These are the sorts of conversations I'm having in the 21st century. So I'm writing some of them down here for you.
I’m sure most football fans would say that supporting their teams is their main motivation for getting back in the stands. It’s also entirely possible that 90 minutes of outdoor screaming might provide a cathartic outlet for those still frustrated at seeing Black people enjoying gravy on TV last Christmas. While a third lockdown might […]
Read More Monkey chants and bananas: Understanding the racist language of sport.Wokeness is defined as the quality or state of being aware of social justice issues. Consult the Urban Dictionary though, and you get a different definition. Here, to be woke is to be in a state of being permanently offended. Wokeness has become a pejorative term, an insult. Those fighting for social justice are mockingly nicknamed […]
Read More The Great Unwokening and the Gamification of Social JusticeIt’s difficult to know exactly when I figured it out. I was pretty much reading by the time I was three. I mean, I take absolutley no credit for that. I was three, I didn’t know what I was doing. But my mum made sure I was literate by the time I went to school, […]
Read More White Supremacy shaped all of us. We must accept that before we can move on.“I support the Black Lives Matter protests, but…” “I’m against police brutality, but…” “I deplore the 21st century lynching of a black man in broad daylight at the hands of those supposed to serve and protect… but…” I see you, you know? I see what you’re doing. I read what you write. I listen to what […]
Read More I can see your but…While #BlackOutTuesday was a lovely show of solidarity for one day, remember that if you truly believe that #BlackLivesMatter, your work doesn’t start and end with you changing your profile picture for a few hours, posting a neat slogan as your status, or taking a knee for a photo op. Your anti-racist work is ongoing. […]
Read More Beyond the Blackout – How to start the real work of anti-racismIt’s been a difficult week. I feel stupid even saying that, because unlike George Floyd, I haven’t had my last breath forced out of my lungs by a Minneapolis police officer taking a knee on my fucking neck. Unlike Tye Anders, I haven’t been forced to lie on the ground by a sounder of police […]
Read More The trauma of blacknessOk. I think I have it now. I’ve refrained from commenting on Kobe Bryant’s death for a few days. Partly because nobody gives a crap about what I think, but partly because I needed a little bit of time to think about what I think and what I felt. I put my daughter to bed […]
Read More KobeOoof. Where to start. Right, let’s start at the beginning. Gaslighting is “the action or process of manipulating a person by psychological means into questioning his or her own sanity.” The term comes from the 1944 George Cukor film, Gaslight, in which Ingrid Bergman’s character, Paula, is manipulated into questioning her own lived experiences by […]
Read More Racial Gaslighting – What the Meghan Markle debate reveals about racism in the UK.Jesus (and I mean Juheeesus!) Shitting Christ. The UK is 100% racist. Stormzy was 100% right. Even though that’s not actually what he said, he was still 100% right. And nobody seems to want to talk about it. Apart from to categorically deny it at the same time as telling Black people who are talking […]
Read More Meghan Markle and the Shitted Pants of White SupremacyRecently I wrote a Facebook post that got a little bit of attention. The gist of it was that Tories are the baddies. Somewhat Entirely predictably, a significant proportion of the responses to me outlining the many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many reasons why Tories are the baddies, were from people saying: “But […]
Read More We need to talk about Diane Abbott