Before interacting with this week’s materials I had not been introduced to the idea of Apocalypse/Eschatology as a solution to racism. To me this idea is different from what we have been exposed to so far. It is not MLK’s idea of liberation through working within the system, or Sharpe’s theory of working outside the current systems in place to reimagine new ones; instead, it advocates complete destruction of life as we know it to start anew. Lloyd’s article, “The End of the World: Reflections from Black Activsim” argues that the world has been built upon a foundation of racism. Therefore, in order for life to begin for everyone — the oppressor and the oppressed — we must first excise the world of anti-black racism. The podcast After the End of the World addresses this same concept and guest star Alexis describes how the end of the world can be combated through the lessons taught by black feminists: how harm works and to what extent, how to not choose between identities but accept them all, and how to be inventive and creative in liberation whilst also incorporating critique. I was also intrigued by what Alexis outlined as the transition of black liberation work from a responsive method to a spiritual one. Alexis explains that after Regan was elected on an anti-black platform, outwardly demonizing black mothers, activists realized that their work had to exist on a deeper, spiritual level and not just as a response to acts of racism. This transition to spirituality allows for the movement’s survival and continued existence as it is not founded on the resistance of one specific image of racism, but the counteraction of the racism that underlies our entire society. Therefore, this movement must generate practices that are spiritual and not just responsive in order to remain over time.

This idea is translated through the work and mentality of the BLM movement for they see their movement as separate and not reliant on politics to achieve their goal. I think this is an important mentality to have especially when considering the discussion we had on Monday about how activists and white allies may stop fighting and become complacent once a democrat is in office and think their work is done, while under Trump and the constant threat of chaos, people might be more active and fight harder. Therefore I believe it is important that this movement is not tied to any politician/political stance in order to ensure its continuance and achieve its goal of a world free from all oppression.