Calm Like a Bomb

ignite. ignite. ignite. ignite.

Today I’m feeling angry. And it’s a day where I’m leaning into my righteous anger and allowing it to spur me to critical thought and action. Everyday continues to feel like a bottomless container of imperialist bullshit, sustained by the ruling class agenda shrouded in white fuckery. As I continue to use my gift of claircognizance, the ‘knowing’ that I have for what is to come and how little people are willing to act on it, has me feeling enraged (it’s why I titled this piece after a Rage Against the Machine song).

We have moved past the tipping point and are in a full-on class war. I understand that ‘war’ may feel like a big and scary word, but make no mistakes - that is what is happening now. This conflict has been brewing since flies decided they love shit (since forever), but is reaching a(nother) fever pitch in our nation. Ya’ll, we gotta do this together and we HAVE to organize in a way that honors the power of the collective. Class solidarity is the only way that we make it out of this alive.

“It’s time to uprise ‘til we’re all free. Fuck individualism, this is collective wisdom. No more consumerism, tune in to global rhythms.” - Kimmortal, Stop business as usual

During 2020, 2021, 2022, through the height of the covid-19 pandemic, the working class amassed more influence and power than we had in generations. We were able to advocate for and receive policy reform regarding working conditions (remote working, fewer hours, better health and safety equipment, etc.), we saw collective action to take care children (free breakfast and lunch for all children in many school districts, flexible accessibility accommodations, etc.), and we felt some since of financial support from our local and federal governments (checks, rent pauses, utility fee pauses, etc.). Many of us, have never experienced this type of large scale working class collective bargaining in our lives. People were getting many of their basic needs met, and there was nothing that corporations, big businesses, and/or the ruling class could do to further productivity or production (let me clear. I know there were, and still are, a ton of issues with how the pandemic has been handled with regards to various intersections of identities, I am simply painting with a broad stroke regarding some of the changes the overall working-class experienced). Because of that shift, inching its way towards true collective care, I know that THIS moment in time is the backlash of the ruling elite and modern day slave drivers of productivity.

We are being punished, because we dared, and still dare, to demand livable, workable conditions during a crisis. And once we came ‘out’ of that crisis (though I do not believe covid is ‘over’), we had the audacity to look around at the concessions that were made and say, “we would like for these things to continue, because now we know they can”.

I’m not going to sit here and type out all of the ways that the ruling, wealthy, robber baron class is screwing us and our planet over (there are a bunch of policy changes and executive orders), because we’ve been bombarded with that information to keep us overwhelmed and disconnected. This overwhelm and disconnect makes it easier for the ruling class to continue to screw us and extract from our livelihoods and extract from our lives. At this point, while I believe there is still a life’s time worth of work to be done within understanding our individual identity intersections, we have to come to a singular understanding as a collective:

There is NO war but class war.

Black, white, trans, queer, straight, man, woman, non-binary, Christian, Muslim, Atheist, disabled, able-bodied, Democrat, Republican - we have ALL been coerced into submission by a few people who hold the purse strings of resource and access. Resource and access that divinely belongs to us all. There is so much abundance on this planet, and we just allow this elitist class of people to hoard and hoard - effectively killing and perpetuating the suffering of us all. If we continue to tolerate this, our children are up next on the chopping block.

I am evoking the ancestorial knowledge of Fred Hampton, who could bring together peoples of all identities to understand that our common enemy is collective destruction brought on by the modern day bourgeoisie (using the communist definition of the term, though it is not lost on my that I call myself a ‘Boujee Black girl’). I’m calling for us to follow in the teachings of Assata Shakur, where we understanding that need for change, for reform, is rooted in a deep love of people. Not things, not status, and damn sure not money. PEOPLE.

I often find myself silently chanting, “I believe that we will win”. But I know that WE cannot win if WE do not coalesce and organize through difference and disagreement.

Them vultures robbin' everyone, leave nothing but chains
Pick a point here at home, yes, the picture's the same
There's a field full of slaves, some corn and some debt
There's a ditch full of bodies, the check for the rent
There's a tap, the phone, the silence of stone
The numb black screen that be feelin' like home
And the riot be the rhyme of the unheard

- Rage Against the Machine, Calm Like a Bomb

You might be wondering if I am advocating for riots, for violence? And to that I say, there has not been single freedom or ‘right’ or ounce of justice or liberation earned that didn’t require bloodshed. I’m more afraid of the sustained financial, psychological, and (yes) physical violence that our collective endures everyday at the hands of the wealthy and powerful. I’m more concerned at the violence of separation that continues to divorce us from each other and from our earth. I have zero concern with the bloodshed of those who will use, kill, destroy, and discard us and our natural resources for their own selfish and insulated gain. Take that as you will, and act accordingly. Right now, I’m calm like a bomb and am wondering who else is ready to ignite so that we can save one another and ourselves from the elitist capitalism of the overly greedy who have not had to answer for their crimes and sins against our collective.

So… what are YOU going to do to IGNITE?

(a Few) Songs for Revolution:

• Calm Like a Bomb - Rage Against the Machine

• Stop business as usual - Kimmortal

• Whitey on the Moon - Gil Scott-Heron

• Kill My Landlord - the Coup

• We Want Freedom - Dead Prez

• I Wish a Bitch Would - Delilah Bon

• Revolution has Come - Rebel Diaz

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