Yes yes yes! I find the premise of DEI very silly considering how “diverse” colonialism is lol but when you say stuff like that, folks look at you like you hate your fellow negroes 😂
You know, I read this piece a while back in the NYT about DSA people who were happy that DEI was dead, and it kind of made me mad, like, there is no need to choose between diversity and worker ownership, but lots of folks don't get that. I feel what you're saying too; DEI is very short-sighted as is. About 13 years ago, I read a book by Paul Roberson Jr. that said affirmative action was only helping middle-class Blacks, and that kind of blew my mind—I didn't know that Black folks could critique diversity policies from the left, but ultimately it became an inspiration.
Phew! Good thing Trump wiped out all the DEI shit, huh? 😅😂😶😩
Nah, but really, even as I took advantage of the scramble for representation after 2020, and that brief window in which white deference gave me space to speak with the expectation of actually being heard, I always sensed the hollowness of the whole enterprise.
I'm digging the through line of these essays, grateful for the critique of capitalism from jump. When I read stuff like this, I recognize that we are long overdue for some big "internal" conversations.
Thanks for reading! Yeah, “hollowness” is the right word. For me, I think part of the problem is, black intellectuals got really good at making systemic critiques while accepting symbolic changes.
It’s made me somewhat impatient with terms like “systemic” racism or “institutional” racism because like what is “the system”? What is “the institution”? Most of the times, it’s capitalism lol — I feel like we need to be more explicit about that.
Though, I get why people were excited about the DEI moment, because so many of us are overlooked for opportunities every day. But still, all those DEI jobs were so cynical, they weren’t really “jobs” at all, more like summer internships, that the corporations quickly ended once the political pressure had passed.
brilliantly thorough work Aaron! as someone less versed in the nuances of economics i feel like you make ideas of liberation from capitalism tangible, something i can grasp and start to play with/imagine new worlds. definitely going to look into bicameralism. i’ve become more interested in mutual aid funds and cooperative models so i loved the examples you dropped about folks engaging in that work. you’re right - it feels less daunting when you see examples of people out there doing the thing you’re trying to dream up. thanks for dropping some direction on this.
also - fuck performative ass dei initiatives 😭. there’s never actually any real equity and the black excellence niggas stay co-signing symbolic empowerment with no real change to follow smh
Reading your work is like always like attending a tasting or cupping or what-have-you. This particular piece had notes of No Logo and The Nation on No Map, with hints of Goonies vs. ET. Listened to it this morning and eyeball-read it again this afternoon.
Oh and I'd never heard of economic bicameralism but now I wanna look into it!
You know I’m a big fan of MLK! I don’t know if you’ve read Strength to Love, but he’s really good at citing four things in three lines in a way that doesn’t feel overstuffed so that’s always an inspiration for me. It’s what I be aiming for
Thanks so much for reading and for the comment! “sell-ebrity” is hilarious😂😂😂😂.
Also, I love The Black Bourgeoisie— every time I pick it up. I learned something new, and it is stunning that a book that old reads so current and relevant to what we’re living through right now.
I love the way you broke all of this down. Heavy on us for not being able to claim to be the progenitors of liberty while at the same time aligning with corporate tyrants. Great essay 👏🏾
So glad you enjoyed it! It’s something that’s really been sitting with me, I think there’s a lot to be gained from conversations that take liberation more seriously and think about it more rigorously/systematically.
But especially with Juneteenth in particular, I’d love it if the holiday were to become not just about the end of slavery, but about the beginning of freedom.
A lot more on this topic that I can’t wait to dig into!
Yes! I hate how much we’ve made so much our identity about fashion, considering the industry grew out of the cotton industry because slavers wanted to make more money. It’s so insidious that we now spend much of our time and effort spending money on fashion—spending our money on a lot of cotton— and shaping the industry through our style, even when we’re not compensated for it.
It’s craaaaaazy! Like it could not be more on the nose. Everybody’s talking about they are their ancestors wildest dreams when they’re their worst nightmares lol. A whole community is Jay-Z in a Che Guevara T-shirt lol
Absolutely! I think we’ve long passed the time where people could justify any system where one person gets to make all the decisions and reap all the profits while everybody else has to work. It feels like we’re trapped in monarchy or something.
I couldn’t agree with you more. I get so excited thinking about this stuff. Sometimes it’s kind of embarrassing lol. But reading and thinking about cooperative economics and mutualism, feels like discovering that there is already the cure to cancer. But it’s like we refuse to mass produce it, like the powers that be want us to live in the world as is.
One of the next books on my reading list is the People’s Republic of Walmart — it basically makes the case that a lot of the technical infrastructure is already in place for a democratic economy.
Khrystal, this is like the highest compliment anyone could ever pay me! 😁😁😁
All I ever wanna do is make these ideas more accessible. Honestly it took me a while to find out about some of this stuff myself, and I feel like that’s a shame. I feel like the more time we spend studying the ins and out of liberation, the more likely we are to get free.
I’m excited about mutual aid funds too! hope to write about it soon. Thanks again for reading. :)
Yes yes yes! I find the premise of DEI very silly considering how “diverse” colonialism is lol but when you say stuff like that, folks look at you like you hate your fellow negroes 😂
You know, I read this piece a while back in the NYT about DSA people who were happy that DEI was dead, and it kind of made me mad, like, there is no need to choose between diversity and worker ownership, but lots of folks don't get that. I feel what you're saying too; DEI is very short-sighted as is. About 13 years ago, I read a book by Paul Roberson Jr. that said affirmative action was only helping middle-class Blacks, and that kind of blew my mind—I didn't know that Black folks could critique diversity policies from the left, but ultimately it became an inspiration.
Phew! Good thing Trump wiped out all the DEI shit, huh? 😅😂😶😩
Nah, but really, even as I took advantage of the scramble for representation after 2020, and that brief window in which white deference gave me space to speak with the expectation of actually being heard, I always sensed the hollowness of the whole enterprise.
I'm digging the through line of these essays, grateful for the critique of capitalism from jump. When I read stuff like this, I recognize that we are long overdue for some big "internal" conversations.
Thanks for reading! Yeah, “hollowness” is the right word. For me, I think part of the problem is, black intellectuals got really good at making systemic critiques while accepting symbolic changes.
It’s made me somewhat impatient with terms like “systemic” racism or “institutional” racism because like what is “the system”? What is “the institution”? Most of the times, it’s capitalism lol — I feel like we need to be more explicit about that.
Though, I get why people were excited about the DEI moment, because so many of us are overlooked for opportunities every day. But still, all those DEI jobs were so cynical, they weren’t really “jobs” at all, more like summer internships, that the corporations quickly ended once the political pressure had passed.
Yo, literally! I got a grant funded position that lasted one school year. And that only because the original person decided to retire. 😂
"black intellectuals got really good at making systemic critiques while accepting symbolic changes" is the perfect description.
Often with far more attention to crafting the symbolism than to questioning whether there's been any change at all.
brilliantly thorough work Aaron! as someone less versed in the nuances of economics i feel like you make ideas of liberation from capitalism tangible, something i can grasp and start to play with/imagine new worlds. definitely going to look into bicameralism. i’ve become more interested in mutual aid funds and cooperative models so i loved the examples you dropped about folks engaging in that work. you’re right - it feels less daunting when you see examples of people out there doing the thing you’re trying to dream up. thanks for dropping some direction on this.
also - fuck performative ass dei initiatives 😭. there’s never actually any real equity and the black excellence niggas stay co-signing symbolic empowerment with no real change to follow smh
Reading your work is like always like attending a tasting or cupping or what-have-you. This particular piece had notes of No Logo and The Nation on No Map, with hints of Goonies vs. ET. Listened to it this morning and eyeball-read it again this afternoon.
Oh and I'd never heard of economic bicameralism but now I wanna look into it!
You know I’m a big fan of MLK! I don’t know if you’ve read Strength to Love, but he’s really good at citing four things in three lines in a way that doesn’t feel overstuffed so that’s always an inspiration for me. It’s what I be aiming for
Thanks for sharing.
A Nation commodifies culture, repackaged, mass markets, and redistributes it back to us with “sell-ebrity.”
“The Black Bourgeoisie” by E. Franklin Frazier is the classic book on this topic.
The fruit of the civil rights generation is the sybarite generation.
Thanks so much for reading and for the comment! “sell-ebrity” is hilarious😂😂😂😂.
Also, I love The Black Bourgeoisie— every time I pick it up. I learned something new, and it is stunning that a book that old reads so current and relevant to what we’re living through right now.
This is was a great read, I never really considered how much of our substance is used in their branding.
Thanks for reading big Von!!!!!!!! 😂
I love the way you broke all of this down. Heavy on us for not being able to claim to be the progenitors of liberty while at the same time aligning with corporate tyrants. Great essay 👏🏾
So glad you enjoyed it! It’s something that’s really been sitting with me, I think there’s a lot to be gained from conversations that take liberation more seriously and think about it more rigorously/systematically.
But especially with Juneteenth in particular, I’d love it if the holiday were to become not just about the end of slavery, but about the beginning of freedom.
A lot more on this topic that I can’t wait to dig into!
Yes! I hate how much we’ve made so much our identity about fashion, considering the industry grew out of the cotton industry because slavers wanted to make more money. It’s so insidious that we now spend much of our time and effort spending money on fashion—spending our money on a lot of cotton— and shaping the industry through our style, even when we’re not compensated for it.
It’s craaaaaazy! Like it could not be more on the nose. Everybody’s talking about they are their ancestors wildest dreams when they’re their worst nightmares lol. A whole community is Jay-Z in a Che Guevara T-shirt lol
I think the shift from capitalism to cooperativism will be helping people re imagine different types of models, based on modern businesses.
Absolutely! I think we’ve long passed the time where people could justify any system where one person gets to make all the decisions and reap all the profits while everybody else has to work. It feels like we’re trapped in monarchy or something.
Imagine changing entire business models that reflect a fair market, and a thriving economy without extracting wages and labor.
I couldn’t agree with you more. I get so excited thinking about this stuff. Sometimes it’s kind of embarrassing lol. But reading and thinking about cooperative economics and mutualism, feels like discovering that there is already the cure to cancer. But it’s like we refuse to mass produce it, like the powers that be want us to live in the world as is.
One of the next books on my reading list is the People’s Republic of Walmart — it basically makes the case that a lot of the technical infrastructure is already in place for a democratic economy.
Khrystal, this is like the highest compliment anyone could ever pay me! 😁😁😁
All I ever wanna do is make these ideas more accessible. Honestly it took me a while to find out about some of this stuff myself, and I feel like that’s a shame. I feel like the more time we spend studying the ins and out of liberation, the more likely we are to get free.
I’m excited about mutual aid funds too! hope to write about it soon. Thanks again for reading. :)
Leaving this article with a whole reading list, thank you! I appreciate all the links to books (+ the excellent writing ofc).
Thanks so much for reading!! And I hope you enjoy the books! 😁