Module 7: Confronting Anti-Black Racism (Part 2)

1. Fanon and Violence
2. Angela Davis and Violence
3. C.L.R. James, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution

Resistance & Makings of a Revolution:

• “Suicide was a common habit…to spite their owner.” P.15
• Enslaved people were a “modern proletariat” p. 86
  • Past experience taught them that “isolated efforts were doomed to failure.”
• Voodoo and communication p. 86
  • “…slaves travelled miles to sing and dance and practise the rights and talk…to hear the political news and make their plans.”
  • “Voodoo was the medium of the conspiracy.” – Boukman, “a Papaloi or High Priest” lead the charge.

Power and Violence p.151:

• “If the army was the instrument of Toussaint’s power, the masses were its foundation and his power grew with his influence over them.”
• “Just out of the degradation of slavery they had come into a world of indiscriminate murder and violence.”

Strategic Alliances:

• “Strategic necessities he always saw early, and never hesitated in carrying out whatever policies they demanded.” P.224
• Spaniards in San Domingo “offered the blacks and alliance against the French Government.” P.124
  • Offered guns and ammunition.
• But still used Spanish alliances to his advantage (ie still calling for freedom for Blacks). P.131
  • Spaniards had “no intention of abolishing slavery: p. 151
• France depended on Toussaint and Blacks against the rising power of Mulattoes and their possible independence. P.173
  • “Mulatto instability lies not in their blood but in their intermediate position in society.” P.207

Moderation during a revolution is what kills revolutions:

During the war of Independence, and Napoleon’s push to restore enslavement, Toussaint wanted a dream of “orderly government and progress to civilization”; he was not prepared to fight. P.299

• If he struck earlier and mobilized his army, the “French attack would have been crippled at the start.” P. 300
• “His desire to avoid destruction was the very thing that caused it. It is the recurring error of moderates when face to face with a revolutionary struggle.” 

Dessalines

Violent means (i.e. must kill all whites) for independence

•  “Men, women and children, indeed all the whites who came into his hands, he massacred. And forbidding burial, he left stacks of corpses rotting in the sun to strike terror into the French detachments as they toiled behind his flying columns."

Culture of Education

Symbols of Recognition

• “The Asante peoples of Ghana use adinkra to express the connection between the verbal and the visual in Akan culture...Historically, adinkra was reserved for Asante kings. Over the years, however, its use has expanded to the general Akan population who wear adinkra cloth on significant occasions, the most important of which are funerals.” Smithsonian, National Museum of Art

Racial Conduit

Is a white person that removes systemic barriers/racism that Black people face. This removal allows for Black people to facilitate their own racial equity. A Racial Conduit is not an ally or an accomplice; they understand that they – and only they – have the power to remove/eliminate systemic racism. However, upon removing said barriers, Racial Conduits immediately remove themselves from view and allow for Black self-determination.

Some Traits of an Anti-Racist Leader that Challenges Anti-Black Racism

1. Has the courage to call out racism on institutional and individual levels, even if it may disadvantage their own personal or professional pursuits.
2. ‘Talks the talk’ and ‘walks the walk’ (i.e. policies are created, and enforced at all times).
3. Leads by example (i.e. uses anti-racist/oppressive language) and holds all staff accountable by ensuring the same is practised by the entire organization.
4. Listens to, and acts on, any and all concerns faced by Black, Indigenous, and racialized students and employees.
5. Has the ability to take charge of systemic and interpersonal racism and take appropriate actions to investigate and address them.
6. Understands who they are (self-awareness from an intersectional perspective), their position in the organization, and how racialized and non-racialized people perceive them (i.e. a 360 that focuses on Privileges, Power, Position).
7. Understands and acknowledges how systems and ‘normal ways of being’ marginalize, exclude, and disadvantage racialized and Indigenous people.
8. Takes responsibility, action, and is accountable for their role in managing power imbalances and promoting an equitable work environment.
9. Has the ability to observe and act on racial inequities in their institutions (i.e. proactively hire representative staff and promote to leadership positions)
10. Provides guidance and mentorship to staff to achieve their career goals, helps staff in identifying / seeking opportunities that help to progress to leadership roles.
11. Provides/facilitates real networking opportunities to racialized staff to help them progress in their careers.