I finally wrote a response to the deeply repetitive arguments, criticisms, concerns Iโve received all my life when speaking on Black & Native intercommunity issues as a Black Native! But particularly, to the comments section of an article I wrote last year to critique the use of โBIPOCโ as defined by a shared experience with colonialism or oppression, and the simple fact that a people cannot share an oppressive experience with another who live half-lives under the formerโs governing & gatekeeping.
I wrote on the history of the only consistent clapbackโข๏ธ my cries for allyship have ever received (the Buffalo Soldiers referenced in the above screenshot), what makes them nonfunctional as a weapon or deflection in this conversation, and the dissociative-like experience of peopleโs refusal to engage with Afro-Native oppression as a Native American issue because we happen to be Black as well. Here are some excerpts/quotes:
People find it incredibly difficult to understand that I am Black & Native American at the same time, never ceasing in one or the otherโฆthe obscene success of an ethnically & culturally blended peoples, โa savage foe combined with lawless Negro brigandsโโฆ
Conversation about Black Native Americans isnโt hard because it is inherently complex. Itโs made hard by a deliberate erasure of our Nativeness. By the terms of a bizarrely narrow idea of racial identity thatโs seemingly cobbled together from the legacy of a one-drop rule & Dawes rolls, we can only be Native or Black. Never both.
There is, perhaps, a moral dilemma for some in acknowledging the capacity for Native American wrongdoing while living in a society built atop our bones & stolen land. Though the Buffalo Soldiers donโt even begin to answer to Afro-Nativesโ criticisms, it makes for a satisfying deflection.
Kihnindewa. Buffalo Soldiers & Identity Troubles: Native American History Rewritten (Again), working title because I just canโt settle
For now, this piece is exclusive to my $5.55 Patreon! If youโre looking to learn some Black (& Native) history directly from a Black Native this BHM or to connect & commiserate with another Black NDN (see my tags please ๐), the support would be deeply appreciated and subscribing also gives you access to all of my poetry & other work. You could also consider tipping me if youโve benefited from my previous article or other work on this subject, for my pain & suffering if youโre white or nonblack Native, or just to help me out this month.
If I hit a $200 goal (patronage included), I will post this to Medium early! Otherwise, itโll be free to read & learn from at the end of the month. Funds will go towards bills, dental care, and/or a new tire. I am heartemojie on cashapp + venmo & 13thead on paypal. Pilahuk (thank you)!!
