Following my recent piece, “Gringo, Go Home”, where I explain why I reclaim the term “gringophobic” based on my experience as a Black woman from Colombia, and the deep distrust I feel, particularly towards white people from the Global North, I'm writing now to digg deeper into toxic, deadly masculinity and global disparity. Some white men cross the border into countries of the Global South countless times, committing crimes each time, without ever being prosecuted. Meanwhile, there is the injustice of undocumented people being deported from Gringolandia without having committed any crime. In short, impunity has everything to do with masculinity and white privilege.
Read MoreOn April 27, 1860, Harriet Tubman, with a group of activist abolitionists, coordinated the rescue of Charles Nalle. A fugitive of slavery, Nalle made way from Virginia to Troy, New York, where federal marshals and police captured him. Tubman disguised herself as an elderly woman, and the back and forth between slave catchers and the Troy community included a gun battle and an escape by riverway. At the end of the events, Tubman and the community helped raise the funds to purchase and ensure Nalle’s freedom.
Read MoreBlack masculinity has been distorted, stereotyped, weaponized, and reduced to a toxic caricature. For much of my life, it wasn’t even a topic of open discussion. When it did surface, it was often used to justify harmful behavior, thinly veiled as tradition or survival.
Read MoreIn a world where action is touted as virtuous and where idleness is considered the devil’s playground, it may seem counterproductive to do nothing, but sometimes it’s the best option. No action is better than uninformed action. Because, while good intentions may be a motivation for helping others, they cannot exist as the sole engine for “doing good”.
Read MoreI didn’t come from a “humble beginning,” nor do I consider my childhood privileged. Maybe a two-parent household holds weight in a Black family, but that leverage dissolves quickly when you factor in resentment, dissatisfaction, and emotional abuse. Still, one thing rings true across many Black households when it comes to passing down “gems” about success: You need to go to school to make something of yourself.
Read MoreWe are not out-organized. And they are desperate, deprived, and doing the most diabolically evil.
We are experiencing and bearing witness to kidnapping, human trafficking, incarceration, detainment, “black sites”, concentration camps, and enforced statelessness. The most disturbing part of this nation’s history, coupled with the everyday realities of the US-Israel genocide of Gaza, is reverberating domestically throughout the United States. The “shame”, secrecy, and gaslighting of the US’s contemporary foreign policy and immigration policy of years ago no longer exist. From the United States to occupied Palestine, there are no secrets:
Read MoreThis piece will name many predators in power (whether politically or through money and fame). While I do not go into details of the crimes, I know just naming the person and what they were accused of can be triggering enough. Just gathering the pieces for this article was rough for me as a survivor of rape and sexual assaults so I wanted to name this for all of us. If you can, rage through this one with me and try not to skim—let us bear witness and think critically about the impacts of these very public atrocities on our legislation and our societies.
Read MoreI unapologetically claim the term "gringophobia" to describe that mix of irritation and distrust sparked by certain foreigners from the Global North. Those who show up in our territories speaking only unintelligible languages, radiating entitlement, superiority, and the smug arrogance granted by the colonial white privilege. They feel authorized to appropriate, dispossess, and abuse because they know the system is designed to guarantee their impunity.
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