I finished part 1 of Blackshirts and Red and I'm taking a brief break to read Atomic Habits by James Clear and Afropessimism by Frank B. Wilderson III.
Atomic Habits
These plague years have been kinda chaotic, my life is all over the place, my Grad Semesters have been stressful, my relationships are frayed, and there's been a heavy toll on my mental and physical health; so I saw this at the Targét and did an impulse buy. His concepts try to tackle identity and systemic changes, so I haven't had too many complaints about the book. It's a light read, tho I wish it was more of an apolitical read — he keeps trying to make the argument that these systemic changes could make for a better citizenry, without naming capitalism.
Because of this book and Andrew Huberman's podcast, I've taken to waking up at, or around, the same time every day and sitting outside for 10-15 minutes, drinking in the sun and reading my next book.
Afropessimism
I think this might be my "Book of the Year" on nonfiction and theory...so far. Wilderson weaves his poignant observations of society and philosophy with his autobiographical experience as a Black Man in America. He argues that the plantation never ended.
The plantation is everywhere and all the time. It is ontological, which means that it attaches trans-historically to all Black persons regardless of their social position. newyorker review*
Acknowledging this fact would, of course, make it imperative for Black people in America to burn it down from within and without. He argues that to be categorized Human is to have an Other, and that other, is the Black person; which has been turned into an object. This has continued beyond the plantation, so White and non-Black "People* are constantly viewing their humanness in relation to Black People. He argues it much more eloquently than I can, but these relations are what make tiny and large ripples occur when a chance encounter puts a Black Person in confrontation with someone who thinks them as their object, even if there is no longer an explicit, plantation master-slave dynamic.
He traces his life experience as a young black boy in an upscale neighborhood, his family the first Black family to buy a home despite significant opposition. His challenges growing up, his experiences in the revolutionary period of America, in the 60s and 70s. The collapse of the revolutionary culture in the 80s. I'm in the section of his life where he and his girlfriend, who was a whistleblower at Urban Riser, a govt. program treated like a slush fund, are targetted and harassed by police, the FBI, etc.
He is, or was, a revolutionary; he hasn't fully delved into the criticisms of socialist and communist theory. The FBI opened a file on him when he was a grad student, as he went to Trinidad and met with the Communist party and offered to make contacts for them in America.
There is a lot of heartfelt and beautiful prose, and even humor. He recounts this magnificent story of his grandma, now retired and visiting from New Orleans. They are watching the 1968 riots on TV, and something happens, a rioter does something cool, and she cheers them. He learns something profound of the black experience but his parents, upper class and prestigious African Americans, are trying to cool his wiles.
- I'll get some actual quotes of the book when I write up the review.
It is! I had to purposely put it down to advance on the habits one, otherwise I would have devoured it by now.