Liberation Wasn't on the Ballot

As "You Gonna Lose Yo Job" by Johnniqua Charles trended and memes about black women yet again putting this country on our back even with its foot on our back, it needs to be said: liberation was not on the ballot.

A less risky choice was on the ballot. A organize-able leader was on the ballot. A seat at the table very possibly was on the ballot. But policies and practices and people that oppress do not simply disappear because black women in droves and white women in sprinkles voted for their better interest. Generally if we limit our vision of an anti-racist world to 1-2 people in certain authority positions, our imagination is yet to be liberated itself.

Here's 10 days of action to put your energy where your vote was. (This series first appeared on the Instagram my partner and I manage, @WayOfTheIgwes)

Day 1: If you aren't willing to follow black femmes in particular, you don't really want errybody to be free. You want to be able to pick the enslaver.

Day 2: The post book club work for white folks is one-on-one conversations with racists. Folks of the global majority need to name their people of refuge.

Day 3: Put your money where your 30 minutes of scrolling is.

Day 4: The road to liberation is made of the tiny steps made on the community level.

Day 5: Jesus and the Divine are concerned explicitly with the material conditions of people and how we get there.

Day 6: After asking each question of an audit, decide on an action step. Liberation requires change on your part.

Day 7: Schools is one of the main places that imbues belonging or otherness.

Day 8: If it could happen on a plantation, it isn't liberation.

Day 9: You cannot build or participate in the beloved community if you are more concerned with your feelings of safety than you are with other families' material provision.

Day 10: What's more important to you- the status quo or liberation?