A Note From Black Lives Matter:

Welcome to the November edition of “Blackness Can’t Be Banned.” 

 

The busy season is in full swing, but one thing’s for sure: We’re never too busy to spend time doing the necessary work to eradicate white supremacy. 

 

Not only does our monthly newsletter include facts and education on Black history and abolition, but also, anything that has to do with our efforts to achieve Black liberation.

 

If you have a topic you'd like to learn more about, let us know by filling out this quick survey.

 

In love and solidarity,

 

Black Lives Matter
 

The Abolitionist Rundown:

Earlier this month, elections were underway across the country. Though it wasn’t a presidential or midterm election year, no election should be considered small. 

 

Take a look at Virginia: 

 

Voters used their democratic power to not only ensure that there was no way that the Governor could pass a restrictive abortion bill, but also to protect abortion rights for the last state in the southern region without restrictions. 

 

Taking our protest to the polls is critically important and has everything to do with a future that centers around abolitionist approaches to systems that are currently rooted in white supremacy. But we know that this is just one aspect of our fight and that there’s so much more to do, especially as we look to build an abolition democracy. Read more about what this means from a 2020 Harper’s Bazaar article on abolition democracy: 

 

Abolition democracy is one that is predicated on community self-determination and collective care without relying on carceral systems and their technologies—prisons, detention centers, psychiatric wards, police unions, juvenile detention, and more. For those working to move away from such agents that prop up racial capitalism, abolition democracy is the vision and horizon. True democracy cannot coexist with these systems of control.

 

Abolition democracy is a concept put forth by W.E.B. Du Bois and developed later by prison abolitionist Angela Davis. Both consider abolition to be "a positive project, not merely a negative one." In other words, abolition isn't simply eliminating oppressive structures, but erecting newly democratic ones in their place. It requires that we go beyond the ending of criminalization and toward the creation of economies, governments, and social structures predicated on addressing the root causes of harm, violence, and oppression without relying on police and prisons, and provisioning people with what they need to not just live, but live well.

 

For elections and votes to affect transformative change, we must make defeating white supremacist fascism the floor, not the ceiling. 

 

We must remember this when we take our protest to the polls. 
 

Take Action:

It's simple: Black lives don't matter when we don't vote.

 

Black liberation is in our hands. Defunding the police. Reinvesting in our communities. Economic equality. All of these will always be our priority – join us and make it yours as well by signing our voting pledge.
 

This Month's History

November 18th, 1797 Sojourner Truth's Birthday

 

Sojourner Truth was born on November 18th, 1797. She was born Isabella Bomfree, a slave in New York. Having been bought and sold four times, she was subjected to harsh physical labor and violence. It wasn’t until 1827–a year before New York’s law to free slaves went into effect– that she was able to run away with her infant. She later became a preacher and abolitionist with prominent work during the Civil War, having connected with older abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass. Though she never learned to read or write, her speeches and lectures became prominent. In 1851, she delivered her famous “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech in Akron, Ohio. 

 

Photo Source: Library of Congress

November 10th, 1898

The Wilmington Massacre

 

In the late 1890s, Wilmington, North Carolina, became an island of hope. Residents of the city’s thriving Black community made themselves a political force, exercising the rights of citizenship guaranteed to them after the Civil War by the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. But throughout the South, this caused outrage and sparked racial unrest and violence, and if Wilmington could be a model for the South, then white supremacists were determined to put an end to it. A coup on the town was executed, calling it the “White Supremacy Campaign.” The Red Shirts–a vigilante group– torched the Black newspaper’s office, and sent hundreds of Black residents fleeing into the woods, west toward the river, and beyond. We must never forget that Black people were rioted against for leading their communities, voting, and exercising other democratic rights. This threat remains prominent today. 

 

Photo Source: Wilmington Messenger

November 14th, 1960 Ruby Bridges escorted by U.S. Marshals on 1st day of school integration

 

On this day, 4 federal marshals escorted 6-year-old Ruby Bridges to her first day of 1st grade as the first Black student to attend a former all-white elementary school in New Orleans. Right near the school, white mobs rioted to protest her arrival and attendance. Ruby was forced to hear hateful slurs, insults, and threats all to her attending school for an education. Plus, it didn’t end there – the entire school year, Ruby was the only student, as her white classmates all withdrew since schools in the area were now integrated. As this was just roughly 65 years ago, we must pay attention to the attacks on education and race – we’re currently dealing with the increase of private school funding, lack of resources to public schools, book bans, and so much more. 

 

Photo Source: U.S. National Archives
 

In The News: What y'all been up to?

Just recently, Black Lives Matter hosted a welcome dinner for the annual Families United 4 Justice Network Conference.

 

Families who have been bonded and impacted by police violence were able to experience joy and community through the event that Black Lives Matter hosted. Take a look: 
 

Follow us on social media to stay up-to-date on Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation and our work to eradicate white supremacy. 
 

Our work is dedicated to ending state-sanctioned and vigilante violence, liberating Black people, and ending white supremacy forever. Your contribution helps to fuel our efforts.