"Anti-Blackness: A Primer"

13-page, 5"x8" zine written by zaza willis.
100% of the money (excluding s&h) goes to the author.

other ways to support zaza:
venmo @willisbn
cashapp $willisbn
etsy & instagram: 3000REALM

----

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- words of accountability
- what is antiblackness?
- physical violence + slurs
- "preferences"/desirability
- coding
- "new community"
- cultural appropriation
- proximity/hypervisibility
- stripping/denial/erasure
- exploitation
- closing

----

EXCERPT:

"I started writing this zine in response to events that centered around the Trump election. I noticed more non-black people proclaiming themselves as radical, anti-fascist, communist, anarchist, or “woke”. I was frustrated because I felt a lot of people used these descriptors to evade accountability from themselves by pointing to a single enemy “Trump” which then was accompanied by pointing fingers to law enforcement, the prison system and capitalism.

These systems are my enemy as well.

However, what was frustrating was that while people were screaming “Fuck Trump!” or “Fuck the police!” they weren’t considering themselves under the same lens. They wouldn’t talk to their own racist or anti-black family members but could yell about others (unless they made the tacky seasonal Facebook post at the family dinner –hidden from their family members, of course like “ugh my family is so00oooo racist!”). They weren’t considering their family heritage and lineage being built off of slave labor, occupation, oppression or imperialism (and yes, this includes non-black communities as well). They didn’t consider that these issues have been happening for years, for decades and throughout the entire histories of communities. They didn’t even consider the fact that being anti-racist is more than following a few black celebrities and putting “intersectional” in their bios (which is an academic framework for examining the oppressions faced by black women- not a descriptor). They prided themselves at putting themselves at the front line of a fight that many of us have been putting ourselves in the front lines of for hundreds of years – but because those people were darker, uneducated or lower class they were swept under the rug. They were heralded for “choosing“ to become aware of societal issues when from a young age I had to become aware of racial hierarchies regardless if I wanted to know about them or not.

I think ultimately what was most annoying was the fact that people did not consider that anti-blackness was a global issue or an issue that concerned them. They yelled for solidarity while not understanding the ways in which their supposed solidarity glossed over many issues of violence their ancestors perpetuate(d) against my people.

I am not against allyship or solidarity, however I think that real allyship and real solidarity comes with recognizing your status, whether that be: proximity to whiteness (white, white passing), color (lightskinned, white), class, education level, race, etc.

WHAT CAN YOU PROVIDE TO BLACK FOLKS WHO STRUGGLE AGAINST RACISM, CAPITALISM, HOMOPHOBIA, TRANSPHOBIA, TRANSMISOGYNOIR, MISOGYNOIR, AND ABLEISM EVERY DAY?"