[This is from the old Slant Truth. It was originally posted on 19 September, 2006]
Continuing.
3. Definitions: 1
Transformation – an act, process, or instance of transforming or being transformed.
It is the idea of an act, a process that draws me to the notion of a transformative politics. To progress is to move forward and I don’t see any good out of moving forward from the state that we are in right now. 2 How much of a coincidence is it that people claim that Women of Color need to learn to respect their betters and that the very first definition of progress is “a royal journey marked by pomp and pageant?” 3 Royalty and fawning fans have no place in a transformative politics. A transformative politics seeks to eradicate such hierarchical notions. A transformative politics seeks to act in a manner that recognizes everyone’s strengths and weaknesses without ignoring someone for their weaknesses.
4. A transformative politics is not interested in power. Power is nothing but the same ol’ same ol’. Most Progressives today are working to ensure that the present state of affairs in the world stay the same. 4 The liberal democratic establishment doesn’t give two shits about Folks of Color, the LGBT community, the Poor, the Disabled unless their votes are at stake. If you don’t believe me, take a look at some of the stances held by prominent liberal bloggers that are also working for the Democratic Party. It is time to say fuck your lip service. I understand that my stance here sounds overly idealistic and not very practical, but I’m sick of sticking to what is practical. The practical is nothing but another idea that is being used to keep things the same. The practical is nothing more than the easy way out. If it works, well then let’s go with it, the practical says. Well, Slavery worked. The Objectifaction of Women worked. The Denigration of the Poor worked. You get the picture.
- From Webster.com [↩]
- a state where structural sexism, racism, homophobia, disablism, classim and a host of other societal ills are either ignored or allowed to flourish in the name of the man from the right party winning [↩]
- Again, from Webster.com [↩]
- i.e. those that are working hard to make sure that Democrats win are doing nothing but ensuring that everything stays the same. [↩]
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