Week 9- Rachel Ibrahim

Rachel Ibrahim

Week 9

Section A03

I think this week’s theme of solidarity is an important one because while it is easily recognized as a necessary and beneficial concept to act on, it is easily misunderstood. ‘Building a Culture of Solidarity: Racial Discourse, Black Lives Matter, and Indigenous Social Justice’ by Santos F. Ramos helps to explain the sometimes tricky nuances of the concept. He talks about how the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement has gain popularity to the point where many movements will borrow words and ideas. The claim in taking parts of the BLM movement as their own is that they are standing in solidarity, however, as Ramos says in his article, “the flaw of this kind of "solidarity" work is that it is more about claiming likeness to Black communities than it is about recognizing the unique struggles that Black communities face.” I believe this quote really captures the struggle of understanding what solidarity really means because while it is easy to say you are standing in solidarity with a particular movement, true solidarity comes from recognizing the individual struggles of each race and supporting them in addition to fighting for your own equality. Borrowing from the Black Lives Matter takes advantage of the work they have done to bring awareness and doesn’t appreciate the struggles they have faced.

What I found most surprising about this article was that in comparison with black people, similar if not higher amounts of Native American people were killed by white cops. The reason this is a little known fact, is that while the BLM movement is plastered on every social media platform, there is no talk about Native Americans. This is why the idea of solidarity is so important, because when done right, solidarity helps bring more groups that are discriminated against to light while still acknowledging their struggles. I think the Cultural Rhetorics approach discussed by Ramos is a great way to understand the cultural background to movements and provides an excellent basis behind implementing solidarity between racial groups.

Question:

How can one show true solidarity and prove an understanding of another's struggles without seeming to just take advantage of the benefits their movement brings?

Sources:

Ramos, S. F. (2016). Building a Culture of Solidarity: Racial Discourse, Black Lives Matter, and Indigenous Social Justice. Enculturation, 1-6. Retrieved May 28, 2017.

Fist. (2015, February 18). Retrieved May 28, 2017, from http://reappropriate.co/2015/02/isnt-the-internet-big-enough-for-more-than-one-angry-asian/fist/