I was documenting what the attendees from last weeks Lady Linkup believe to be actionable steps to revolution and mobilizing for our freedom:
RADICAL EDUCATION - unlearning almost everything we've been taught by the American school system and raising our children with the knowledge many of us have discovered later in life. More on that and tools to actually do so coming later in this email.
FOCUSING THE BLACK DOLLAR - being intentional about spending our money in our communities
UNLEARNING HOMOPHOBIA, QUEERPHOBIA, AND TRANSPHOBIA - Like the case of Iyanna Dior, a trans woman who was beaten in Minneapolis by a mob of Black cis men and cis women on June 1st in the midst of the national and international protests in defense of Black lives. Or the fact that Tony McDade a trans man killed by police on May 27th in Tallahassee isn't getting as much media coverage or community support as George Floyd a cis-het Black man. ALL BLACK LIVES MATTER. We aren't free until we're all free.
DEMANDING THE DEFUNDING OF POLICE - and allocate those funds to community initiatives, education, affordable housing, etc.
SPIRITUALITY - reclaiming African traditional spirituality and adapting Black spirituality opposed to organized traditional religion
Those are some of the strategies we all agreed upon, and these are strategies we can begin implementing now, in addition to protesting and fighting to BURN THE SYSTEM.
Initially, I was against reading books to discuss for link ups, because I know how expensive purchasing books can be, especially in the midst of a pandemic where many libraries are still closed. I wanted to focus solely on art and creative projects. However, with the recent uprisings, I have seen many digital libraries, compiled by various Black organizers, educators, and creatives, circulating via Twitter and being sent to me via text. At this point, Dante and I have downloaded over 1,000 books written by Black freedom fighters, revolutionaries, feminist scholars, etc. Now more than ever, we must arm ourselves with information and the blueprint laid for us by our ancestors. This fight isn't new, and understanding our history will help us to decide where we are going from here.
During the link up we mentioned books to read for this current moment that are included in these libraries like:
Freedom is a Constant Struggle - Angela Davis
The Fire Next Time - James Baldwin
When They Call You a Terrorist - Patrisse Khan Cullors & Asha Bandele
Wretched of the Earth - Frantz Fanon
Assata Shakur: An Autobiography
When Chickenheads Come Home to Roast - Joan Morgan
I have to credit the owners of the folders, although I'm not sure of everyone who was involved, because the people who sent me the folders weren't the people who compiled them and the links weren't tweeted by those folks either, except for Lee B. who tweeted the link to her library of Black Feminist/Womanist literature lovingly titled "My Muvas". Hopefully, the folder owners are the people who deserve to be credited, because I know how much time must've been spent putting these libraries together.
Here are the links:
Black History Month Library https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/0Bz011IF2Pu9TUWIxVWxybGJ1Ync - compiled by Charles Preston, Black activist and journalist https://www.instagram.com/the_charles_preston/ Black Feminist/Womanist Literature "My MUVAS" https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1AUOyAbB41nAh1ZKH3R66RovU-efQngp9 - compiled by Lee B., Black cultural Preservationist https://twitter.com/sauvamemte Builders in the Wilderness Cyb-rary https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B5nZ1hOUe0CqYkRTWHlJTklFQlE
compiled by Intelligent Mathematic Allah , I don't have social media handles or much information on this person.
We have spent the time downloading all of these texts, just in case these libraries disappear. If you have an iPad or the computer space to download 1,000 books, I suggest you do the same. If not, I'd suggest investing in an external hard-drive. This is an amazing database of some of the most important texts! Many of these books have changed my life. This is how we do it!
Going forward, we will be reading books, since they have been given to us FREE. During the next link up, we will decide what book we are going to begin with. Black creativity and art by women is still the focus of the link up, but we are in a time of YES, AND! We can read and watch films and listen to music. We need all of our work!
Can't wait to link up next Sunday! Take care.
