Saying No & Taking Action

The power dynamics of race are complex and challenging, but one of the most significant challenges is the ability to say ‘No”. For Black individuals, navigating a system that is rigged against them in all institutions, even those who utilise ‘Interest Convergence (IC)’ as a way of maintaining power, can be exhausting. IC is when those in power support efforts toward racial equality when it serves their interest. Since May 2020, there has been an IC explosion within institutions and authors publishing for the first time about racial inequality. The theory of IC suggests that progress toward racial equality is not solely motivated by a moral imperative but also self-interest. However, saying ‘No more’ is a valid answer to these challenges.?

To challenge the status quo, we must re-evaluate our values (oftentimes Victorian) and move whiteness from the centre. As Toni Morrison argued, whiteness cannot take the “moral high ground " (1993). The white reason, a distorted universality, in all its clever guises, cannot and should not be mistaken for pluri-versality. This means that we must recognise that the experiences and perspectives of Black individuals are just as important as those of white individuals.?

Audre Lorde said, ‘We Cannot use the master’s tools to dismantle the master’s house. However, other Black Africana scholars suggest taking the master’s tool to transcend a way forward and build our own houses. Thinking for ourselves, using the master’s tools is a way to de-link and de-centre whiteness, where the derelict houses or shelter provided needn’t be the rooms offered by a distorted universality (Gordon, Gordon, 2006).??We need to create enough alternative structures (as seen in the US) and systems so that the dominant power and control of the current establishment will no longer be able to maintain its imperial status.?

Empowering Black individuals to share their voices and experiences is crucial. White individuals operating within a system or society must ask themselves, “how do you feel” (Morrison, 1993) instead of attempting to zig-zag their way out of taking a hard look at themselves through clever, oftentimes non-sense and yet persuasive rhetoric (Ani, 1993). Pluriversality is also important and based on genuine praxis, meaning we must practice our values.??

Morrison (1993) said, “racism, in all its forms, not only dehumanises and oppresses its victims but also leaves the racists bereft of their own humanity”. However, this deprivation and lacking what is deemed human has for decades seemed worth the price of holding onto a distorted, violent sense of power and privilege. Racism is not just an individual act but a societal and cultural practice, as seen and perpetuated by a system of oppression in institutions [e.g., the police, education, and government]. We must all work together to challenge this system to move whiteness from the centre: Saying No and No more is an answer needed to be followed by action.?