Black lives being endangered constantly isn't at all a new phenomenon. It's deep-rooted in the American and Canadian psyches, serving as the very backbone for these countries' development. With everything going on Minneapolis, it's vital that this is understood. A thread.

Performance activism comprises privileged white people who post about injustice not to raise awareness or facilitate discourse, but rather seeking validation and self-gratification. It's despicable considering it dilutes the sufferings of minorities down to personal brand fodder.

America is a white, cisgender, heterosexual, male chauvinist, capitalistic world. There's an ideological reason why white people celebrate Dr. King but not Malcolm X, relatively speaking. Malcolm, an inspiration of mine, doesn't have a national holiday while Dr. King does.

Black people are commodified by the west, simply put. They're celebrated through the lenses of cultural contributions or sexual appeal or sob stories or peace, but when taken out of the select contexts that the white patriarchy deems suitable for them, they're vilified.

This is precisely why Western theft of countries around the world and the erasure of cultural equity are overlooked by the white populace, while the so-called "looting" of protesters is seen as "infringement" on property that capitalist forces have monopolized for decades.

It's also why the mainstream media irresponsibly decides to use the passive voice. The lie of objectivism has permeated journalism to the point where it's become a disservice to truth. Black bodies aren't injured. They're tortured. Black bodies aren't dead. They're killed.

It's the same white people who dislike Malcolm for advocating for violent revolution towards justice who also dismiss the countless narratives of white imperialism, genocide, plundering, torture and rape that the white race has done. Such selective outrage is embedded in elitism.

And such bigotry is not limited to the white race. Black people also suffer bigotry internalized and manifested by other people of color. As such, equating these terms would be fallacious. Black people face much more oppression than other people of color. And that's a fact.

Policing is inherently classist and historically racist. Community enforcement has proven to be a more egalitarian approach. Ta-Nehisi Coates said it well: racism is the child of race, not the father. The protests in Minneapolis are not violence. They're self-defense against it.

An intersectionally feminist, leftist society is the only way to ensure respectable survival and unrelenting equity for all. I'm grateful for the protesters on the ground in Minneapolis risking their lives for what's right. Long live the revolution.