“Social death brackets how gender is explored by afro-pessimism and serves as the analytic to theorize the structural antagonism between Black women and white women.” Patrice D. Douglass. Engendering Blackness, p. 106
You don’t owe the world total comprehension. You don’t have an obligation to fully understand people, societies, or the human condition beyond what is required to function decently. But the moment you decide to understand and judge people, their actions, histories, pains, incentives, and failures, the standards rise sharply.
At that point, partial understanding becomes more dangerous than ignorance. Especially when the subject is human beings. Because bad explanations do not remain abstract; they leak into how you treat others. They give you confidence without compassion, and judgment without depth.
You cannot, for instance, conclude that people are “stupid” for staying in situations that harm them simply because you believe you would choose better. Almost everyone including you has lived through moments where they knew the “right” action and still did not take it. And in those moments, the explanation was never simply, I didn’t think or I was stupid. Even when poor judgment plays a role, it hardly ever explains the whole story.
What was present instead was probably inertia, fear, attachment, loss aversion, hope, identity, sunk emotional cost and all other forces that resist movement even in the presence of clarity. Stupidity alone does not survive honest introspection.
That, then, should be your epistemic test. If your theory of human behavior cannot explain your own conduct in your weakest moments, it is not a serious theory of other people. It is a strategy for moral distance, a way of placing yourself above the mess you are still very likely part of.
“Sexuality for Black women exists under erasure, where she is devoid of a body. Womanhood for the white woman serves to shield her deputized position within the white racial order as structurally enabled.” Patrice D. Douglass. Engendering Blackness, p. 106
Honoured to have co-authored with @ProfKibwana. Our article argues that the 2010 Constitution is a people’s manifesto and should guide in demanding accountable and transformative governance.
My sincere gratitude to Prof. Kivutha Kibwana for trusting a young scholar
It takes sheer courage to procrastinate. You either have an insane amount of faith in your last-minute abilities, or you are simply unbothered by the consequences of inaction. Either way, you’ve sure got some guts.
I went to Riara Law.
From where I sit, the video doesn’t simply depict “bullying”. It’s physical violence, verbal assault & emotional abuse.
Dare I say that away from cameras, it may have been worse. It’s probably also not be the first time, it’s just the time they were caught.
The allegations in the Cornell sexual assault case are deeply disturbing and gut-wrenching. Cornell University has failed this survivor.
I fully support Governor Hochul's decision to name Attorney General James as special prosecutor in this case and look forward to the complete and extensive investigation that is to come.
Accountability and justice cannot simply be values, they must also be delivered.
She was killed by him right after she made this video exposing him for being a pedophile.
And THIS is why it takes women years to come forward. She refused to stay silent, and it cost her her life. Men will call women dramatic until the consequences become a headline.