2021 WTF

Welcome back my loves. 2021 started off with a bang ! Where to begin? Does anyone remember an episode of Charlie Brookers end of year Screenwipe where he discussed what a nutso year it had been, and the way there were all these major cataclysmic events happening every few weeks that in the past would have been the biggest news story of the year but were happening with such regularity that we were becoming overwhelmed. Off the top of my head I think it was around 2016 but it might have been a few years previously. Anyway since then that process just seems to be increasingly accelerated. The opening days of 2021 have been little short of apocalyptic. From Capitol Hill to Covid and everyfuckinthing in between, its all a little too much, right?

I find the constant commentary of social media draining and -with some exceptions- largely unedifying. There’s just so much noise! I dream of more time spent in woods, with sunlight streaming through the branches and soft wet damp mulch underfoot or watching the crashing waves of the Atlantic somewhere off the west coast of Ireland. (although I think that’s also a reaction to living amongst the concrete of inner city London). But I feel deeply that the way social media has reconfigured reality is in large part responsible for the chaos that we are living through, certainly the rise of Trump and his supremacist stans feels intimately connected to online identity formations. When I finish my goddamn PhD (this year Inshallah) which looks at identity formations (though not digital ones) perhaps Ill write a paper on it. Although I’ve more then enough to be getting on with before I start thinking about).

WWPCDN feedback is all good. I’m having one last pass on the manuscript before we send the proofs out but they will be on their way soon. My approach to thinking about race and racism is quite distinct to the mainstream narrative so I’m excited to get feedback…

Beyond that I’m working on a project looking at Enlightenment racism, so have been brushing up on my aul philosophy, Cartesian duality, re-reading Hegels madness about African’s and looking at the comparison between European Enlightenment metaphysics and African (Yoruba specifically). What excites me most about this project is that it’s being presented in a very accessible medium so a big cross section of people will be engaging with the work. I went into academia in order to attempt to bring theory and certain discussions that can to often remain bounded in the academy, to wider audiences. We’ll be announcing it very soon so more from me on that later this month.

The other thing is the podcast. I want to launch it this month too. I’m quite keen to speak to Black British Marxists, there’s seemingly an exciting new generation  coming up, I mostly see them on Twitter and am keen to have deeper discussions with some of them. Over all though the theme is disobedient bodies, so if you have any suggestions for dissident and unconventional thinkers, who you would like to hear me in conversation with, do pls let me know. I’ll also be handing the Disobedient Bodies account on IG over to people whose work and thinking excites me, again the dissident and the unconventional, people whose thinking is outside the current grain, or who have unique insights or expertise. I will be further amplifying the content on my personal account, so it’s an opportunity to speak to a significant audience. Again, if you are interested in getting involved, holla. To date I have three takeovers set up, all are black women but honestly this is open to all. There are many people whose thinking fascinates me, and they are people who exist across the array of racialised fallacies.

Take care of yourselves x