Never Meant to Survive: Genocide and Utopias in Black Diaspora Communities PDF
Preview Never Meant to Survive: Genocide and Utopias in Black Diaspora Communities
Transformative Politics Series Editor Joy A. James Transformative Politics presents insightful works that address contemporary concerns and crises in modern democratic societies. Contributors to the series explore critical theory and critical politics as they bear on issues of social justice and human rights in international context, as well as questions of personal, social, and political ethics. In considering the connections between social formations and political change, the conceptual keynotes are critical race theory and feminist theory. Transformative Politics highlights provocative narratives and analyses from authors who stand outside the academic and artistic mainstream. Imprisoned Intellectuals: America’s Political Prisoners Write on Life, Liberation, and Rebellion, edited by Joy James Never Meant to Survive: Genocide and Utopias in Black Diaspora Communities, by João H. Costa Vargas “A Litany for Survival.” Copyright © by Audre Lorde, from The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde by Audre Lorde. Used by permission of W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.rowmanlittlefield.com Estover Road Plymouth PL6 7PY United Kingdom Copyright © 2008 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Vargas, João Helion Costa. Never meant to survive: genocide and utopias in black diaspora communities / João H. Costa Vargas. p. cm.—(Transformative politics series) Includes bibliographical references. 9781442203310 1. Blacks—America—Social conditions. 2. African Americans— California—Los Angeles—Social conditions. 3. Blacks—Brazil—Rio de Janeiro— Social conditions. I. Title. E29.N3V27 2008 305.896—dc22 2007042307 Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. This book is dedicated to the living revolutionary spirit of Black Panther Michael Zinzun, friend and mentor, and to Toussaint Pierre-Vargas, of whom i am blessed to be the father. It is offered as a modest contribution to the ongoing dialogues and efforts toward liberation in and of African Diaspora communities. Table of Contents Transformative Politics Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Preface A Note on the Text Acknowledgments Introduction - The Urgency Imperative of Genocide 1 - Genocide in the African Diaspora United States, Brazil, and the Imperatives of Holistic Analysis and Political Method 2 - The Inner City and the Favela Transnational Black Politics 3 - Hypersegregation and Revolt The Los Angeles Black Ghetto in Historical Perspective 4 - The Los Angeles Times’ Coverage of the 1992 Rebellion Still Burning Matters of Race and Justice 5 - Hyperconsciousness of Race and Its Negation The Dialectic of White Supremacy in Brazil 6 - When a Favela Dared to Become a Condominium Challenging Brazilian Apartheid 7 - Black Radical Becoming The Revolution Imperative of Genocide Notes Bibliography Index About the Author Preface A Litany for Survival For those of us who live at the shoreline standing upon the constant edges of decision crucial and alone for those of us who cannot indulge the passing dreams of choice who love in doorways coming and going in the hours between dawns looking inward and outward at once before and after seeking a now that can breed futures like bread in our children’s mouths so their dreams will not reflect the death of ours; For those of us who were imprinted with fear like a faint line in the center of our foreheads learning to be afraid with our mother’s milk for by this weapon this illusion of some safety to be found the heavy-footed hoped to silence us For all of us this instant and this triumph We were never meant to survive. And when the sun rises we are afraid it might not remain when the sun sets we are afraid it might not rise in the morning when our stomachs are full we are afraid
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