Black Lives Matter at Work
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6<br />
WHAT IS COLLECTIVE LIBERATION?<br />
I’ve seen these ideas and urgency in the Movement for <strong>Black</strong> <strong>Lives</strong> most<br />
clearly this summer. During the n<strong>at</strong>ional convening for <strong>Black</strong> <strong>Lives</strong> we<br />
gave light and respect to Trans Brilliance, preferred gender pronouns,<br />
accessibility to non-binary spaces, and saying our trans brothers’ and<br />
sisters’ names with equal passion and resonance as a <strong>Black</strong> cis male’s life.<br />
Seeing seasoned comrades such as Rev. Sekou and Cornel West calling<br />
transmen “son” means they see us. They see th<strong>at</strong> we m<strong>at</strong>ter, too. Erasure<br />
of trans lives won’t be silence anymore. Or fighting for justice with our<br />
siblings in Palestine on American soil facing parallel military occup<strong>at</strong>ion<br />
and government sanctioned<br />
violence. Or the global recognition<br />
of income inequality and racial<br />
injustice from Show Me $15 and<br />
Ferguson’s Freedom Fighters. Or<br />
Tokyo’s tired swe<strong>at</strong>shop workers<br />
fighting for living wages while we<br />
fight for living wages here—which<br />
amplified both of our fights and<br />
brought global <strong>at</strong>tention.<br />
In order for the Movement for <strong>Black</strong><br />
<strong>Lives</strong> to succeed, we must<br />
emphasize th<strong>at</strong> we have been<br />
ignored, but we must also<br />
recognize those who have been<br />
ignored for laboring like us, dying<br />
like us, and facing social struggles<br />
like us.
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