Class Conscious Upbringing
– Biden and Harris Won’t be Saviors (But We’ll Take ‘Em)
To the folx who were children born into revolutionary households, the ones whose parents stayed up late to host community meetings to create a better world. To those who attended rallies to dismantle capitalism, hunger and lack. Our childhoods were sacrificed for the possibilities of something better, for the hope of revolution so all could thrive. We marched, we sat on picket lines, and my brother and I sold revolutionary newspapers to strangers on the steep walkway of Griffith Park. The knowledge of what is possible and the demonization of authoritarian greed was imbedded in our worldview.
The election of Trump was not a moment of surprise but inevitable as we saw the spotlight put on U.S. cultural apathy. He cheated to become President and the media response was “give him a chance.” It verified a willingness to minimize our democracy and accept deplorable traits of politicized whiteness framed by bigoted and toxic ideologies. He’s not the only one by far – just the most publically influential at this time.
We know that Biden and Harris won’t be saviors – they are a reset back to a normal that was never acceptable and is no longer tolerable. Side note: they may not be the revolutionary ticket but I must say a Black woman, an Indian woman as VP and the appointment of cabinet members with lived expertise feels great. Having an empathetic President will be refreshing; unfortunately, it won’t change the systems that created Trump.
Trump’s Presidency lifted the cloak of the manipulative propaganda and abusive strategies in our politics. The blatant and extreme disrespect for life of the last four years unveiled the flaws in the U.S. democracy and economic structures.
These past four years have amplified the oppressive application of ‘trickle down’ economic practices, broken windows policies, lack of economic and personal reparations for centuries of systemic racism that stole and segregated resources, undermining of feminine attributes, denying of natural expressions of love and gender, and the poisoning of our air, ground, water, and food for mass production with the goal to hoard at the expense of the majority. Those who benefit from our division are hell bent against our bodies being our own and our labor benefiting our communities.
This will continue into the next Presidency.
The difference today is that we are witnessing a brutal and necessary reawakening if we are to live in the spirit of what we were taught – that we are worthy. Gas lighting with ‘public opinion’ rhetoric is not sustainable when our human experience reveals the truth.
Through our personal experiences and the sociopolitical analysis of Assata Shakur, Alicia Garza, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and The Squad, and many more, we know white toxicity and class division are the constant flaws of our democracy and have obstructed our innovation as a nation and how we live day to day.
From the invasion of white immigrants, political and economic structures were built on diminishing our expressions of humanity and exploiting people and land for the benefit of supremacist ideology and practices. The culture that has been cultivated expects people to obediently compromise our very being, our health, our quality of life and work, and the sacrifices made at the expense of our families and communities.
When gains for human dignity and healthy interdependence are made, we experience the backlash as relentless. Through racist corporate practices, our government is structured to favor accumulation and power over people and lives.
Movement builders fight so we can thrive without sacrificing our wellbeing and dignity. They do this under the threat of personal destruction, prison, starvation, and ultimately death. There is no wonder how we became weary and distracted as communities deteriorated and education limited the knowledge of our full stories.
And when exhaustion set in I saw my parents assimilate to a certain extent, as did I in adulthood.
We are busy ‘producing’ profit and working for the purpose of survival, for basic needs. And for the honor of doing that work we are forced to go against our values and pay taxes that are used to prioritize violence, control, chaos, and division to distract from our ancestral knowledge, joy, and collective power.
So many of us experience the oppressive freedom sold to us in the U.S. We are educated to believe that we are free.
We are free to die of a curable illness because healthcare is inaccessible, free to live on a sidewalk because vacant buildings are more valuable than housing people, free to be without reward for hard work, free to be in debt to get an education and career, free to live in fear of racism and toxicity (emotional and physical).
Although there are many structures to dismantle and build up in the image of humanity, we are witnessing a greater acceptance of folx expressing their truths.
In this truth I dare to hope, because I know something different is possible, and carry on so we can all one day be liberated from the share-cropper mentality of capitalism. Liberated to dream of a society built on love where food, shelter, creativity and community resources are abundantly accessible.
The realities of U.S. capitalism’s brutality and inequities, taxation without representation, racism and corporate influence on our democracy and the toxic entitlement of imperialism and colonialism are being discussed openly. The Black Lives Matter Movement is a part of mainstream dialogue. Who would have thought that we could dare to openly believe and demand that we not only survive but that we thrive?
These are dreams children of revolutionaries have heard since birth but with the fear of phones being tapped and dangers of violence for talking about alternative economic possibilities and human rights.
I hold tremendous gratitude for the work and efforts that went into re-enfranchising and uplifting individuals to express their priorities. It is a nostalgic validation of our parent’s fight.
This upcoming administration may not transform the U.S. but I’m hopeful this administration will reform some of the broken pieces. The foundation for liberation will continue to be strengthened. The voter turnout, community organizing, and our collective visioning lay the groundwork for mutual accountability. I hope we will continue to focus on systemic transformation and move away from the normalized false responsibility of individuals to conform to oppression and depression.
Photo of child holding sign taken by MIke Puican
Essay Published in the Anthology: 2020: The Year that Changed America (Kevin Powell’s Writing Workshop)
