☕ Morning fam,
I stopped abruptly yesterday upon hearing the news of the passing of Harry Belafonte. I received the news via an RIP text sent by someone that assumed I knew. I immediately felt a sense of deja vu back to the time when I was doing my morning post and received the news about the murder of Darren.
The news hit hard but nothing in comparison to the impact his death will have within black activist and movement spaces. We lost a giant…. and what we’re left with fails in comparison. Jay Z is not a Belafonte. Lebron and Kaep are not Alis. The founders of BLM are not Assatas. Deray is not MLK. And neither of the 2 Justins are Malcolm. And none of these black leaders doing the bidding of white establishment Dems/progressives are Harold Washingtons or Marion Barrys. They are controlled opposition, sent to mislead, deceive, exploit/divert attention/energy away from our issues… and dangle carrot in order to keep us engaged or as Jesse said, to “Keep hope alive’.
Today the same folks will invoke his name. The same folks invoked Darren’s name. They will co-opt his work and legacy. Don’t be fooled. It is all show. Performance, by the same folks co-opting our grief to push Joe Biden’s agenda.
If there was ever such a thing as a ‘anti-Belafonte’, Jim Crow Joe is it.
