My early life and experiences led me to Rastafari. Rastafari cemented black consciousness in me. The African experience - enslavement, colonial, post-colonial, neocolonial - led me to PanAfricanism. The scope of the PanAfrican community opened my eyes to the humanity of us all. The humanity of it all led me to human rights. Humanity led me to gay rights.
Somewhere in there, in this midst of this journey, a moral relativism started to bubble up; I had to sort that out. Sorting that out rekindled my appreciationfor nuance and context.
We are all people. We are all complex. Some of us have "simple" complexities. Burnt toast after waking up on the wrong side of the bed with a headache which leads to grumpiness at work, so, "Fuck you Troy!" Some of us are boys and like boys in a world that says we aren't to like boys, but then we also kinda like girls too.
Some of us are all these shades of grey in a black and white world.
Well, whatever. Fighting and playing in the mud just gets us all dirty.
#InTheBrightestRed (For Pompasette Magazine) Monday November 24th, 2014, a grand jury does not indict police officer, Darren Wilson, in the shooting death of 18 year old Michael Brown in August 2014. The decision, unsurprising to many, stirred the emotions of people across the US, and the international community, sparking protests and even riots. Barbadians took to social media, as did the world, to follow the situation and voice opinion on it. #JusticeforMikeBrown and #Ferguson were popular hashtags on my timeline and newsfeed that night. Last year, Skittles, iced tea, hoodies and blacked out profile photos signified solidarity with Trayvon Martin. Sadly though, I cannot recall this level of solidarity with, or outcry for, I’Akobi Maloney, or indeed anyone that may have suffered similar injustices in Barbados. Why is there this disparity in responses? Why are we so vocal and active, online at least, about the tragedies and injustices in America, but so muted – indifferent even – to local injustices that are similar?
To begin, it is always easier to judge the faults of others and avoid your own. The bigger the fault, the more we judge. The more we expect from the party at fault, the more intensely we react. The USA has painted itself as the defender of freedom and democracy in the world. The President of the United States is often referred to as “The Leader of the Free World”, so terrible events like Mike Brown occurring on their soil create an opening for foreign critics, giving license to cast a self-righteous side-eye in their direction. However, to turn that critical eye inward is not an easy nor desirable task. The required introspection makes us uncomfortable and admitting that we too can be host to great injustices is a confession that we may not be quite ready to make. #sipstea
I’Akobi’s case did not experience the same level of media attention as the Trayvon Martin or Michael Brown cases did. This is not to say that it was not covered by the local media, it was, but we live in a time when the lion’s share of media consumption by Barbadians, especially by the social media generation, is American. Trayvon and Michael received coverage on CNN, MSNBC, FOX, ABC, Comedy Central, in The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and a host of other television, radio, print and online media outlets, all of which have huge social media presences and followings. How does this affect Barbadian sentiment and response? The listed media outlets are constant and consistent with their output. They take, or create, trending topics and have hours of time dedicated to them specifically. Interviews with experts and officials, family members and friends, animated charts and graphs; these things and more come with this “American media package.” The result of this bombardment is that issues are always in your face, you become increasingly engaged, meaning, more tweets, more statuses, ie. a greater response. I’Akobi did not have the benefit of this. By contrast, I’Akobi was covered by the two local print newspapers, the one television station’s news hour, and a few popular local blogs. They went beyond viral, I’Akobi did not.
Spoken word artist, Adrian Green, in a piece titled “Too Small” notes that the size of Barbados, and the intimate nature of Bajan life is a factor in the differences in reactions to the Trayvon and I’Akobi incidents. It is a valid observation. I did not know I’Akobi personally, but I know his brother, and many people that were close to him. I was awoken by a phone call from a friend, on the night he died, who was so distraught that she could not speak clearly. On the flip, I know police officers, and I know people that know officers involved in the incident. The intimacy and connectedness of small societies can be very intimidating for people, and this can inhibit even the most passive forms of protest against perceived injustices. We feel less afraid of personal repercussions when engaging international topics, but are much more self-aware and self-censoring when approaching local topics. Within the confines of 166 square miles there is the very real chance of actually coming face to face with the person(s) that you are protesting against, and that is an uneasy thought for most of us.
Finally, being a population of mostly black people, able to identify with the racial history and dynamic of the US, it is easy to identify with Mike and Trayvon because #itcouldhavebeenme. For this same reason it is a bit harder for most to identify with I’Akobi. There is no clear racial element to make I’Akobi’s cause “trendy.” Consider this though, just as most white Americans will be unable to understand what it is like to be #livingwhileblack in America, most Barbadians will not understand what it is like to be a Rasta living in Barbados; draw your parallels.
*As written for, and submitted to Pompasette Magazine.
Click here for the trailer to the documentary, "The I'Akobi Conspiracy: From a Mother's Perspective"
Once during a Political Science class, "African Political Philosophy in Antiquity", or something like that, the point was made that it is always going to be really hard to fully understand/ grasp the concepts of these old African systems of thought because we are approaching them from a point of understanding that is western/European. No matter your emotional alignment, or your political mooring, the social and educational foundation upon which they lie is going to be, primarily European, specifically English in the case of Barbados. It is an uncomfortable thing to hear and can be quite disconcerting. I was in my Pan-African, Rastafari, Black Power freshness; I was different to those still stuck on that western train, that "Babylon Shitstem" mentality; I was supposed to be different.
I digressed, that is not the point nor purpose of this post. I am not sure it is even relevant.
Nigga.
Who can and who can't say it?
If we - niggas - stop saying it, the perpetuation of white supremacy will end, or at least weaken, right?
Hurtful word and no one should say it; period!
Context, it is all about context.
My brother, my nigga.
Lots of opinions, from a lot of places about one, maybe two, word(s) depending on if you draw a distinction between nigga and nigger.
Piers Morgan, the most recent person of note to attempt this, has called for the discontinued use of the word nigga/nigger. He lists a variety of reasons to support his position, none new, most reasonable, one ignorant and all viewed through the historical lens of white supremacy and political and institutional black oppression and dehumanization. There is a kind of white guilt that informs his position, which is fine. Understanding the past properly frames contemporary life experiences and provides the knowledge needed for advancement. Of course, there is also a kind of white privilege that somehow fuels the notion that his opinion is relevant, which largely, it is not. Piers, this is not about you nor your feelings. Most importantly to note though, is that this is not black people's problem either; nigga is not a black creation. The society that created the term, and the negativity attached to it, is to blame for the usage, not those negatively affected that have sought to repurpose it positively, however controversially, for themselves.
Otherwise motivated but on the same side as Piers, would be black people who call for its disuse. These are usually, older folk from the civil rights era and people generally who hold that era as the foundation of the contemporary black experience. For them there is a very emotional connection to the word, and the very malicious and dehumanizing manner with which it was used by whites towards blacks, often times accompanied by dogs, burning crosses, hanging bodies, fire hoses and all manner of psychological and physical assault and degradation. This set cannot fathom why people would refer to themselves and their loved ones with such a term. For them, this word cannot be reclaimed nor can it be repurposed. This call for disuse also comes from a place heavily influenced by white supremacy, black oppression and abuse.
The above perspectives are all centered on the historical use of the word by whites towards blacks. Anyone coming to the table on this issue from the perspective of its historical white usage will always call for the discontinuation of its usage, whether a well meaning old white man like Piers or black people with a civil rights era foundation. From that perspective the word is, and can only be, hurtful.
There is another lens through which we can see this nigga/nigger thing. Niggas have been calling niggas niggas for a long time, from way back in the day. I do not mean, thefirsteverhiphopalbum back in the day or when Paula Deen was a little girl type back in the day, but before America recognized black men as citizens, like before 1865 type of back in the day. When nigger went from being a simple reference to black people, to a reprehensible entity to be feared and kept ignorant, is when the nigga to nigga endearment and empowerment started. This black to black, nigga to nigga, perspective is also important. From this perspective, the discomfort felt by contemporary whites which is rooted in white supremacy's legacy is less relevant to black people, and allows us, if we so desire, to say "So what?!" to their discomfort and dislike. This perspective is in direct opposition to the previous one.
Piers Morgan dismisses African Americans, mainly African American youth, as using the word "in an ironic way." Piers goes on, "They’re aware of its history; they know from their parents and grandparents that arrogant, dumb, racist whites used it as a wicked, derogatory insult against their black slave forebears. And they enjoy the freedom of being able to say it now in the knowledge that it’s become taboo for whites to do so." He then claims that he understands and empathizes. He does not, not really, but, more interesting is the condescending tone he delivers this message in. It is as if he is explaining to a toddler, for the hundredth time, that he cannot eat his crayons. "Take those crayons from your mouth Timmy, you know you shouldn't eat them." What he could have gone on to say would have been something like, "Also, your black slave forebears began to use the word as a badge of honour and as a term of endearment among themselves, flipping the negativity of the arrogant, dumb, racist whites into a positive - something that they have done all throughout the slavery and Jim Crow experiences." He could have then gone on to reference comfort food, souse and negro spirituals and black churches, which are all the nigga to their respective origins' nigger, ie. the negatives made positives.
There is a lack of understanding by the youth as to the hurtful power that that word holds for their parents and grandparents, and that of course comes a less racially volatile contemporary environment, but its continued use within the black community is not just a simple "irony." That is why Mr. Morgan cannot say that he understands.
When approached from the perspective of reclamation, empowerment and resistance, the word is open for continued use within the black community. Continued use is very much still a part of the racial politick. Remember that while we like to focus on the contemporary experience, the African American experience in America has only been one of full citizenship for about half a century. Post racial societies do not yet exist anywhere, despite what we are told.
As anyone on the pro-use side will tell you, there are times when even internal use of the word will have negative connotations and go from an endearing term to a degrading, and oppressive one. Any reference to struggling, hustling, grinding, working hard, celebrations, family, friends, etc. are usually positive nigga uses. References to merking niggas, dope boy niggas, ignorant niggas, my niggas v. dem niggas etc. are negative nigga uses and perpetuate the negativity of the term, and actually go against the intetntion of the reclamation of the term. Problematic, but only so for those with either of the two perspectives above. There is another perspective; it is held mostly by the youth. It is not as nuanced as the other two. Thanks to popular music, multiculturalism and failure to understand or care for context, the term, which was always akin to 'dude' or 'brother' within parts of the black community, has taken on that meaning for a new generation, but spans a wider racial demographic. Again problematic, but language was never known for being stagnant and the youth are not famed for their understanding of, nor penchant for, the historical context of the world they occupy.
The Washington Post has done a pretty interesting interactive project about this. You can tailor make your own video, have a random one done for you, and afterwards you can spend time exploring all of the videos. This project accompanies the article linked above in the Lonne O'Neal Parker quote. Click here to go to THE N-WORD: An Interactive Project Exploring a Singular Word.
Ultimately, however, disuse, continued use or the disconnected, new generation use aside, the racial problems in the world are not rooted in any word. Institutional and structural issues within societies are what give birth to, and maintain, the injustice of racial inequality. Stop and frisk, school to prison pipelines, prison industrial complex, the racial disparity in convictions and sentencing, ingrained fear of black bodies, unrecognized and unchecked white privilege, unchecked police brutality, etc. facilitate America's racial problems. Add to that the fact that Jim Crow is not a history lesson, but a living memory for many Americans. Add to that the fact that John Crawford III and Eric Garner happened a few months ago.
Let us not get too distracted by nigga this and nigga that. Those with malicious intent will use it regardless. More discrete, but equally ill intentioned, people will use modern day euphemisms like "n-word" or "urban" or "inner city" and smile =) all the while. Police will call you sir or ma'am and still arrest you more frequently than any other racial group. Words, caricatures, gestures and symbols are all applied or repurposed afterwards to fit the structure.
Niggas got better shit to do than to focus too much on semantics, not because it is unimportant, but because it's a red herring topic in the racial debate and we have bigger fish to fry.
