Honoring George Floyd

A Black man pauses in from of a mural memorializing George Floyd (mural shows his name in orange and his portrait in black and white, surrounded by the names of others murdered by police). In front of the mural are flowers and offerings from mourners. The mural, at the location of Floyd’s murder, was painted by Xena Goldman, Cadex Herrera, and Greta McClain. (source)

I will start by saying, I am a white woman. My goal here is not to take up additional space, but to amplify the work done by Black people, especially Black women, to pull white people into the work of ending white supremacy. This is an effort to speak to fellow white people by sharing resources.

There is significant work being done across the country to collectively mourn and demand atonement for the murder of George Floyd by the police. As a cis white woman, I have been reflecting on my own safety in the present moment and the depth of my privilege. I have tried to take up the call to do the work, and to move from ally to accomplice and comrade. Others have graciously developed resources for this. Here is what I have found helpful. Here’s what I’ve been drawing on:

• a collection of anti-racist resources developed by Sarah Sophie Flicker, Alyssa Klein to honor and call attention to white violence following the murder of Breonna Taylor

• an evolving document sharing organizations and individuals to support as they hold the front lines at the protests in Minneapolis and elsewhere (including the Minneapolis Freedom Fund, Reclaim the Block, and Black Visions Collective for mutual aid)

• Layla F. Saad’s “Me & White Supremacy” workbook, now available in tangible book form (it has been shared with me that this may be a controversial resource, though I’m still working on getting more information on that)

These are deeply useful resources for thinking through our present moment with historical context. Others have put together resources that, while educational, are also celebratory. Candice Benbow’s remarkable Lemonade Syllabus, honoring and exploring Black womanhood, is an incredible example.

One of the things that has struck me in talking to my fellow white people is how much of their fear is focused on a future that isn’t predominantly white. Now, that in a general sense is not surprising, as institutions like the police are designed precisely to preserve the state as white people have built it. But what seems to be getting clearer for white people in this moment is that this fear stems from only being able to imagine a future in which, as they abolish our systems of oppression, Black communities turn the same tactics at white people as we have unleashed upon Black bodies for centuries.

Tamika D. Mallory brings this to our attention when she said, while speaking at protests in response to George Floyd’s murder:

Don’t talk to us about looting. Y’all are the looters.
America has looted Black people.
America looted the Native Americans when they first came here.
So looting is what you do. We learned it from you.

After functioning in a white settler-colonial, looting culture for centuries, it makes sense that it is difficult to imagine other futures–futures where being led by a Black vision doesn’t mean a simple reversing of the world order. So, in addition to building up my anti-racist language and my understanding of the history of Black people in the U.S., I want to build a deeper understanding of how Black writers, artists, and individuals imagine Black futures. How they imagine liberation, change, and alternate ways of being.

To that end, I’m turning to Afrofuturism. Perhaps best known to readers through Octavia Butler, Afrofuturist works have enjoyed mainstream success in recent years with Marvel’s Black Panther and Janelle Monae’s Dirty Computer and its accompanying “emotion picture.”

African Arguments offers an overview of Afrofuturism, and I am hoping to find well developed reading lists to share. Here is what I have come across so far:

• author Maurice Brauddus shares a list of Afrofuturist books, fillms, and music

• Electric Lit offers a book list directly inspired by the interest in Black Panther

• Sydney Scott, writing for Essence, offers heavy-hitting highlights that show the impact Afrofuturism is having on popular culture

• Jonita Davis, writing for Yes!, shows how Black women are reshaping Afrofuturism

To move beyond fear–or shame or uncertainty the emotions holding us back from active engagement in allyship and camaraderie–we need new futures to imagine. Ones that draw on our collective strength and center the voices of those who have been oppressed as they imagine the world of their liberation. This seems like a good starting point for me. I hope you find some new content to take in this summer, to inspire you and to bring joy and excitement, because as Audre Lorde taught us in A Burst of Light, self care is essential. It is political, defiant, and a means of preserving ourselves for the next moment of action. I hope some of these works help us refuel and find enthusiasm for the work of rebuilding communities and joy in imagining futures where we are all truly free. Where there can be justice and peace.

One of the actions I plan to take is ordering a few books in this genre, and I’m working to prioritize Black-owned bookstores. I asked my Facebook network which bookstores they love, and here is the list I have so far. If you have a Black-owned bookstore you love, let me know. I’ll get it on the list! I’ve included those who have online stores here:

• Mahogany Books (Washington, D.C.)

• Semicolon’s bookstore (Chicago)

• comics & graphic novels from Amalgam (Philadelphia)

• children’s books, including a monthly subscription box based on your child’s age from EyeSeeMe (St. Louis)

• though currently closed, you can donate to a gofundme for the oldest Black-owned indy bookstore in the country, Marcus Book Stores (Oakland)

• Brain Lair Books (South Bend)

• Frugal Bookstore (Roxbury, MA)—or donate to their gofundme to help them survive the pandemic

• rare & classics of Black lit from For Keeps (Atlanta)