"Good Trouble" is still trouble
Radical action and accountability
On Friday we lost a legend. John Lewis was a civil rights icon, former chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a US Congressman from Georgia and a good “trouble maker”.
But must not whitewash John Lewis’s radicalism with feel good soundbites. To honor his memory, we need radical action.
John Lewis participated in the Freedom Rides where activists chose confront racism by placing themselves at risk of being shot, gassed or clubbed to death during protests. He believed in the moral necessity of putting your body on the line for justice. And, in the face of state-sponsored terrorism and white supremacist policies, that is what is being asked of us right now.
“Good trouble” is still trouble. It isn’t passive participation, it’s radical action. If we are to truly honor John Lewis’s legacy, we must reckon with What are we willing to put on the line for justice? What must we risk and give up for the sake of collective liberation and wellbeing?
And then we must do it.
Kerri (she/her)
Art by @averyfrancis
When it comes to the daunting question of reopening schools, America’s educators deserve a plan, not a trap. Dave Grohl writes in defense of our teachers (and his mother) [click to tweet]
Liberal, progressive — and racist? The Sierra Club faces its white-supremacist history that fought to preserve nature while disparaging African Americans and Native Americans. [click to tweet]
Whiteness itself is anything but fragile. It is more like “white flammability” - combustible, incendiary, unstable, ignitable. [click to tweet]
Don’t whitewash the radicalism of ‘good trouble’. How to live into the radical legacy of John Lewis. [click to tweet]
Carceral feminism, femonationalism and breaking out the the cage of non-abolitionist feminism to end harm for good. [click to tweet]
45 has deployed militarized federal agents to Portland as a show of force in the face of ongoing protests against police brutality. Make not mistake, this is state-sponsored terrorism, and it may be coming to a city near you. Here’s how you can respond:
DONATE: National Lawyers Guild - volunteer lawyers, law students, legal workers and jailhouse lawyer members of the 1st racially integrated US bar association.
CALL: And demand that federal agents leave the city. Portland Mayor’s office at 503-823-4120 or email at mayorwheeler@portlandoregon.gov
SUPPORT:
@portlandactionmedics: providing safety garnets, medical attention, chemical weapon wipes and more to protestors
@pdxgdc: PDX’s bail fund for protestors and general defense committee
@carenotcopspdx: grassroots campaign to abolish the police and bring resources to all
@undocu_pdx: helps and provides resources for undocumented protestors
Art by @adeovall, Actions by "@latinarebels
There is an amazing and important conversation stirring around accountability and cancel culture. I wrote about it in last week’s WELLREAD. This week, adrienne maree brown added more nuance with a blog titled “Unthinkable Thoughts”: Cancel Culture in the Age of COVID-19”. In it, she challenges us to return to discernment. She acknowledges that sometimes call-outs are powerful, especially in the absence of systems of accountability that center the most vulnerable. Right own our systems are designed to protect those in power. But she adds: “unless we have a true analysis of abolition and dismantling systems of oppression, we will not realize what’s in our hands, we will never put the master’s tools down and figure out what our tools are and can be”. We have an opportunity to imagine a system that has never been - that does not deploy the “master’s tools” and reinforce the culture of retribution, but creates the conditions for transformation and healing into wholeness.
Art by @averyfrancis
What is the legacy you want to leave behind? How can you be a good ancestor now?
Art by @averyfrancis
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