Solidarity can Make a New World Possible Al Tariq Shabazz

Solidarity can make a new world possible.

The world is on fire. And necessarily so fire is cleansing; new things are forged in fire. The oxygen that fuels this fire is not only the killing of unarmed black men but also the dire political outlook of the world. Hope has been squandered by those who have the ascetics of progressive politics but not the actual platform and desire to fight for what is just. This is the scene that set the stage for the facsist theater that was Trump. Politicians and so-called activists who are, as one of my very good friends describes them, “experts in what is not possible”, have occupied the positions of power for far too long.” These actors are a perpetual buffer, separating the mass of oppressed people from much needed progress. The idea that so-called progressive candidates are detrimental to progressive movements is disheartening but unfortunately our reality. We see this in the fact that newly elected President Biden bombed Syria before coming to the aid of the American people whose lives have been ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic. But if we have learned anything in the last year it should be that through collective action, we can overcome most things. The progress that has been made in fighting state violence carried out by the police and also our starting a new chapter in our discussion of race and oppression is proof of the inherent power of unity. The calls to defund police, the fight for a living wage for workers, and a reevaluation of the role that the built environment has played in the systematic exclusion and marginalization of communities of color are all the result of collective political action and outrage. The development and expansion of the concept of allyship and solidarity should be viewed as fundamental components of the future we hope to build. This latest phase in the popular movement against the racist, sexist, and xenophobic foundations of American society has completely altered the political landscape in the country-for the time being. And it has caused the nation to take a long hard look at the fundamental racist nature of most of its institutions. However, there are two themes at play here, survival and hope. Those who don’t believe that our society needs a fundamental change and are looking for ways to hijack language and concepts in order to survive to make their modes of oppression more palatable and continue to exploit working class and poor people in this country. On the opposite side are people who believe that a better world is possible, their religion is hope. The keepers of the flame are not dismayed or discouraged by the continued aggression of the enemies of democracy and life nor the glaring absence of their supposed friends at the most crucial of times. Pessimism is not possible because their very lives depend on the issues they fight for. Decent and affordable housing, a living wage and

Al-Tariq Shabazz M.S. UP

being able to walk the streets without being harassed and murdered are not trivial pursuits, but rather a matter of life and death, literally. When we take a closer look at history this lesson of unity is ever present. In Newark, New Jersey African-American and Puerto Rican unity was the basis for the political transformation of the city, moving from complete domination by white ethnic groups toward a more representative political landscape. Blacks and Puerto Ricans united to form a mutual defense pact to protect their respective communities from white terrorist violence in the city. The unity of different socio-economic groups in the city’s central ward thwarted racist urban renewal plans when a Yale educated lawyer and a retired occupational therapist organized with low income renters to stop the expansion of the local hospital that would have ravaged the prodomity black neighborhoods of the central ward. When we look at the stories of ordinary people throughout the course of history, we see the need and effectiveness of collective action. Of course I’m biased toward collective political action, I was born and raised in Newark, New jersey. I’m from a place where ordinary people have accomplished extraordinary things. In 1970, 11 years before I was born, Newarkers elected their first AfricanAmerican Mayor, Kenneth Gibson. A few years earlier, in the summer of 1967 , the skies of Newark burned hot orange for five days during the rebellion. In the wake of Newark’s rebellion, in response to apartheid conditions and continued brutal police repression among other injustices, the political landscape was forever changed.There are stories similar to these in all of our cities and towns, buried deeper in some than others. We must understand that the experiences are there waiting to be uncovered while at the same time providing the muchneeded nutrients of liberation to the soil of possibilities. To understand our collective history of struggle is to better understand what is possible. That’s why it’s so important for progressives and marginalized people to stand up and explain, and fight for the world we would like to see. We know that decent schools are possible because they exist now, just not for all of us. Healthcare for all is within our reach because nations with far less have made it a priority. An antisexist and Antirasict world is not a pipedream because if these are not attainable goals, then too many of us cannot exist and be free.

So, in a time when so much is uncertain, we must recognize our memories as the blueprint to a better – more just tomorrow.

The time has come to walk towards the sun. The warmth and light of a society truly living by democratic ideals. With so much darkness in the world light is easily identifiable, if we’d only look. If our enemies are talking division let’s speak the language of unity. We must stand shoulder to shoulder determined to gain clarity in this moment of extreme confusion. The confusion that says a living wage for workers is not possible while individual CEO’s rake in a disgusting $2,537 every second of the day. The confusion that is caused by racism that undermines class solidarity while the majority of workers are exploited. If the foundation of the protracted oppression of the poor and working classes is lies, we must build on the truth. We mustn’t lose focus of our mission to build a better world. Because our foes have not abandoned theirs to dominate the world through the perpetual exploitation of the poor and working class. This is the importance of the moment; to clearly define our goals and objectives and identify our power to win. Though the ground is ever moving beneath our feet, our solidarity will provide the stability we need to continue to build a peoples’ democracy – a place where the constant themes will be forged by those who are willing to fight for a living wage, decent housing, and free health care for all. Not those who create scenarios where violence is normal. The violence of slave wages and the constant threat of being evicted. Tomorrow will be framed by the imagination of those who resist state violence against black and trans people, who are willing to fight individuals and institutions that criminalize the poor and see our natural resources and environment as their personal source of capital accumulation. There will be no room for facsism or the anti-people policies of the corporate Democrats who have adopted the progressive language but not the necessary courage the moment requires. We will place one foot in front of the other and continue to march toward the sun, giving birth to a new reality where trauma is abnormal, the perpetual trauma caused by inadequate schools and mounting medical bills. That is what we are fighting for. Our challenges are real, they are not theatrical, so neither can our unity be.

Al-Tariq Shabazz is an urban planning student in his first year with the MSUP program at Columbia University GSAPP. His research interests are the intersectionality of race, property, equity and social justice.