Read on Twitter
I get on Twitter often and read some of y’all’s idea of “revolution” and it becomes evident that there isn’t any connection to poor, rural/country, or southern black realities of what “radical” means to generations of black people who weren’t afforded certain privileges.
The idea that there are certain texts, people, language, certain “canons” that everyone should know & be using is a white supremacist model, & it doesn’t engage with the fact that for generations black people have been brutalized & legally barred from certain language/knowledge.
For example, I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 6. I was not allowed to attend school without medication. My parents did the best they could to educate themselves & I on what “ADHD” means, but I was the 1st family member to be diagnosed w/a learning disability & mental illness.
No one taught us that ADHD was lifelong, how it affects your mood, that you can have ASD & ADHD, what “neurodivergent” means. I was on various medications until my sophomore year of high school & for so long I thought that taking pills were some cure—& no one taught us otherwise.
Even the term “learning disability” was not used when I was in school. I was actually told I had “impulsive anger” and “ADHD”.
I was young, black, & in Virginia, and it was evident that no school system or therapist office wanted to use the word “disability” for a black child.
I was young, black, & in Virginia, and it was evident that no school system or therapist office wanted to use the word “disability” for a black child.
The system was designed to be racist, classist, homophobic, transphobic, & homogenous.
Growing up people were scared of the words “ADHD” “Autism” “disability” “mental illness” as much as they were scared of the words “black” “gay” “child”, so I was never afforded those terms.
Growing up people were scared of the words “ADHD” “Autism” “disability” “mental illness” as much as they were scared of the words “black” “gay” “child”, so I was never afforded those terms.
I don’t often speak about my experience w/ADHD because it was a traumatic one; as a perceived “aggressive black male” I was suspended & expelled more times than I can count. I was known as a case file—no one cared to understand me & we didn’t get a 504 until my mother made them
For the past 2-3 years, I have been going through a process of reminding myself that I have ADHD, & it makes me who I am everyday.
It wasn’t my parents or I’s fault for not being educated on what ADHD, w/potentially ASD, is—the system was designed for us to stay uneducated.
It wasn’t my parents or I’s fault for not being educated on what ADHD, w/potentially ASD, is—the system was designed for us to stay uneducated.
My mother spent my whole childhood studying what little she could find on ADHD after working 8 hours everyday. Every author was of course white, wealthy, & had several medical degrees to diagnose their child(ren), & that was not us, but she used what she could find anyway.
My mother will always be my first framework into what social justice means. Her will to fight & advocate, to ask questions & seek help in ways that she was not taught & was frankly looked down upon back in the early 2000s, will always be my first example of a “radical” politic.
We have to remember that all revolutions start with & are led by everyday people.
The idea that there are a select few who are “forbearers” or “authors” of movements doesn’t engage with the fact that the system is designed to elevate select voices to create power imbalances.
The idea that there are a select few who are “forbearers” or “authors” of movements doesn’t engage with the fact that the system is designed to elevate select voices to create power imbalances.
My family is from Eastern Shore, MD. My Grannie lives in the same house her daddy bought. My grandparents live in the same house they bought for my father & his two brothers, with no internet.
My definition of “radical” might be different from theirs, but it isn’t any less true.
My definition of “radical” might be different from theirs, but it isn’t any less true.
Sometimes “radical” to black peoples in a country where you were once property, is owning the house you live in. Leaving the man that once abused you. Learning to love your grandchildren & your grandparents, your parents & your imperfect family for who they are.
I, too, have to remind myself often that we are afforded the language to understand ourselves, our ancestors, this wild wild thing we call life, the privilege to question & critique, because many people have died for us to do so. & Many people are dying for us to do so.
We are not any more worthy just because we have the language to describe the lives that many others have lived. Just because we get college degree that tells us we are more equipped to speak, doesn’t mean we are any more worthy to speak for others.
I believe there’s space for both education & radical justice frameworks to meet those who have been barred from it, without pretense & the projection of “universal” language.
I believe that’s how we’ll truly get free, building a world where we’re all possible.
I believe that’s how we’ll truly get free, building a world where we’re all possible.
