Toward Black Anarchism

From This Is Hell!

1202: Toward Black anarchism / Marquis Bey

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African American literature studies scholar Marquis Bey explores anarchism's radical critique of both the state, and the self within the state, and explains how Blackness anarchizes anarchism, demanding more of this world than is possible.

Marquis is author of the book Anarcho-Blackness: Notes Toward a Black Anarchism from AK Press.

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i want to read his book. Bey is an academic and uses academic language but don't let it put you off, this was a great conversation.

The average "anarchist by rote" won't understand the concept of the Stirnerian " spook ", which is that racial differentiation, the same applies to gender, creates another binary consciousness and false mental premise to pervert the mind of adherents. This makes a spook. Ironically they'll actually show how dumb they are be saying you're racist because the term 'spook' was a racist slur, like 'spade' and totally disregard the context in which you use it.

"Spook" is a terrible translation of Max Stirner, anyway. Specter or phantasm are more accurate.

Heard it last week, good interview. I had wondered if Marquis Bey was a pseudonym.

yes, the over reliance on specialized language was irritating, but when it cut to the heart of the matter, some insightful points were made. they posit blackness as a way of anarchizing anarchism. how? the "anarcho groove" against -ism, becoming unreal (as in against realism), illegible, impossible, and beyond categorization (which is a little silly given how many categories are spoken of). the similarities to Stirner's critique are apparent, even if "blackness is a spook" to some Stirnerians...

however, hard to stomach the opening of a conversation on anarchism with references to Ghandi, Tolstoy, and defining anarchism through Nathan Jun. yikes.

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