On Pacifism

Dear Miss Waymon,

           

I am not a pacifist. As you so exclaimed to Dr. King, “I am not non-violent.” I have seen class-based oppression and the complicity of so many people in the face of this oppression. The well-meaning individual who remains passive while I encounter classist microaggressions but swears she/he/they are supportive of demand-side economics and welfare programs. Over time, the spite builds. This is a resentment that has been earned, that one deserves a right to house, and which we claim, unique to our experiences. Thus, when you expressed your own impatience during the Civil Rights Movement, I couldn’t help but feel a familiar sense of helplessness in the effort to change the hearts and ideologies of so many. To have grown up with privileged folks indoctrinating the rest of us with toxic versions of history—those of us who do not live with the luxuries they do; those of us who have seen the ugliest side of hardship; those of us who were told that every success we had was the product of our own hard work, and thereby dismissed the ones who are not met with opportunity as lazy—to have grown up surrounded by this merits direct action of a certain magnitude. In my life, no so-called “peaceful” demonstration has had the impact on policy nor garnered the media attention as is so prevalent with “violent” demonstration.

“By any means necessary” is a revolutionary doctrine which cannot be practiced by all, but which must be exercised by many. You knew this, and reflected it in your art. I wonder, however, how you would combat the weight of conservative reactionism while creating these songs? How did you manage to stick to your message when backlash was becoming so strong at the time? Did you ever fear for your life, as you experienced some of those closest to you dying? How do we push on?