1/ POLITICAL ED: Black-led solutions means BLACK.

This isn't a "civil rights" reckoning. This isn't a general "racial" reckoning. This is a reckoning w/ anti-Black racism. This is about the very specific ways that anti-Black racism manifests & the policies needed to remedy it.

2/ The injection of "BIPOC" and "BIPOC-led" taskforces to address anti-Black racism is anti-Black. Particularly when white and non-Black folks use "BIPOC" as a general catchall for all communities of color.

3/ Yes, Black, Indigenous, and other POC liberation are intertwined. However, the Black American experience—the specific history of enslavement, of policing birthed from slave patrols, the lack of any significant Black land ownership…

4/ (Contd) …the specific and historical exclusion of Black people from all good things in this nation aka apart-heid; that this nation’s wealth is tied specifically to Black enslavement and free Black labor—requires BLACK-LED solutions.

5/ Let’s assess this locally, in practice.

@mayorjenny initially pledged an arbitrary $100M investment explicitly for BLACK communities. She's since diluted that investment to say its an investment in “BIPOC” communities. https://twitter.com/MayorJenny/status/1269854678633725953?s=20

6/ @mayorjenny later clarified that the arbitrary $100M designated for "BIPOC" includes ALL communities of color.

In sum: a world-wide uprising over anti-Black racism led to an arbitrary $100M promise to Black communities, which then becomes -> $100M to ALL communities of color

7/ This tactic of both: 1) failing to provide specific redress for Black peoples, and 2) pitting communities of color against each other are two tried & true anti-Black tactics.

These tactics are why Black wealth is near zero in 2020 in one of the wealthiest cities in the world

8/ Community, ask @mayordurkan: what is your plan to get the BLACK community in the greater Seattle area -that has a unique claim to reparations and justice in America - to equity? What year? When?

9/ How does @mayorjenny's watered-down, arbitrary "$100M" (which is entirely too low & unacceptable) investment in “BIPOC” communities get the Black community in Seattle to equitable wealth margins? What year?

10/ When will Black peoples in Seattle have equitable land and property ownership rates? What year?

When will Black peoples in Seattle have equitable life expectancy rates? What year?

11/ When will Black people in Seattle have proportional representation in the criminal punishment and incarceration system? What year?

When will Black people have equitable high school graduation rates? K-12 performance rates? College matriculation rates? What year?

12/ When you begin asking these questions, it quickly becomes clear that @MayorJenny has neither a plan, nor the interest, nor the intent, nor the desire, nor the priority, nor the understanding, nor the leadership to bring the Black community to equity.

Only Black peoples can.

13/ So, to recap: yes, our liberation is tied together.

But anti-Black racism runs rampant through all IPOC communities.

Anti-Black racism requires BLACK-led solutions. It requires the specific agency & self-determination necessary to remedy this huge, particular injustice.

14/ So what can you do? How does this translate locally?

Amplify and support the ongoing work and existing vision, championed by Black communities that have been fighting for equity in this region for decades.

#WeSaidBlack #WeHaveTheSolutions #EquityNow #GetOutTheWay