Famed writer Audre Lorde once wrote, “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle The Master’s House.”
Let’s break this down real quick.
Here “Master” and “Master’s House” symbolize anti-Blackness, and the “Master’s Tools” represent every oppressive system Anti-Blackness created to police Black people.
Systems like capitalism and classism, racism and colorism, misogynoir, homophobia and transphobia, xenophobia, fatphobia and ableism, and more. With this context, Lorde’s meaning becomes clearer.
Lorde’s message reminds us that we can’t beat anti-Blackness by using the same systems designed to oppress us.
For example, capitalism continues to exploit Black labor, genius, safety, and peace of mind, and yet we receive constant messaging that encourages us to become capitalists. As long as capitalism exists, so will anti-Blackness.
As we reimagine how to build Black liberated futures our “tools” — forms of resistance — can’t be rooted within anti-Black frameworks.
What tools are in our liberation toolbox?
Our ancestors had many tools, but one of their best was understanding the power of Black community. Anti-Blackness stresses ideas of individualism and hyper independence because they want us to feel scared of challenging systems like capitalism by ourselves.
Our ancestors knew the main tool needed to dismantle the “Master’s House” was community. How can we work within our communities to burn anti-Blackness to the ground?