I had to take the month of March (and april apparently) off for my mental health, and I hope you’ve been taking yours seriously as well. Just because I haven’t been blogging doesn’t mean I haven’t thought. I want to talk about the nationwide protest that happened on April 5th. While intentions were in the right place, it ended up being extremely performative. Now I’m not here to undermine what effort was put in, but it wasn’t enough.
We are facing a fascist regime with a felon as its “head”. What part of peaceful protest do you think is going to work? I’m not here to incite violence, but I need you to think about the difference between this and the George Floyd (BLM) protests.
Performative Allyship
As a woman who falls into multiple minority and marginalized groups, I can spot a performative ally a mile away. Be it from years of practice as a black woman in predominantly white spaces or the underlined racism that flows like honey.
What do you consider performative? Anyone intending to show how they want to be seen by others, rather than who they really are. This is the white ‘friend’ that brags about how they aren’t racist because they help out impoverished villages in Africa and contribute to island economies (by being tourists). This is the person who claims they have diverse friend groups yet only truly knows one Black, Asian, or Hispanic personally. Are you sensing a pattern here?
Now, performative action and performative allyship are twins. Where one leads, the other follows. Why? Let me ask a question instead. If you are doing something just for show, do you care about the cause and the people it affects? Of course not. Just because you are out participating doesn’t mean you’re putting in effort to further the cause. This isn’t going to help move it forward. You are like the oppressors – a ball and chain.
Performative Action
I don’t want to rant on this too much longer, as I want to update on a few other things so here’s my point. This last nationwide protest was performative. When the oppressive government only uses violence, it can only respond to violence, so start speaking the language of your oppressor. The change needed to remove the current administration is not going to be peaceful demonstrations that are kid-friendly. Fuck the bouncy houses. Most importantly FUCK the complacent attitude that made you think protesting for peoples rights equals family friendly fun.
Let me set the record straight. Violence doesn’t mean looting, pillaging, and messing up your community. By violence, I mean taking away the peace of the people taking away ours. Camp outs at city halls and government buildings, community building (removing money from oligarchs is violence), and constant DISRUPTIVE protesting! I need you all to be loud and undeterred. Be annoying as hell.
FUCK your performative action – you’re complicit in the autrocities this government is committing and I want you to know that. You will be called out and corrected around me. I no longer have the capacity to smile at your uninterest in doing the right thing simply because that’s what it is.
Last statement: I do not want to hear you complaining about what other people are/are not doing if you aren’t doing anything yourself. If you aren’t sure where to start, use my linktree to help you find your passions; you’re fight is needed in ANY area!
Reading Update
As of May 8th here is the reading update from my Banned Book Reading List 2025:
- I’ve been slowly working my way through I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, and it’s as hard of a read as you can imagine; it’s a wonderful capture of what it means to exist in a society where racism and sexism thrive.
- Not on the list for this year, but one I’m adding to next year’s reading list: Nat Turner, Black Prophet by Anthony E. Kaye with Gregory P. Downs. This read has been so eye-opening with a lot of historical information about my mother’s home state (and area) that I never knew. This is a book that shows black resilience and focus on the Methodist religion’s part in the uprising.
Until next time, Happy reading, everyone!
