Greetings Beloved:
I write to you in the aftermath of the 2024 US Presidential Election.
I begin with an appreciation for the mighty work that so many of us put forward to shape a more liberatory outcome from this election. So many people in so many places took the long view of history and the common good, and put their minds, energy, and effort into making liberatory markings on this historical moment. Thank you everyone for your vision and your work. I hope that you will take some time to rest, and appreciate the magnificent job that we have done. I learned in quantum physics that you do not judge the quality of a job by the outcome but by the quality of the effort that was put into it. So rest, it’s revolutionary. Appreciate yourself and us.
We have now come to the other side of the 2024 election. Some of us view the outcome of the election as marking the beginning of a new era of struggle in liberation work. In particular, we see this outcome as signaling the ending of the Second Reconstruction, and the launchpad to a new era of virulent anti-blackness. Consult your history for the story of the ending of the First Reconstruction that gave rise to the Ku Klux Klan, White Citizens Councils, poll taxes, grandfather clauses, Back of the Bus, and separate and ‘unequal’ public policies throughout the United States. Eight decades of open and unmitigated violence toward Black people (lynchings), Jews, Indigenous people, and immigrants followed in the wake of the First Reconstruction.
Now we prepare ourselves for the ending of this Second Reconstruction.
The American people have chosen a leader for the next 4 years. The person they chose seems to be a bellwether for the ending of the second reconstruction. They chose a person with felony convictions, indictments, impeachments, business bankruptcies, sexual assault judgment, and insurrection incitement. He railed against immigrants, spoke with candor about his sexual aggressions against women, bragged about refusing to pay workers, clearly stated his antipathy toward Black people, promised to become a dictator, promised retribution, and threatened violence against citizens, journalists, and anyone he deemed as his opposition.
We (the United States) and the world face a climate crisis. The effects of the crisis grow more devastating with each passing season. This elected leader denies the existence of the climate crisis. He has vowed to undo the steps that have been taken to mitigate the crisis. He promised to take actions that will make a dire situation worse, for us and the world. What, then, is the game plan/next steps for Liberation Workers? How are we to mind the next four years?
First, I remind us that finger-pointing and blame-saying will not work for our liberatory vision and goals. Division and separation are always the tools of oppression. Healing work and action to move us toward the creation of a liberatory society has to be our only goal.
The six elements of liberatory consciousness will help us stay on target.
Vision: The creation of a society that works well for everyone. Reiterating some version of this goal in every program, project, and activity.
Awareness: Informed understanding of the current situation, where there is divergence between the current situation and the vision of a liberatory society.
Analysis: Informed understanding of the history that produced the divergence. Using that understanding to think about what needs to happen next.
Action: Using that analysis to repeatedly construct action strategies designed to reduce the divergence.
Allyship: Building bridges across many kinds of difference; supporting each other to continue to reach for liberatory goals.
Accountability: Reminding ourselves and each other that our liberatory goals matter, that what we do matters, that liberation is possible, and that we are in this liberatory project for the long haul.
We get to remember that the fabric of oppression is all of one piece. It is not possible to end one piece of oppression while supporting the maintenance of any other piece of oppression.
We know that this election was never about immigration. That is not possible in a nation of immigrants. It could not be about the economy. You do not put a failed bankrupt businessman in charge of your economy if the economy is a primary concern. It was never about morality, otherwise a sexual predator would not be elected. It could not be about patriotism while electing someone who incited a riot against Congress, and declared that they would eliminate those sections of the Constitution with which they do not agree. How could it be about law and order while electing a convicted felon? This election was about post-reconstruction. Preserving White Supremacy is and always has been the goal of post-reconstruction.
We have faced hard times and have weathered many storms. Wouldn’t it be great if the pendulum always swung in the direction of liberation? Alas, it is the nature of the pendulum to swing back and forth. We are now on a backward swing. Let us continue to do our healing, our learning, and grow our liberatory consciousness. When the pendulum swings forth again, let’s ensure the rung will indeed go higher and higher.
Barbara Love,
Amherst, Massachusetts, USA.
November 6, 2024