There’s one person on the planet that will probably, inspire you, infuriate, confuse in a conversation, and lead you to the light again, that’s Ye. I’ll admit over the past week I have been educating myself, reflecting and unpacking my own trauma. I personally am grateful for Ye’s cultural contributions and have been vocal in support of him. So of course, I’ve been fielding questions and participating in civil discourse regarding his “WLM” shirt that debuted during his YZY SZN 9 fashion show in Paris on Oct 3 and the controversy that followed.
As a human being and a black person not desensitized by the consistent unlawful murder of black people and systemic racism in America, I felt a gut punch seeing the shirt. However, beyond that initial reaction I also saw an opening to move forward and shift the conversation. With that being said, I still wanted to understand HIS thought process behind the design. This is the guy that made ‘Jesus Walks’ and proclaimed “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
Whether Ye is a martyr in this situation is debatable, because this moment in time has definitely created space for dialogue and opportunity to refocus on black liberation. Has corporate America rocked the public to sleep with the committed illusion of inclusion and tolerance of black and brown people, while courting our hard-earned dollars without lobbying for actual policy change? According to American media the most important issue here that Ye called out Vogue fashion editor Gabriella Jackson for a differing opinion and clapped back at her supporters Gigi Hadid, Hailey Bieber, and Tremaine Emory. Wait no, maybe it’s his professed love and support for Trump or his declaration black people were the original Jews. That’s for another imminent post though.
Tremaine Emory, Ye’s frenemy also had issues with him name dropping their mutual friend, the late Virgil Abloh while waging war on LVMH patriarch Bernard Arnault.
While the internet was scrambling in shock, dismay and confusion, Ye sat down with Gabriella and Parisian restaurant Forde to hash out their misunderstandings and possibly move forward in a positive way. In his 20 min interview with Clique Ye offered context and discussed his personal feelings about the feedback he received from his show.
Clique X Ye
Hip Hop icons like Russell Simmons and Diddy spoke out and provided their own perspectives with love for Ye and disdain for the shirt in the same .
During in New York homecoming, Diddy stopped by the Breakfast Club and was asked about the ‘WLM’ shirt, he response,” Kanye is a super free thinker”. Ye praised Diddy for recognizing his genius and took his response as a position on support on Diddy’s behalf. Well things quickly turned left after Diddy cleared the air and reaffirmed his position regarding the ‘WLM’ Yeezy shirt leading yea to post a text exchange between the two.
Why aren’t we as a whole elevating the conversation beyond the tantalizing headlines and the clickbait controversy. Ye fka Kanye West told the world “We all know Black Lives Matter” was a scam. Now I knew that there was miscommunication about the BLMGNI property and co-founder Patrisse Cullors personal properties, but a SCAM? I had to get reacquainted with the facts for a minute. Now it’s a well-known fact Candace Owens has been the GOP attack dog against the Black Lives Matters movement. So, after she was pictured next to Ye with a “WLM” shirt on, it started looking more and more like propaganda. Lets dig into the facts for a minute.
Black Lives Matter Movement
In 2013, three female Black organizers — Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi — created a Black-centered political will and movement building project called Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter began
with a social media hashtag, #BlackLivesMatter, after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin back in 2012. The movement grew nationally in 2014 after the deaths of Michael Brown in Missouri and Eric Garner in New York. Since then, it has established itself as a worldwide movement, particularly after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis, MN. Most recently, #Black Lives Matter has spearheaded demonstrations worldwide protesting police brutality and systematic racism that overwhelmingly effects the Black community.
Fact or Fiction
Pew Research Survey conducted in October 2021 revealed 4 in 10 black adults in the United States [39%] say ‘Black Lives Matters’ has done the most good for the black community. As for the controversy surrounding the non profit, coalition chapters are currently sueing the global foundation over funds and are alleging mismanagement. The complaint itself was file by the BLM Grassroots, an entity comprised of 25 chapters in the US and UK. Local organizers allege the foundation had fundraised off of the work of the chapters but mismanaged the fund and shut local chapters out of the decision-making process.
The grassroots group which includes Los Angeles, Michigan, Atlanta and Boston chapters, allege the foundation which runs blacklivesmatter.com has locked them out of social media accounts. They also allege that foundation isn’t abiding a laid-out plan provided by the BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors when she resigned last year to wind down the foundation and transition resource directly to BLM Grassroots.
Cullors stepped down after right wing media’s coverage of her real estate purchases and scrutiny from some within the movement about the foundation’s operations.
Cullors named two organizers to serve as interim senior executives. However, the two organizer who were selected announced that they never started because they were unable to reach an agreement about the scope of their positions. According to the suit, Bowers who had been handling the administration of the foundation under Cullors, took control of the operations shutting out BLM Grassroots.
Check it, Blake and Bianca Austin, the aunt of Breonna Taylor, whose killing helped spark the 2020 uprisings, have traveled the country supporting other victims with their group, Families United. The two said they asked Bowers and the foundation for funding support for a van, but never heard back.
“Its hurtful and sad for everybody.” Bianca Austin said,” There’s already this negative narrative out there about “Black Lives Matter” the organization versus the “Black Lives Matter” the movement. Its crushing for people really in the movement…. But we’ll get through it.”
So, when one the world’s most visible creatives say, ” we all know “Black Lives Matter” was a SCAM, as subsequent photos with him and Candace Owens circulate on social media, its most certainly going to give folks pause. Owens definitely to capitalized on the moment by promoting her upcoming documentary about the foundation.
On Thursdy Oct 6th it was announced that Ye would be talking to Tucker Carlson about a range of things. Fox News Channel published a series of clips to YouTube Channel over the course of 4 days. In the first clip Ye discusses the WLM shirt and perspective on BLM and politics. He also cited the purchase of $6 million LA property for his strong assertion that BLM is a scam.
When did the preservation of lives become a political issue, or become horse traded as influence and cultural capital. This is a systemic humanitarian issue. Was there a way to shake up the complacency and render placating to the black community obsolete without scorching the earth. Well Mos Def’s interpretation surely raised a few vibrations.
Ye’s career and position has always been about empowering and educating the black community. As of late his political views and affiliations have divided the community leaving his supporters feeling conflicted.
Reparations has become somewhat of a dirty word in Americas capitalist society – where you can come from nothing and become a billionaire with enough hard work, passion and sheer will power to succeed. How can you work a broken system? This isn’t a referendum on Ye, this is about the black experience in America, and the lengths we are willing to go to free black people.
Now I can respect the fact that yes change tends to move at a snail’s pace, and yes it seems futile to create movements that empower the black community only to discover that people aren’t perfect. Yet when the smoke and bravado dissipate, Ye’s message almost always tends to rise like a phoenix from the ashes for people who aren’t in tune with the creator. As for his supporters, well no matter what social media platform he uses, he’s most definitely going to share his truth.
– The Pen
for tips or topics, contact thepen@infinitepressure.org
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