While working fast food, some activists came in to try and rally the troops to unionize the restaurant, and I told them that I used to work with their groups. Immediately, I recognized the gleam in their eyes of a new target to promote their cause, but I shut them down by explaining that I was no longer interested. The white woman condescendingly stated, “Everyone gets burnt out,” to which I responded, “No, I no longer speak to people who refuse to listen. It is not my responsibility to force them.” Thinking that she got the hint by walking to her table, I realized that what she really thought was that I needed to be coerced through a non-white mouth, so she stepped away and let the Latino organizer with her take over the conversation. The Latino organizer with her tried to rally my engagement, but I finally discouraged him enough to get him to go to his seat and talk to her. One thing that is really starting to get to me about all the current “organizing” is that it keeps recycling old ideas, which demand approval from the dominant narrative to function.
Pictures are powerful, and I think a lot of folks who got involved in dominant narrative activism were inspired by protest photos from the past, myself included. Seeing all those people from various walks of life come together to get the legislation passed was truly powerful, and one of the truths I have learned is that messaging is everything. It was really important to believe that all the legislation signed during that time period was not only effective, but that it would be respected by the dominant narrative–so the existing media sold that image, and we all fell for it. Now there are selfies, videos, and all sorts of media describing the events happening today, but the main difference is that these are produced directly from the sources, not the mainstream media. There are no actions that occur without immediate commentary, so we can tell the ineffectiveness of our efforts in real time. Pictures from the past do not speak to the present circumstances, except through emotion, so it is important not to let nostalgia run the energy of an organization.
If one is doing dominant narrative activism, it is important to consider whether the current dominant narrative is receptive to such efforts, and if people are willing to change. Otherwise, people and organizations will waste a lot of time, energy, and resources from the people who are convinced into working with them. Conditions of the past are not the same as the present, nor will the impact be the same for the people working under conditions that would drive people to organize. For the people who are still trying to create unions, the most important aspect of a union is bargaining power, and if a private or public entity looks at a group of people who are saying things it disagrees with, the assumption needs to be fear. There is currently no fear by either public or private entities, as evidenced by all the insane behavior. What would likely happen is that a public entity would have organizers arrested–which is not nearly as “fun” as the activist media makes it seem, especially now–and a private entity would likely close either its doors at a location, or completely if it was small enough. People with control and resources lack morality, and no meetings, chants, or posters in the world will change that.
It is also funny to me that people who stayed comfortable and silent while others were being oppressed have anything to say to people who were organizing within the dominant narrative and stopped, because I remember asked people to care, and getting crickets, smirks, and laughter. Back in 2022, I remember telling two white men that imperial media portrayed the empire as something it was not, and they laughed and compared the United States to China, which is ridiculously demonstrative of being conditioned by the media. Suddenly, now that all easy privilege is being revoked, those same beneficiaries and sycophants are trying to blend in with the crowd of marginalized groups who were already managing oppression, as if they understand after one year of nonsense. Demanding that people use the same tools that were used while some fought and others were silent speaks to a belief in dominance, not solidarity, and it demonstrates a complete lack of self awareness.
No one cares that the emotionally immature have finally decided to vote, protest, speak out, and seek the advice of the marginalized because they already showed their hands. Beneficiaries and sycophants like old tools because it keeps them relevant and in control of a rapidly changing ecosystem. Unions, voting, and asking the police for permission to have a poster parade–I mean, protesting–do nothing when public and private entities alike have no shame. Everyone is trying to goad Black people onto the streets so that the government can enact the Final Solution on Black people, using us as fodder while everyone else “gets back to normal,” and the problem is that we know it, and are not falling for it. These last ditch efforts to appeal to the dominant narrative under the old tools preserves white dominance, and has nothing to do with making the lives of marginalized groups any better.
We have seen that nobody wants us accept to use us, and we are not looking for people to take advantage of our remaining time, energy, and resources to chase the dragons of the past with dinnerware. True understanding of where we are now will require beneficiaries and sycophants to be aware that they abandoned people who reached out to them, and the same hands are no longer reaching back. All the “incrementalism,” “we shall overcome” while dogs were being sicced on marginalized groups, and unity pleas are falling on deaf ears. I guess those suburbs hit differently when gas and car payments come into the conversations, so running away was stupid. School choice looks nutty when money can no longer be stolen from “urban” communities to fund anti-Black behavior in gated communities, so all those jeers of “affirmative action” and “DEI” towards smart BIPOCQ students make people look like clowns now. No malls in the world will make up for the overall lack of discretionary income, but now all the marginalized groups see those things for the placations they are, and most of us are unbothered, ignoring even the sycophants of our own groups.
If the beneficiaries and sycophants want people to join them, they better show some obviously grand gestures to demonstrate their good faith, and come up with new ideas. Putting on costumes and throwing sandwiches is fun and witty, but that is not the same thing as keeping children from being kidnapped. Yelling into cellphones and commenting on marginalized content is–something, not sure what, but that is changing nothing. None of the beneficiaries or sycophants are uncomfortable, except in their feelings, and marginalized people have more than feelings to manage right now. We cannot trust people who think “bad days” mean a bunch of people should die, go to jail, or be made homeless, and we are not looking to join folks who cannot manage to think under real pressure.
Chasing A Dying Empire 