Connecting the Dots Between the “Identity Politics” of Black Lives Matter and Class Politics

[Kind of Blue]

"The point, both Garza and Fells emphasized, is that 'identity politics' and class-based politics have to go hand in hand, if either is to be effective.

The relationship between organized labor and black folks has always been one where black people have lent an increasingly radical edge and have provided again and again a compass for where the soul of this country should go," Garza said.

"There is space for us to fight along multiple dimension at once. We don’t have to pick one. I don’t have to be a worker today, a queer person tomorrow, a woman tonight. I can be all of those things, all at once, hallelujah,” Garza said. “It’s not about identity politics. It’s about our lives. The very sanctity of our lives is at stake. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/18545/Blacklivesmatter-fightfor15-paneldiscussion

[Number23]

1. PRAISE THE LORD!! PRAISE HIM!!

I don’t have to be a worker today, a queer person tomorrow, a woman tonight. I can be all of those things, all at once, hallelujah,” Garza said. “It’s not about identity politics. It’s about our lives.

Say it again!!!

I don’t have to be a worker today, a queer person tomorrow, a woman tonight. I can be all of those things, all at once, hallelujah,” Garza said. “It’s not about identity politics. It’s about our lives.

I am so sick and tired of idiots hollering about "identity politics." It is the calling card of the clueless and one dimensional.

Because certain people have decided (usually through decades of denial and willful blindness) that their race, gender etc. has nothing to do with their lives, they think that everyone else should think the same seemingly oblivious that as long as racism, sexism, homophobia and other ills still plague the nation that is simply NOT an option for us.

When people are denied opportunities because of the way that they look or their sexual orientation, that affects EVERYTHING including our pockets. I don't get why this is hard.

“But if we look at this narrative and the history of labor, we find ‘identity politics’ popping up again and again. My mother was a domestic worker. Under the (1935 Social Security Act), she was ineligible for benefits, a concession to Southern Democrats. For her, these questions were not abstract. Her exploitation as a woman, her exploitation as a black person, and her exploitation as a worker were intricately connected and woven together.”

Absolutely.

“We do work around policing and criminal justice, but we also take on development, affordable housing and gentrification, gender justice, trans liberation, economic justice, anti-austerity and privatization, climate justice, education, corporate accountability, and rights, dignity, and respect for gay, lesbian, and bisexual folks, because all of these issues shape the contours of black life. We’re fighting back against anti-Black racism, but we’re also fighting for dignity and equality for all persons.”

God bless them. Seriously.

[Kind of Blue]

6. "God bless them."

Yes, indeed!
I love being able to connect to these groups who are able to show time and again that the original and long lasting "identity politics" is supremacy.

[Number23]

2. By the way, I just found out today that Black Lives Matter endorsed Bernie Sanders!! I read it here

on DU so it must be true!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=733211

This is such exciting news! I know you're all thinking "if this was true, how come it wasn't plastered all over DU by Sanders HUNDREDS of supporters here??" but oh, pish tosh! As soon as I get the scoop, I'll put it here for public consumption. This is big news!!

[Lisa D]

3. I was baffled by that post.

Of course, that's a common reaction when reading GDP.

Maybe the BLM endorsement is a secret?

[Kind of Blue]

5. Stockholm Syndrome cured!

We can stop talking now and vote for Bernie.

[Number23]

8. "Maybe the BLM endorsement is a secret?"

It's so super top secret hush hush that even BLACK LIVES MATTER didn't know they'd endorsed him!!1one

[Kind of Blue]

4. !!!

Gurl! You had me going there!

I'm like, didn't BLM say they're not endorsing anyone??? Now why would they throw away the hand they have this early??? Good Lord, I'm laughing so hard at myself because I completely missed the comedy!!!

The smell of fear and desperation so early in the morning. Thanks for turning it into a good laugh!

[Number23]

7. "The smell of fear and desperation"

It is an acrid smell, isn't it?? And good Lord has that smell been blowing out of GDP on the regular for the last few weeks.

Well, I am sorry to report that it is as you, I, and 98% of the regular posters in this forum already suspected. Black Lives Matter has in fact, NOT endorsed Bernie Sanders. I repeat, Black Lives Matter has NOT endorsed Bernie Sanders or any other candidate for president.

I can't help but wonder about a poster that would have no problem posting that as if it were true. Do some people here have no shame whatsoever??

[Kind of Blue]

9. Do some people here have no shame whatsoever??

Lashing back in a ridiculously juvenile way because he/she can't shut us up.

[Number23]

10. Would love to get your thoughts on this OP in GD

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027299669

[Kind of Blue]

11. Ugh, Number23. I really try to keep

the emotional impact at bay in light of what my family has gone thru in over 5 years. It's just so fucking painful. I listen to a lot of black existentialist thoughts that have sustained me to maintain my sanity. And I wanted to post the truly incredibly insightful thinking of these giants in our community, both black and white.

But I can't. Because it's about pain and all I can speak to is gut wrenching pain, though I try to avoid it. But you've brought me to deal with something I know my family will eventually integrate but have not yet. I don't like sharing heartache. It's such a downer and I hate feeling how the experience crushes a part of my spirit.

I don't like revealing that police brutality almost crippled us because my brother wasn't killed, so buck up and keep going. I don't like revealing that it was the insanely brutal death of another black man that brought awareness to my brother's case. I don't like knowing that Gray's mother tried to commit suicide becuase I sure would have felt the same had my sibling passed in such horror. I don't like saying that I thought we were above brutality because we've done all the right things, and we could not stop one white racist man who could dominate our lives because he's "got good friends on the police force." I don't like revealing that my brother Cried For Me because I look so goddamned tired because he feels guilty that he wasn't around to help with our aging parents, though he was tortured and can't speak of what he went through yet. I don't like revealing his face is so damaged, his smile so distorted that I had to be strong and suppress my tears when we skyped just looking at his once gorgeous face.

I'll stop here because I can keep going and I can't type if I stay in this frame of mind. Most of all, I hate knowing it's simple awareness, a shift in consciousness that has to reach a critical mass before more people realize it's about hate that trickles down into insidious forms of complacency, that has us like crabs in a barrel.

My sister ran into Elie Wiesel before the police. (On Edit: I meant my sister met Wiesel before we descended into the police madness.) She recognized him and introduced herself. He just hugged her and said fight for your dignity and awareness. So what more can I, can we do.

Thank you for asking, Number23. I love you and honor you for willing to stand with me during terrible times. I couldn't ask for more.