Global movement for Black lives: A conversation between Awino Okech and Shereen Essof

Abstract

This conversation reflects on the importance of transnational Black solidarity in a global moment where the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed structural inequalities that sustain Black death and the global movement for Black lives has focussed attention on anti-Blackness. We reflect on the legacies of past and contemporary Black, Indigenous, People of Colour activism and the role that this has played in strengthening transnational efforts to deal with colonialism, imperialism and patriarchy. In highlighting how anti-Blackness is sustained across different institutions - from the academy to social movements, we centre Black feminist movements’ role in building radical visions of equitable and transformative worlds through a focus on the nexus between patriarchy, capitalism and white supremacy. Black feminist visions we argue are geared at disrupting and transforming current power structures to advance justice and create liberatory futures. A central part of these liberatory futures lies in building collective power that is rooted in the political values of solidarity, hope and joy.

Unsettling the family sciences: Introducing settler colonial theory through a theoretical analysis of the family and racialized injustice

“…The year 2020 laid bare the violent realities of racism and genocide that underpin settler colonialism. The United States, under lockdown due to the COVID‐19 pandemic, was confronted with news of Black men and women killed by police and civilian vigilantism (Okech & Essof, 2021). Simultaneously, racialized families faced an elevated risk of contracting and dying from COVID‐19 while bearing the brunt of the pandemic's social implications (Lynch et al, 2021).…”

“…These fears are routinely dramatically evidenced, such as in the 2021 insurrection at the US capitol (Jordan & Dykes, in press) or in the everyday police brutalization of Black Americans. While the United States is rife with such examples, the settler class has learned to overlook them because this violence is justified to maintain the security of settlement by promoting settler belonging and denying the belonging of constructed others (Iglesias, 2021; Okech & Essof, 2021).…”

“…The year 2020 laid bare the violent realities of racism and genocide that underpin settler colonialism. The United States, under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was confronted with news of Black men and women killed by police and civilian vigilantism (Okech & Essof, 2021).…”

“…Simultaneously, racialized families faced an elevated risk of contracting and dying from COVID-19 while bearing the brunt of the pandemic's social implications (Lynch et al, 2021). Protests around the country catalyzed global social movements against systemic racism (Okech & Essof, 2021). Counterbalancing these protests in the United States was a contested presidential election, where almost half of voters supported a candidate who openly supported White protectionism (Iglesias, 2021).…”

#Hashtag-Se: Mapeando O Feminismo Negro E O Net-Ativismo Brasileiro

“…De acordo com Carneiro (2003) é importante realizar análise crítica do tema, visando introduzir questões acerca do feminismo negro brasileiro e net-ativismo na esfera pública, e como estas variáveis em conjunto contribuem para a extensão dos sentidos de democracia, igualdade e justiça social. Visto que vivemos em um sistema carregado de desigualdades sociais, onde, por décadas, as piores consequências do capitalismo (re)caíram sobre as mulheres e negros, fazendo com que se moldassem relações sociais assimétricas em todos os aspectos da sua vida, como, o tipo de comida que você come, escolarização, o tipo de habitação ou cuidados com a saúde, se está ou não exposto à violência policial extrema, se tem maior probabilidade de morrer durante um período pandêmico, como a COVID-19, por exemplo, entre outros (OKECH;ESSOF, 2021).…”