The events of the last week in the Bay Area and the larger political landscape poses many questions regarding how I fit within the context of social activism. Taking part in the Queer Resistance Dance Party at UC Berkeley in opposition to Milo's Neo-Nazi speaking engagement revealed a number of questions and critiques of how I as a multiracial queer disabled person fit within the larger context of mass mobilization. New Year / S.O.S. (Same Old Shit) The Lunar New Year (Year of the Cock) preparations went as usual - cultural disconnect and more bad luck. My stripper pole broke through the ceiling. My spouse cleaned during the night. Nothing I can do about it. Call it superstition. I call it survival. This feeling of maintaining my existence through belief systems became reinforced with viewing Dragon: the Bruce Lee Story for the first time in over twenty years. An amazing film that highlights the intersections of race, ethnicity, class, gender and disability - Dragon also highlights Chinese belief systems for which provide a guide for "correct living." The demons handed down to Bruce and also his son Brandon speak to my experience. My mother attended her grandmother's funeral while she was pregnant. Chinese believe that this is an absolute "no no." I have a feeling my father's benevolence in combination with my mother's Chinese American mindset -juk sing - 竹升-(ignorance)- allowed the transferal of bad "juju" to their first born son - me. This has resulted in constant conflict and bad luck. This is something other Chinese are quick to tune into when they are around me. For example, on New Years Eve, the Cantonese neighbor across the street muttered loudly, "hak gwei (黑鬼) - black devil" as I sat on the porch smoking a Japanese Hope cigarette while squatting peasant style. My heart sank for I did not know if he tuned into my "bad luck" or was referring to my wife who is black. The remark sent my mind in a spin. Am I black since my wife is black? Who am I? Who I date? Who I marry? I felt like a puzzle. The fire burns. The thread sizzles. KA-BOOM! New Year, same old shit. Mobilize to maintain one's existence. To be seen. We are here. Critical Mass. Factions. Arguments. Signs. Firecrackers. Bricks. Explosions. Spray paint. Slurs. Slogans. Attacks. Bravery. Cowardice. Violence. Tear gas. What ensued afterwards infuriated me to the core - neo-liberal preoccupation regarding the destruction of property. This discussion littered Facebook newsfeeds - myself and other agents of change fell for the trap. The morning after, the City of Oakland destroyed the Village - an encampment with free standing homes built for the homeless in North Oakland. Who gets a "free pass" destroying property (as well as lives) - the State or protesters? To me the discussion was a bait and switch tactic and well thought-out. A massive protest will satiate surrogate activists to the point that they would not show up and defend the Village - the agent of change spread too thin having to choose their battles. As I passed the Village after therapy on Oakland's Pill Hill while riding my bike, the fire burned as I encountered a throng of smug police and bulldozers. The previous day I had dropped off clothing and spoke to a volunteer who provided a disability lawyer referral. She also has PTSD. She encouraged me to be on the line the following morning, but couldn't attend since people with disabilities have an excruciating time in the prison complex. That's where I disclosed my condition and immediately felt love and understanding. I had to choose my battle. I chose to survive. That night on UC Berkeley's campus, I felt energized. I was in the thick of it - among the Black Bloc Anarchists. I had an encouraging conversation regarding the lack of movement with two former SHARPS (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice) - one a teacher - another an iron union worker. We discussed how state sanctioned radicalism is a rouse - a bunch of acting revolutionaries with good intentions stuck within the four enclosed walls of death circulating stories of resistance as if it is a static historical process. They read books and don't take it to the streets. Nowhere to be found except in their analysis after the fact - typical Valedictorian bullshit. They write about non-violence because their lives are never on the line since the state has propped up their lifestyle - allowed them offspring, a mortgage, a fancy car, benefits. They do not get involved because they have much to lose. How did we arrive here? Easy. State sanctioned radicalism is a move of appeasement to any "counterhegemonic" discipline within the academy be it rooted in gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, etc. "Counterhegemonic" is in fact an oxymoron since the modes of meritocracy suppresses collectivism through the reality of American individualism and capitalism. Thus, as I stated to a former mentor on Facebook when I left the academic complex during the start of the Black Lives Matter movement, "the only time a revolution will occur in a university is when the students rise up and hang their professor!" State sanctioned radicalism since 1968 with the founding of Ethnic Studies has resulted in a far-right minority hell bent on its dismantling. This fight has lessened over the years since the old guard was of a different cloth - mainly poor working-class folks. Now disciplines are filled with well-to-do "model minorities" across the board kowtowing to administrators for their next cookie crumb. I despise them for they never fight for me or my communities. Their involvement is dictated by neoliberalism. One only needs to see them "punch the clock" by taking a photo with their crafty signs at officially sanctioned events (i.e., the Women's March) as if a sign is going to change anything. Self-serving - "I did my part" bullshit as they return to the luxuries of the middle upper class lifestyle. Poverty pimps all. What we are witnessing is a heightened form of apartheid. By 2043 multiracials and non-whites will outnumber European Americans. This is hysteria. This is control. Liberal pleas of maintaining "free speech" is bullshit. Nazism is not free speech. Non-violence as an organizing tool against Nazism is not a valid tactic. Demagogues spreading hate encouraging the incarceration, denigration and outright elimination of minority communities of all stripes in face the coming reality of 2043 do not deserve a dialog. They deserve to be smashed. I am disabled. I am mixed. I am queer. I am poor. I exist. I will fight. Otherwise, I will die.
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AuthorDarren Brown, PhD. ArchivesCategories |