Have Some Nigger Cake: The Impossibility of "Revamping" Derogatory References

My post yesterday was a very labored one because there was so much anger going on while I was writing it that I had to edit a lot of my first thoughts.  I wanted to convey my anger, disappointment and revulsion about Makode Linde's decision to create a racist cake "sculpture" (that depicted a racist caricature of a Black woman in black face) without distracting from emphasizing his assault on Black female identity as his means to an end.

I will not presume to know what Mr. Linde was thinking when he decided to start creating a series of blackface art".  But I will say that there is not one part of me that believes that he didn't know what he was doing when he created that repulsive cake that has now been circling the internet as "the Nigger cake".

He was obviously trying to be provocative but it was at Black women's expense and somehow I don't think that showing insensitivity towards women is a positive when you're supposedly addressing the horror of female genital mutilation (which occurs in places other than Africa), as he stated originally.  His creation has allowed yet another degrading image to become attributed to Black female identity.  All Black people should be angry about that, not just Black women.

Mr. Linde, a 30-year-old Swede with an African father, explained that the screaming cake was part of a series of works he calls “Afromantics.” His intention for the works, he said, is “revamping the blackface into a new historical narrative and sort of lifting invisible prejudice to an exaggerated level, where it’s becoming over-obvious and in a way more in your face and easier to talk about.”

He initially said that he created the cake as a way to bring attention to female mutilation and now he wants to "revamp blackface" so that we have new and improved racist imagery to deal with as Black people.  (Gee, Thanks.)  There is no way to revamp blackface or the word nigger for a more palatable consumption.  They will always incite anger and pain because they represent the rabid hate that is an atrocious reflection and indictment on our white supremacist society.

Mr. Linde also said, “In my art, I’m more like questioning the different images of blackness. I’m not illustrating real black identity. I am illustrating ideas, or concepts, or patterns that surround ideas about black identity.”      

What questions?!  There has never been a question about why the different racist images or names for Blackness exist in this society.  Mr Linde should be honest and say that he wanted some notoriety by any means necessary (no pun intended).  If he really wants to break new ground for a new historical narrative to draw attention to "invisible prejudices" then he should take the pictures (of all those participatory smiling white faces) from his event and turn that into art.  Of course that art won't be shown in Sweden's Museum of Modern Art, but at least that art would be highlighting the real problem.

Racism is a societal defect that was created by morally and mentally corrupt people.  Mr. Linde can't correct a defect with something defective.  Black face already existed, there was no need for "new black face".

We live in a white supremacist structured world and the only way to combat that is to stop placating white society.  Those that indulge in the cruelties of racism need to be called out on a daily basis if necessary every time that they do.

[Source]

R.I.P. Rekia Boyd

I am sure that Rekia Boyd never imagined that being in a neighborhood park would end her life.  Being in the wrong place at the wrong time is how some will rationalize this tragedy but it underscores the fact that she was shot by someone who is supposed to be a trained "to serve and protect".

There is still more to be discovered in this case and yet I fear that because this has been deemed a police justified shooting little will be revealed or done to discover why this young woman lost her life at the hands of a trained police officer. The Chicago police department is saying that the off-duty officer ( I can't find his name anywhere) shot Rekia Boyd in the head when he fired (from inside his vehicle) on a male that he believed was holding a weapon.  What?

Police officers are treated as above reproach because they are considered trustworthy and honorable because there is supposed to be a moral code that they abide by.  This is America and Black people unfortunately know better than most that there are police officers that have no morals and who definitely don't think that that code should include us.  Police department cover-ups are an unfortunate norm in America's history especially when race is a factor.

My condolences go out to Rekia Boyd's family.  I do hope that there is an in-depth investigation to discover why this young woman lost her life.  

We have to continue speaking out against these travesties of injustice because the truth needs to prevail.