It’s been a hard year; a hard last few years. Heck It’s been centuries of hard times, yeah, but it’s feeling particularly grim lately, and it can be difficult to see any hope when a rising tide of literal fascism is sweeping across the world. Caught up in the pounding waves is every flavour of bigotry; scapegoating already marginalized populations is a winning strategy for fascism and always has been, and the result of hateful rhetoric is a rising body count. The blows keep raining down.
The twitter account @IndigenousXca has been featuring a different Indigenous host each week since October 23, 2014. You can read more about the rationale for the account here, as well as browse a list of past hosts. Starting this Thursday, there will be a special session that seeks to hear from Black activists and scholars here in so called Canada, who engage with Indigenous topics/thought as well as Black topics/thought.
In the face of so much negativity, it is more important than ever that Black, Indigenous, and people of colour not expend all our energies trying to “reach out” to white settlers at the expense of coalition building between us. White supremacy pits us against one another in all manner of ways, always to the benefit of the systems that marginalize us. If we want to change things, we have to form/reform a relationality that is aware of what Andrea Smith* calls the three pillars of white supremacy: slaveability/anti-Blackness which anchors capitalism, genocide which anchors colonialism, and orientalism which anchors war. Then, we need to do something about it.
Over the course of November, we will be hearing from four Black activists/scholars about their work, their visions for the future, and whatever else they want to tweet about (cat pictures most welcome!):
Nov. 1 – Nov 8: Rebecca Jade
Nov. 8 – Nov. 15: Idil Abdillahi
Nov. 15 – Nov. 22: Desmond Cole
Nov. 22 – Nov. 29: Robyn Maynard
Nov. 29 – Dec. 6: Rinaldo Walcott
I am so super appreciative to these outstanding folks for agreeing to have these conversations, and I hope this continues a dialogue that has been ongoing in online and in person spaces for a while now. These are not easy discussions.
Following this, @IndigenousXca will continue on with another special session highlighting the voices of Black Natives. More info on that to come.
You. Are. So good.
Thank you.
The state of the world saddens me and I fully understand your comment that: “In the face of so much negativity, it is more important than ever that Black, Indigenous, and people of colour not expend all our energies trying to “reach out” to white settlers at the expense of coalition building between us.”
As a white settler I really appreciate being kept on your mailing list. Your archives alone, continue to be valuable resource. I will educate myself about the “third pillar” of white supremacy.
Wishing you a better world.
In Solidarity,
Klaus Offermann
It is very refreshing to hear you call fascism fascism. It drives me wild to hear the news referring to the “rise of populism”. It is not “populism”. It is fascism pure and simple.