Luvvie Ajayi & The Black Digital Intelligentsia Owe You Nothing

Onyx Contributor:  H.T. (@517RedHood), Podcast:  Lansing Anti-Hero

After Luvvie decided to give her real thoughts on everyone and the need to use the fight against oppression to their own ends, the “Woke” segments of the internet had a fit because how dare she say what is ultimately true about everyone’s need to make liberation a very self-centered movement?

And you know she’s right.  Every blog I see nowadays seems to be some sort of anecdote or anecdotal evidence based rant about how white supremacy is responsible for why people don’t want to listen to their podcast about how white women are evil or that Black men are the white people of black people.  Again, the entire #MasculinitySoFragile hashtag seems to be built off people’s very niche ideas about black men and black masculinity that may very well not interest us all but because these mainstream ideas are accepted by white supremacy, they must be eliminated.

And ultimately this is what makes her right.  We could accomplish so much IF more of us were willing to work with politicians and lawmakers that could LEGALLY enact the change we want from the police and and the government, but because so many of us would rather stay fighting in the street to feel special than to change things, progress is denied.  No, a lot of you would rather stay on social media listing all the movements you identify with and fight for rather than to either advance your own life or working the less flashy but effective way to change things.

Hell, even a lot of white people know that protesting only goes so far.  But of course, part of the reasons our movements are growing stagnant is because a lot you seem to have decided to let the hurt few take over and decide that white women, let alone white people, aren’t welcome.  But people will say, “But the police keep infiltrating us and killing us off”, well…sorry, but no amount of keeping out white people will stop that.  Espionage when done right is a pain in the ass.  Just ask the FBI.  Cointelpro was a well oiled machine and had help from higher-ranked forces that helped them to pull it off.  I think you’ll have your work cut out for you.  So maybe inviting a FEW white people wouldn’t hurt?

Also, YES, if history has shown us anything, some of the most militant black people in HISTORY have been mixed race or biracial black people.  Was it because they were trying to run from whiteness?  I wouldn’t rule it out, but I will say that I don’t blame them if they were.  If slavery taught us anything, it’s that black people are quicker to welcome a black person with a white parent than white people are.  I see It all the time.  So frankly I don’t blame Biracial black people who do this.  But don’t treat me like I’m stupid and tell me It’s bullshit.

Sure, Luvvie DID build her brand off telling black women to stand up for themselves and to get what’s theirs.  But at no point did she promise she’d follow you into “Men are trash” land.  At no point did she promise to follow you into the ideal that nothing black or white can crossover into the other side.  And frankly I don’t blame her as anything white that crosses over to black people is erasure of some random indie artist that makes your favorite misandrist R&B, but anyone who crosses over to white people is cooning and anything that crosses over is cultural appropriation, which lets me know that Gil was right.

But of course, because Luvvie would rather go on to be successful than to sit on her ass and write more blogs about the evils of white people or organize another march that will get people harmed or arrested.  No, because Luvvie would rather go and try and educate white people to their face rather than hope that white guilt leads a select few to fill her coffers for a bit, she decided to take control of her destiny and her career.

People can get mad about the bloggers that will soon rise above the rest and have lasting power while the rest of you say the same shit only remixed over and over again for the same likes, but this is just survival of the fittest.  Being true to yourself is good and all, but there comes a time when you must shed parts of who you are in order to grow as a human being.  And one of those things is the need to preach to the choir.  Maybe she doesn’t know the intricacies of activism as someone who is still down in the trenches, but that doesn’t mean she’s somehow less than because she would rather be accessible than to say what you’ve always wanted to say to people who might not get it or if they did you’d roll your eyes at them wanting to know more.

So in the end, just admit that you’re mad because she decided to speak to the ignorant on their terms rather than stage another public art piece for you to get your likes on Tumblr.  It’s high time more of us were willing to stand up and start willing to get our voices out there and stop letting a few crab in the barrel ass people drag us down because kicking them off would be us supporting white supremacy in their eyes.  Maybe we do need to shape up if we want to be on the bigger stage of things.  Maybe the reason it feels there’s only so much shine to go around is because most of you aren’t selling anything that isn’t like everyone else and isn’t more woke esoteric BS?  But of course, not doing that would be cooning, right?