Thread by @innodim

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1/ I respectfully push back VERY strongly against the “play the game” & “change from the inside” crowd. Emmm...since when? When has that happened? What is the historical evidence to show that that is how the vast majority of change occurred? The inside, keh? In medicine?

https://twitter.com/DMalebranche/status/1360056519077728267

2/ Most people I know that played the game to get in, rationalizing that they’ll change the system once they got in, got stuck playing the game forever & never developed the tools for changing the system which they thought they would naturally be able to do once “in”.

3/ The code switching never ended.
And they severely underestimated the resultant wear and tear on their bodies, minds & souls for the constant codeswitching, perpetual guarding, fighting, advocating, etc that we endure in this predominantly white spaces.

4/ When change comes from the inside it usually takes a member of the dominant culture to push it through. Otherwise, many of us end up leaving the system to externally push for change at the very places we thought we would change when we were in it.

5/ “Playing the game” translates to “let us hold up white supremacy so we change white supremacy.”

That is not a thing.

Cue: Audre Lourde

6/ “For the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change.........”. - Audre Lorde

collectiveliberation.org/wp-content/upl…

7/ “...... And this fact is only threatening to those [folks] who still define the master's house as their only source of support.”
- Audre Lorde

**☝🏿☝🏿☝🏿 Is a key insight to why the “play the game” narrative is still pushed.

collectiveliberation.org/wp-content/upl…

8/ So, I’m inviting us to learn from the evidence, from history, and set a different trajectory. If we all start showing up as our full, complete, authentic Black, Indigenous, Brown, Asian, etc selves, the culture will buck. Norms will shift.

9/ Our individual safety lies in our collective unity.

We can be ourselves AND push for change within and without the system.

10/ But, in 2021, out of respect for our ancestors, our progeny & the divine light that we are, we can no longer risk our wholeness/wellness/identities/excellence by playing a game that was never designed with us in mind, that is premised on our dehumanization........

11/......presumed inferiority, and whose rules require that we situate ourselves quietly & gratefully at the lowest rung of society’s ladder.

12/ BTW, I have always interviewed, taught, spoken, and just presented to the world in braids, locs, and afros, wearing my Ankara (Afro textiles & design), head wraps, & beads. I do it with pride, beauty, confidence, & joy.

13/ Not only has it been critical to my wellness, strength, and power, but it has given others permission to bring their true whole selves to the table as well.
Which is so incredibly important.

Much love!

❤️✊🏿🤎👊🏿🖤

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