Mourning the lack of commitment
I had thoughts about the on-going of the royal family this weekend and wrote about it. What I've noticed over the past few days and the larger trends over the last few years. It's galling and that's the part I'm mourning.
'I was fairly vocal about the harms of empire during Kate & William's wedding as well as Meghan & Harry's wedding. Actually, I remember really being critical over how many POC (and of course society at large) were celebrating it all, when a) they were moving the homeless along the route to the wedding instead of giving them a helping hand, b) that the family still receives public money and money from on-going colonialism, c) that have more diverse 'rulers' didn't mean that things were going to change - in fact, this would be used against POC and Meghan in particular, and d) we shouldn't be upholding harmful institutions and the propaganda they put out.
And I personally felt pain in my body as the rage and intergenerational trauma played through my body--much like it has been again this weekend.
I was basically told to 'shut up' then - through financial retaliation and made to suffer alone because of chronic illness (my migraines had started during that time, making it harder to maintain what was or do outreach/marketing).
Thankfully, I am in a better place, where I was able to release much of it and allow that energy to channel into some other projects, but I digress.
And you know what, I lost a lot of business and business connections over having these opinions in those situations. Yet look now, how many more people are being vocal about this now and it's great that people are sharing the real horrors of colonialism and more people are listening. (There is literally libraries of information that were shared on social media the past few days and if you're not in the know, read some of it!).
Yet, there are some Black women being actively 'canceled' because of their opinions over their genuine feelings of rage over the queen and institution she represented (and did nothing to actively apologize, actively dismantle, or actively offer reparations for her entire reign. This is not ok. Colonized people actively telling the truth and sharing their rage and pain, and they are told to shut up and facing the threat of their jobs. Sigh.
And there are some are back sliding from their support of Black Lives Mattering and Land Back, softly, softly. Once again trying to play both sides of this, to hedge their bets to not lose income from their conservative supporters but also make sure they still seem accessible and 'woke' enough for their more progressive and leftist clients.
I've seen a number of charities and businesses, seeking DEI support, going as far to put out statements and open calls for proposals and reaching out. And the a similar group of them putting out statements in support of the royal family in light of the recent happenings. Look, you can't have it both ways. Take a stand for something, follow through with conviction, put your money where your mouth is. It's not a game to win business or win approval ratings. Literally if you've been through the last few years and you still think wearing a safety pin or ribbon to show solidarity or publicly saying one things but allowing POC or other historically marginalized groups to harmed in your spaces or conversations, and that is ok, let me tell you, it's NOT.
If that's your behavior, you're not just doing nothing, you're actively harmful to the liberatory world that me and so many others hold dear. In fact, it's not different than the behavior of the energy companies, price gouge to get the maximum value of the fossil fuel industry and hold back any social change or renewable technology, but being ready to jump to renewables when the wind turns. It's gross.
Knowing you have to give up your privilege but not willing to make the necessary sacrifices or do the real work but waiting for the narrative to shift so you can be on the side of 'good' when it's popular and profitable.
We see you. And it's not good enough.'
In solidarity,
Anuradha
P.S. I'm going to be teaching a workshop this week (or I might postpone) about Building Beyond Capitalism - What Comes Next? And if you're ready to have this discussion, let's do this! lu.ma/anuradha