Hello! My name is Comrade Tripp. I’m a mixed-race stand-up comedian in Minneapolis and on the internet: two places that have both become more and more prominent in the last few years.
In this day and age, being a comedian means taking on several adjacent titles. From comedian, to writer, to commentator, all under the broadening umbrella of content creator. With current events at the forefront of my art, I have used my platforms to speak on issues that have affected me as both a first generation Asian American and a Black descendant of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Two racial identities that both have also become more prominent. Lucky me.
As a child of both the Middle Way and the Middle Passage, I am uncommonly qualified to tackle this month’s topic of Black August. A month of commemoration that I didn’t know about until I was invited to write this article.
Black August was first observed in 1979. After political prisoners Jonathan and George Jackson were murdered, Black August has become a time to reflect on the entirety of the global prison-industrial complex. From emancipation to apartheid, from Emmett Till to Michael Brown, from the Watts Riots to the Montgomery Riverfront Brawl, Black August has since become a cultural movement honoring our abolitionist histories
Whereas February is Black History Month, August is Black Currently Month.
Currently, there are 1.8 million people incarcerated in the United States (not including those in ICE detention centers) who fall under the exception of the 13th Amendment. About two million modern day slaves with modern day masters. And even more worldwide of every color and creed. Exploitation recognizes no borders.
Today, ICE continues to ramp up their operations, abducting and disappearing our neighbors. Their mass deportation and detention plan is yet another way of funneling millions of people into modern day slavery.
For-profit means from-slavery. We are all bound to the bottom-line of imperialism. That’s why it’s called a supply chain. Around the world, the US mines countries for minerals used in our phones and seizes control of agricultural industries for our own gain.
Shout-out to chocolate and cellphones.
It takes tremendous effort to make the realities of modern-day slavery seem not only mundane, but necessary. On the plantations, this was done by dehumanizing slaves and justifying their suffering so far as to make it a spectacle. Before baseball, public lynchings were the great American past-time, complete with potlucks and postcards. But like baseball, those times too have past, and today’s lynchings are subtle and suspicious. 18-year old Nolan Wells mysteriously turns up dead and authorities don’t have answers or the motivation to find them. College students found hanging from trees are labeled suicides. The tried and true lowbrow traditions still exist and uphold the status quo.
It doesn’t matter if you are Black or Asian or whatever, we are all affected by the unregulated dehumanization that is the cornerstone of consumerism., But I am affected even more so because I’m both. Lucky me.
Beyond just being aware of the current landscape and avoiding unethical brands, here are some ways to actually make things better for those who are behind bars and cut into the profit margins:
- Celebrate freedom fighters with The Dream Defenders by joining their Black August Read-Along.
- 18MR is holding a Melt ICE Social: Reserve & Complain Party on Sunday, August 23rd. Join us to complain to Enterprise about their collaboration with ICE!
- ICE is considering opening a new detention center in Louisiana. This new detention center aims to house unaccompanied children and families. Yet another attempt to dehumanize and streamline the detention and deportation process. Tell Congress: no detention expansion now!
- Speaking of political prisoners, support our friend Yaakub! Advocate for his release at our Week of Action phone bank on August 24. Yaakub has been detained since October, simply for his pro-Palestine advocacy.
The American Abolitionist Movement was led by music, fashion, satire, and wit. Highbrow art that exposed the unnecessary cruelties of slavery. And it has been part of the rubric of progress ever since.
Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13th is the basis of my entire understanding of the prison-industrial complex. It was all that I knew about Black August before I knew what Black August was.
Ta-Nehisi Coates’ seminal article The Case for Reparations brought a serious take on the long-term effects of slavery. A thorough analysis of the economics as well as the ethics of slavery in the past tense. It’s not just a think-piece, it’s the think-whole.
The song Nelson Mandela by The Specials inspired a generation to care about apartheid in South Africa. Maybe it will inspire you to rise against someone else’s oppressors.
“Settle your quarrels, come together, understand the reality of our situation, understand that fascism is already here, that people are already dying who could be saved, that generations more will live poor butchered half-lives if you fail to act. Do what must be done, discover your humanity and your love in revolution.” – George Jackson
Thanks for reading!
In Solidarity,
– Comrade Tripp & Leyen, Sharmin, Sunee, Sonia, Turner, Van, Allison, & Irma – the 18MR Team
