BLACK FIRST PHILOSOPHY: How race-first strategy is more effective than multicultural intersectionalities
In this piece, the idea of “Black First” can be described as Black folks putting our Blackness at the forefront in every area of life. Whether considering entertaining dating websites or casting a ballot to participate in your local democratic voting process; it is imperative that the benefit of Black people stays in our hearts and minds. STOP!!! At this point there is without a doubt several readers who all but turn up their nose at this introduction. Even more, there may be some of us who feel extremely uncomfortable at the thought of Black first ANYTHING! Why, though? The answer is one of the reasons why a Black first philosophy is so important. If we have been amalgamated into white culture and educated by a white system (which we have), then we have been carefully trained to think pro-white. Consequently, we have also been socialized to be anti-Black. Evidence of this can be found in Black communities and Black individuals everywhere. Is it not problematic that within the Black Community it is controversial to even mention Black folks being for Black folks first? Let's discuss why this line of thinking is necessary if we are to be honest about changing the condition of our people in America and worldwide.
It's a cold winter day in Cleveland, Ohio. A 12 year-old Black boy plays in the park by himself after his friends head home. With only a toy gun he entertains himself. Although this is a child in the park, a concerned neighbor calls the police to warn them about a person with a gun in the park. On the video shown to the world dozens of times over, a police car pulls up on the boy on almost drive-by fashion, and, within seconds, the boy is shot dead in the park without any words spoken to him.
Staten Island, New York is full of men and women hustling to make ends meet. One hustles in particular is selling single cigarettes, better known as loosies. One dreadfully fateful day a middle-aged Black man was confronted by several officers for the crime of selling loosies. Against the man's will and arguably against the law of the land, the man in question was viciously choked and ultimately murdered at the hands of law enforcement. The entire altercation was captured on camera; no charges were filed against any of the officers involved.
A day after a white man kills 4 Black young adults in a Waffle House in Tennessee, a Black woman is confronted by police officers in a Waffle House in Alabama. During the confrontation the young woman is thrown to the floor, wrestled into submission, and threatened to have her arm broken as well as having her breast exposed to the entire restaurant. This incident also was captured on camera. The crime? A Black woman using profanity towards some cowardly police officers.
LA, California; the city of angels. California's Black communities are similar to most in America in terms of the abundance of corner stores and liquor stores. More specifically the Asian ownership of such stores. One day a 15 year old Black girl went to a Korean-owned store to purchase some orange juice. Accused of trying to steal (although the girl had money in her hand), a scuffle broke out between her and the clerk. As the girl left to exit the store the Korean clerk shot the girl in the back of the head, killing her. Again, all of this was captured on camera and still the clerk received a $500 dollar fine and 5 years probation.
These are real life stories about victims of a society that deems Black bodies to be threatening, violent and worthless.
In none of these cases mentioned-or in ANY case similar; and there are literally hundreds-were the victims ever asked about their religion. You will never be pulled over and the line of questioning leads to, “So, what are your preferred pronouns?” or, “Do you consider yourself to be Black, African, Moor or Hebrew?” When the shopping mall employee quickly and constantly asks you, “Do you need any help?” or, “Can I help you find something?”, it's highly unlikely that they're wondering what level of education you have or if you're a parent. If we would dare to be brutally honest, we would have to conclude that as a people we are first judged on our race, skin complexion, and the stereotypes that follow. Even in verbal or written descriptions of people the first descriptor is usually a person's race or color.
It is with this truth that the idea of us putting Black first, yes, FIRST; before any of the other intersections of life stems from. Now, let's be clear and agree that the intersectionality and complexities of being human, Black and in America are NOT to be ignored as we face challenges in area of life. However, no matter what we as individuals choose to represent and place at the forefront of our beings, Blackness is the first and oftentimes the only thing that is recognized and used to measure the type treatment that we receive and the opportunities afforded to us.
Even when the focus is on a particular intersection of a person’s being, the Blackness within that intersection almost always trumps the actual intersection. For instance, let’s say a Black woman rallies with her friends and make her way to latest women's march because she wants to stand with her sisters in the fight for gender equality. Now let’s pretend that the rally was a success and all of a sudden women nationwide were granted what they were protesting and asking for; in this case we will go with equal pay. With legislation passed and women charging ahead economically, an agreement could be made that white women will be the primary benefactors of the “progress” and Black women by and large will be on the outside looking in. Not because Black women are less or have less qualifications. No, Black women would still be underrepresented and at the bottom for no other reason but their Blackness.
This argument can be applied for whatever intersection of life. Gay rights applied: The Black LGBTQ family will still be the outcast. Criminal disenfranchised have their right reinstated: Black ex-felons still will be the bearers of the burden of being an ex-con. Education and employment “affirmative action”: Black folks still are less likely to obtain high-level positions even with equal or MORE education.
Again, honesty is the key when dealing with this particular issue and all other issues regarding race and our people.
SUPPORT OURSELVES FIRST
It is fascinating how passionately some of us will fight for the causes of things separate from our Blackness. Ask yourself, what oppressed, underprivileged, underrepresented, or minority population has the most privilege and political power? If the answer is not Black people, is this not a problem? If it is not a personal issue that deserves to be addressed, then the next question has to be, why the hell not? Are we to be content with our people lacking power over our own destinies? Are we to find comfort knowing that our people as a whole possess almost no political or economic power; even in industries that we are the most creative in and financially supportive of?
We can find our people marching with their hands up, protesting with non Black members of society and gathering in herds to vote for measures that benefit other communities over our own. While none of this is a problem on the surface level, the issue remains that as a people, we continue to race to support everyone and everything while we are unsupported by ourselves. The self interests of our people has to be first in all of our progressive efforts.
Back to the brutal honesty, Blackness is under full attack no matter what “intersection” we insert.
Furthermore, if we do not support us and our own interests, who will? There is no “ally” group fighting for real systemic change for our people? No one is encouraging Black people to develop afrocentric schools, hospitals and being masters of other industries. Yet, when we talk about focusing on ourselves first-even within our own community-we are told that it’s racist and being separatist to want Black only anything.
Even in my town in Portland, Oregon where the population is...
White 76.1% (Statewide 86.6)
Black 6.3% (Statewide 1.3%)
Asian 7.1% (Statewide 3%)
Islander .5% (Statewide .2%)
Hispanic 9.4% (Statewide 8%)
...you will still find Chinatown in downtown Portland. In the southeast side of town there is about a 5 or 6 block radius of Asian restaurants and communities. Further east you will find several Mexican communities with stores, restaurants, flea markets, and apartment complexes where they highly populate. Never do you hear society tell them to integrate and stop building within their own communities. However, we tend to use negative rhetoric on ourselves and watch as other races and cultures build strongholds around us. It is clear that we have bitten the euro-apple and the poison runs deep.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF ME?
We have already established that we are NOT to ignore the other intersections of life, rather, and more intelligently, we are to attack the problem at the root so that we can be empowered to address ALL intersections of life from a position of unity and power. It is not to say that those of us who are queer are to ignore queer-specific issues, or the Black man, woman or trans are to ignore gender-specific issues.
The suggestion is that Black folks across all intersections unite and fight together. The stance of unity would change the outlook that society has towards Black folks. As it stands now, we are seen as a dysfunctional race of people who are more interested in looking good and partying than we are on gaining power as a people. This is another time to be reminded to stay honest while reading this.
Black First philosophy is not meant to suggest that Black folks are these singular entities with one size fits all problems. In fact, Black First philosophy charges us to be honest about the fact that our Blackness serves as a one size fits all for oppression. It can even be said that, Black folks are separated in our progression while united in our oppression. This is not to say that other intersections (gay, straight, mixed-race, etc) are to be suppressed or ignored for the sake of Blackness. The question has to be asked, though, why are some of us seemingly threatened or offended by the thought of thinking and working from a Black First paradigm? What has infected our minds to the point that thinking of our own people’s interest first is considered to be a bad thing or something that we should oppose?
FINAL THOUGHTS: AGGREGATION
The reader can be assured that there is no need to go all “All Lives Matter” on this topic. Contrary to anti-Black thought, Pro-Black does not mean anti everything and everyone else. Quite the opposite, actually. The Africana critical theory, and the history of Africans in general has always worked in a harmonious and humanitarian way. The idea is that being one with the universe is the healthiest way to exist. This is still the belief even with a Black First agenda. In the case of Black people in this time period, however; we are so downtrodden that working from an humanitarian stance is impossible without first building up ourselves as a people. At this point Black people only serve as consumers in the current “aggregation” system that is capitalistic racism/white supremacy. Other races have their place in this aggregation system. Whether it be restaurants or nail shops, other races have their foothold in American capitalism that makes their service, and, therefore, their existence a necessity. We on the hand serve as consumers, with small bits of entrepreneurship here and there to make us “feel” good and progressive.
Black people have existed before any people. We have been through several holocausts. We have gone from the originators of civilization to the epitome of self destruction. The story of Black people is not complete, though. What will Black people do? Will we accept our place as it stands today? Will we continue to give our love, our souls and our genius to every other race, cause and purpose? Or will we rise together? Will we not set aside and divide ourselves because of our differences and unite because of the one thing that brings us together if we understand the root cause of our demise in the world today… Our Blackness.
Umoja N. Black
