On International Solidarity
Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon... Black lives are being lost to Boko Haram violence by the thousands. Are you thinking about these lives? Are you mourning these losses as you talk about solidarity with Syria, Lebanon, etc.?
First, a recap: In the past week I have been tracking down friends of mine in Beirut, loving them and offering support. It was an important moment to call out racism in the media. For example, Facebook created a French flag filter and a “Safety Check” option for French folk, but made no similar solidarity effort for folks in Lebanon. The hashtag #PrayForParis blew up while the candles lit for other places surviving attacks were dim. The so-called USA is now in the heat of debate: How do we welcome (or turn away) Syrian refugees? What retaliation should we aim at ISIS (the militant group accused for the Paris bombings, though they are unrelated)? How Islamophobic should we get? Liberal folks have been picketing against war, have been inviting refugees to their Thanksgiving dinners, have been changing their profile pictures to the Lebanese flag, and more.
These are good ways to act in a cultural debate. Yet I still see the need to push that solidarity. The State focuses on ISIS because of imperialist resource interests, which ISIS directly threatens. Media is an agent of those interests. As it dehumanizes, it says Arab people are not important, but Arab resources are. We must react to this anti-Brown sentiment to uplift the humanity of *all* our people, but it smacks of irony that we then don’t share our mourning, energy and focus with the places in Africa also suffering attacks. If we play into this lens, we participate in international anti-Blackness.
Just today another Boko Haram attack killed people in Nigue, Cameroon. Every day, more Black lives are stolen by imperialist ignorance and violence. It is most easily called a racist lens when the lives of our students are endangered, for example, (#StudentBlackOut), in places we know or recognize (#Mizzou). But when we look abroad, do we feel connected to Africa? Do we think of the lives or stories there? If African nations (all 54+) are not on your radar, you are participating in anti-Blackness. When entering a debate saying Syrian refugees are welcome here, we need to also say Nigerian refugees are also welcome here. One should not supersede, nor overshadow, the other--just as the focus on Paris should not have superseded the focus on Beirut. If we can call out anti-Brown sentiment in our cultural debates, we can, and should, call out anti-Black sentiment. Yes, we should welcome in Syrian (Iraqi, et al.) refugees. (Ya saadiqi, a7lan bik!) Yes, we should reject terror sensationalism. Yes, we should reject all imperialist projects of the State.
Meanwhile, can we please keep Boko Haram in the front of our minds? We should welcome in Nigerian (Cameroonian, et al.) refugees. We should uplift the stories of the individual. We should participate in international accountability.