ððð ððððððððð ððð'ð ðððððð; ðð ðð ððððððð ðððð!
The recent protests against the murder of George Floyd have been condemned by many. But this does not come as a surprise for in the eyes of the privileged and “whitewashed tombs,” all protests and acts of resistance emerging from the margins, violent or non-violent, are a moral wrong. Protests are perceived as acts that threaten social order and disarrange civil peace, performatives that preclude the “normal” continuance of daily living, and phenomena that diffuse political friction. Yet, protests are the life-blood of oppressed communities for they question hegemonic powers.
ððĄðē ððĻ ððĄð ðĐðŦðĒðŊðĒðĨðð ðð ðĒðĨðĨðð ðĒððĒðĶððð ðĐðŦðĻðððŽððŽ? First, illegitimating protests is a sign of the privileged morally evaluating protests from a place of privilege. Moral reasoning done from the realm of abstractions tend to legitimize happenings that protect and preserve the social and political elites’ (moral) vision and privilege, and delegitimize every other happening that puts their (moral) vision and privilege under threat.
Second, in illegitimating protests the focus turns toward individual moral character heightening its violations and omissions while neglecting oppressive structures that generate from oppressed communities a certain pattern of behavior and praxis that transgress dominant moral norms and reasoning. The privileged end up labelling disenfranchised communities engaging in protests as “drunkards” (Acts 2:13) or “thugs,” viewing them as problems in need of monitoring, disciplining, or eliminating.
ððĄðē ððĻ ðĐððĻðĐðĨð ðĐðŦðĻðððŽð? No protest emerges in a vacuum; histories give birth to them. These histories are marked by moments of years of violence, alienation and oppression, narratives of pessimism and incapacitation, denial of self-worth, and violation of bodies and its experiences. Therefore, those who protest seize the right to self-fashion their own identities by rejecting and undoing the imposed distorted identities that lead to their oppression or death.
As noted in my recent essay, suffering communities use their powers of imagination—emerging from histories of oppression, pain, and denial of self-worth—to speak truth to power, expose draconian policies and vengeful politics, challenge the moral conscience of the oppressors, contest universalized and objectivized norms, and resist the invisibilization of bodies and memories. Does not the callous dismissal of protests as immoral and illegitimate invisibilize communities and justify centuries of systemic oppressions?
ððĄð ððð§ððððĻðŽð ðĒðŽ ðĄððŦð! In the Book of Acts, we read of Peter standing up and reminding the listeners of their actions against the violated one—Jesus (2:23). Protestors all over the country are doing the same—reminding people of how their actions and silences have contributed to the killing of Floyd, the killing of thousands of people of color, and the killing of Jesus himself. If the Divine Feminine is creating chaos by taking today’s Peters and the company to the streets in order to remind people of their sins, the Pentecost isn’t coming; it is already here.
PS: Just to give a context to my post—George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed by Derek Chauvin, a white cop, as he knelt on Floyd's neck. This is another case of police brutality against Black bodies.
The recent protests against the murder of George Floyd have been condemned by many. But this does not come as a surprise for in the eyes of the privileged and “whitewashed tombs,” all protests and acts of resistance emerging from the margins, violent or non-violent, are a moral wrong. Protests are perceived as acts that threaten social order and disarrange civil peace, performatives that preclude the “normal” continuance of daily living, and phenomena that diffuse political friction. Yet, protests are the life-blood of oppressed communities for they question hegemonic powers.
ððĄðē ððĻ ððĄð ðĐðŦðĒðŊðĒðĨðð ðð ðĒðĨðĨðð ðĒððĒðĶððð ðĐðŦðĻðððŽððŽ? First, illegitimating protests is a sign of the privileged morally evaluating protests from a place of privilege. Moral reasoning done from the realm of abstractions tend to legitimize happenings that protect and preserve the social and political elites’ (moral) vision and privilege, and delegitimize every other happening that puts their (moral) vision and privilege under threat.
Second, in illegitimating protests the focus turns toward individual moral character heightening its violations and omissions while neglecting oppressive structures that generate from oppressed communities a certain pattern of behavior and praxis that transgress dominant moral norms and reasoning. The privileged end up labelling disenfranchised communities engaging in protests as “drunkards” (Acts 2:13) or “thugs,” viewing them as problems in need of monitoring, disciplining, or eliminating.
ððĄðē ððĻ ðĐððĻðĐðĨð ðĐðŦðĻðððŽð? No protest emerges in a vacuum; histories give birth to them. These histories are marked by moments of years of violence, alienation and oppression, narratives of pessimism and incapacitation, denial of self-worth, and violation of bodies and its experiences. Therefore, those who protest seize the right to self-fashion their own identities by rejecting and undoing the imposed distorted identities that lead to their oppression or death.
As noted in my recent essay, suffering communities use their powers of imagination—emerging from histories of oppression, pain, and denial of self-worth—to speak truth to power, expose draconian policies and vengeful politics, challenge the moral conscience of the oppressors, contest universalized and objectivized norms, and resist the invisibilization of bodies and memories. Does not the callous dismissal of protests as immoral and illegitimate invisibilize communities and justify centuries of systemic oppressions?
ððĄð ððð§ððððĻðŽð ðĒðŽ ðĄððŦð! In the Book of Acts, we read of Peter standing up and reminding the listeners of their actions against the violated one—Jesus (2:23). Protestors all over the country are doing the same—reminding people of how their actions and silences have contributed to the killing of Floyd, the killing of thousands of people of color, and the killing of Jesus himself. If the Divine Feminine is creating chaos by taking today’s Peters and the company to the streets in order to remind people of their sins, the Pentecost isn’t coming; it is already here.
PS: Just to give a context to my post—George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed by Derek Chauvin, a white cop, as he knelt on Floyd's neck. This is another case of police brutality against Black bodies.
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