February 18, 2018
“Joy and pain, are like sunshine and rain,” Frankie Beverly and Maze
This weekend, social media has been awash in images of joyous, Afrocentric garb sporting Black people across the Diaspora, celebrating the opening weekend of the Marvel film, “Black Panther.” There were joyous drummers in a cinema in Ghana and the brothers who showed up in full Prince Akeem regalia, complete with a lion’s head, at the local Cineplex (Source: #BlackPanthersolit and #Wakandacametoslay on Twitter). Naturally, wherever there is unfettered Black joy, there are racist trolls trying to steal it. Buzzfeed detailed the easily debunked stories of alleged assault of white patrons at screenings of “Black Panther.” (Source: “Beware of False Claims of Assaults at Black Panther Screenings,” by Craig Silverman, Buzzfeed.com 2/16/18). When will these racist dolts get it through their thick skulls that we can love ourselves without hating you? It is a bonus that director Ryan Coogler uses this blockbuster Marvel movie to engage with the weighty themes of what people of African descent across the Diaspora owe to one another, while simultaneously envisioning an alternate reality where an African nation remained untouched by colonialism. Jamil Smith, Vann Newkirk, and Jelani Cobb have expounded eloquently on the film’s deeper meaning, here, here, and here. Kayla Reed, Jessica Byrd and Rukia Lumumba of the Electoral Justice Project are harnessing this Black joy by launching, #WakandatheVote to register Black people at movie theaters around the country (Source: “These Black Women Launched #WakandatheVote to Register Voters at Black Panther Screenings Everywhere,” by Tonya Renee Stidhum, Blavity.com, 2/17/18).
Yet, while we were celebrating Black Panther Weekend, a contrasting scene was on display in Broward County, Florida. There, young people whose lives were shattered by an unspeakable, but entirely preventable, tragedy refused to retreat into numbed silence, but instead, harnessed their righteous rage to turn their pain into power. One after another, they eloquently and courageously called out how Republicans’ callous and depraved pursuit of NRA contributions sold out their young lives so cheaply. From Sam Zeif, who posted screenshots of his anguished text exchanges with his 14 year old brother DURING the massacre, to David Hogg who bluntly stated to politicians that “Don’t lie to us… because when you do, children die” to the firebrand, Emma Gonzalez, who called “B.S.” in her impassioned speech, these teenagers refuse to wait silently for more of their friends and teachers to be killed and have put politicians on notice that they will not rest until meaningful gun control laws are passed.
While simultaneously processing the effusive Black joy around “Black Panther,” and the heartbreaking pain of teenagers in Parkland, we have been witnessing the degenerate imposter in The White House unravel in real time in response to the blockbuster Mueller indictment that was announced on Friday. As Deputy A.G. Rod Rosenstein announced, the Special Counsel indicted three Russian organizations and 13 Russian individuals for their part in a massive scheme to interfere in our elections and swing the election for Donald Trump. The indictment describes an effort that commenced in 2014 and culminated in a $15 million campaign to sway the election results, using social media and false front organizations. The Russians created fake pro-Trump events and fake right and left wing organizations in order to foment divisions among Americans (Source: “What Mueller’s Indictment Reveals,” by David Graham, TheAtlantic.com, 2/16/18). It is now impossible to dismiss the investigation as a witch-hunt and Trump’s unhinged tweets, rife with misspellings and vulgarity, show the flailing desperation of a cornered rat that knows that the feds are closing in.
An honest accounting requires that we acknowledge that Trump is nothing less than a potent symbol of the evils of patriarchal white supremacy. Like Trump, the white supremacist worldview is built on a tissue of lies, props up the incompetent, and maintains its power through corruption, deception and violence. The clear eyed among us see that colonial conquest in Africa and mass murders by “lone wolf” shooters are two sides of the same coin — men who assert their supremacy at the point of a gun. The dystopic decline we are experiencing in this country is a direct result of a power structure completely devoid of moral, spiritual or ethical values. Both the joy and the pain on display this weekend are a powerful rebuke to those who believe that their might and money entitle them to dominion over the rest of us. Both the Kente clad moviegoers and the brave young people of Parkland are saying, “We’ve given hate a chance. Let’s try love.”