions such as requiring victims of rape or incest to produce police reports and prove why they should be able to abort. The police, of course, also have their own systemic sexual assault crisis.
Sidenote, the 9 people in the Illuminati robes are currently joking about cyberstalking, harassment, and the new generation’s “hypersensitivity.” They are also simultaneously praising legislation protecting their own and their families' safety.
And then there are 359 active anti-trans bills in states across the U.S. with 43 having passed. These bills mean a lack of safety for all trans people, particularly children. The aim is to ensure that there is absolutely no safe space for our country’s most vulnerable children. Not at school, at home, during extracurriculars, or while seeking healthcare, anywhere. This threat to young people takes a significant mental health toll in addition to physical, financial, and legal.
In an attempt to further target trans people, Tennessee became the first state to explicitly ban drag shows in public places, kicking off a national movement to make drag illegal. It’s no surprise that hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people have risen sharply in recent years.
Speaking of hate crimes, hate speech is also out here thriving with people on Twitter celebrating that man’s 45 billion dollar purchase with all the n-words they could muster. We’re also keenly aware that the algorithms are racist and the people who write and imbue these algorithms with racism are not inclined to change.
We’ll stop here, but we have sheriffs advocating for the murder of journalists in Oklahoma, Tennessee lawmakers tried and failed miserably to expel their democratically elected colleagues, Arkansas is putting children to work, Texas is proposing a bill that would fine people who file multiple complaints with the state's environmental agency, and on and on and on.
Why does it matter?
We don’t use the term fascism lightly or hyperbolically. The U.S. Holocaust museum has a sign that describes the “early signs of fascism”: powerful and continuing nationalism, disdain for human rights, identification of enemies as a unifying cause, the supremacy of the military, rampant sexism, controlled mass media, obsession with national security, religion, and government intertwined, corporate power protected, labor power suppressed, disdain for intellectuals and the arts, obsession with crime and punishment, rampant cronyism and corruption, and fraudulent elections.
Toni Morrison in a 1995 Howard University Charter Day address said, “the move toward a final solution is not a jump. It takes one step, then another, then another.“ The steps she outlined include constructing an internal enemy, normalizing their demonization, maligning their sympathizers, pathologizing the enemy in scholarly mediums, criminalizing them, and rewarding mindlessness, apathy, and best of all, silence.
Noting the steps above, we in it.
Take for example the current fixation and attacks on trans people. We live in a country that claims trans people are a danger to children, extends that claim to policies criminalizing their existence and barring them from safe healthcare, education, and even bathrooms, criminalizing those who support trans people especially those who care for trans youth, encouraging “debate” in major publications over people’s lives as if that’s up for question, and rewarding those who look the other way.
We find ourselves in the legal stage of a coordinated fascist movement that dehumanizes and strips rights from women, poor people, disabled people, queer people, trans people, Black folks, and other people of color while gaslighting us into thinking we are not in a failed state.
What can my Black ass do?
This feels like an especially heavy newsletter, but we also must discuss the hope we have for a better tomorrow and the things people are doing today to help.
Learn how to start a union at your job if you don’t have one.
Read: How to get an abortion.
Check out the Transgender Law Center’s Trans Agenda for Liberation and learn how to add support.
Give to or share about the ACLU Drag Defense Fund.
Get involved with the American Library Association and host or attend a banned book event.
II. Other Things
Black-ass happenings
Prayers for the people of Sudan, Kid Fury, and Jamie Foxx.
Shout out to the rising union movements of 2023. Solidarity forever.
Congratulations to Simone Biles and her husband!
This podcast series on Prince gives the deep dive we need on the life of the consummate performer.
Chlöe told y’all to kiss her Black ass, and we simply must agree.
This Earth month, honor Black environmental heroes.
We are Grand Crew hive. Join us!
Our Black-Ass song(s) of the week (Jumoke):
What it is?! Summer 2023 belongs to Doechii.
Things we look forward to:
I (Jumoke) look forward to being in the woods.
I (Mitu) look forward to a visit with my parents for all the family time and good food.
lll. Inspiration From A Black-Ass Baby
Naomi Campbell and Annalise Keating have been SILENT since this baby stepped on the scene and showed us all how to really WALK.
Stay Black, have a snack, and take a nap today. We'll hit your inbox next on May 9!