Topic: Calling the Family Back to the Cookout at the Church Entry 5

Title: There is Movement Against one of Our Own Part 1

Video Inspired By: Conversation with Dr. Akinyede Umoja author We Will Shoot Back Part 1
(LINK) https://youtu.be/3cYQOEIyzbQ

There is a popular saying amongst Black folks on line; it’s meant to be a joke aimed at both, “right-acting” whites and those who’ve been seen as problematic to our presence on line or in general. That saying involves the word cookout and implies that some white folks are, by dent of their support for black causes or respect shown in digital spaces, invited to said cookout and others best not be seen heading towards it. Again this is meant to be a joke, its often light hearted and jovial – however, with Trump’s white house reoccupation underway, the joke seems to have been replaced with something far more vinegary, a notion that the cookout is closed. I have seen some people suggest it has been closed since 2015, while others say 2017 and some say 2020, while a few say it closed right after Novembers white majority supported Trump’s re-ascension to the white house. Whenever is cited, this closure date is new and it cannot be taken lightly. We have always been a welcoming bunch and a very forgiving bunch, so this abrupt change is stark and uncharacteristic. Interestingly, many whites who’ve found themselves positive participants in this joke, being the ones often invited to the cookout; many, have expressed support for this closure, suggesting its more necessary than not given the betrayal their people have continued to show towards the Black Community. The response to this approval has been noticeably dismissive, yet not in a hostile manner but a positive and polite manner, coming often with statements offering thanks for the support white underscoring how validation and approval from white allies are not at this moves heart. Which brings up the question for today’s entry, what is at this recent change’s heart?

Since I first heard this “cookout” concept, nearly a decade ago; I found it intriguing. To me, it suggested us Black folks on the internet perceived our digital spaces as spaces requiring and needing protection from hostile forces, most notably, those from the conquering obsessed white masses. Further, it communicated a communal air to the internet that has only recently been challenged by the burgeoning ADOS and FBA counter-movements. Even with its introduction though, its challenge has been fiercely repelled by the masses in these digital spaces, leaving only a slim minority susceptible to their wooing; leaving the “cookout” unbothered and focused. And what were those enjoying its festivities focused upon, food, drink and merriment of course! But only to those outsiders who do not understand the purpose in the festivities. My father, who was born during the silent generations waning years; loved Black cookouts because it gave him a chance to “talk with old friends about old times and new”; or so he told me. I have experiences extracting a very powerful meaning from this statement, but I will leave those experiences to the past for the moment.

Some of the best cookouts attended to by my father and for a brief moment in my childhood, myself; were at the church, a place where history, morality and determination mixed with dedication to God, resolve from those who came before us (the Ancestors) and allegiance to those who came after us (the Ancestors). A crossroads where every Being without community could be seen, heard and respected. To be in community at a cookout was to be in community with those who passed on and those who would soon be arriving. Thus it was here that the community’s business began to be attended to. Just as the barber shop become an urban industrial institution appreciated for generations, so to was the cookout for our rural kinfolk. To have white people there sometimes disrupted the true reason for their existence, but when one would enter the space, that true reason would be hidden until their presence departed or they proved their loyalty to that true reason (if they could, often they couldn’t). It’s a testament to our continued cultural allegiance and memory that we could pull into these digital spaces a concept rich in heritage and history without the slightest acknowledgement of its depth. Well that has to change.

The reason the cookout was often held at the Church was because it was the lone building in the community semi-respected by the terrorist forces within the white community and it was usually owned by Beings within the community with deep roots there. Where do we have equivalent digital spaces today? Yes, we can list many sites that are Black Owned, but not many carry with them institutional force – not yet anyway. It is time we change that. List below any Black Owned sites and let’s continue to build our digital footprint into an institutional force so powerful the terrorist forces within the white community will not only think twice before approaching those spaces but will render them untouchable due to their protection by us.

In the next entry I will expound on the notion expressed in the Title, There is Movement Against one of our Own. Remember to answer the above challenge and this entry’s question below, that question is what is at this recent change’s heart being the closure of the cookout and the dismissal of white support for this move?