Around the world, including the United States, those in power fight desperately to cling to it, targeting a foundational element for legitimizing state power: the vote. Fascist efforts to maintain state authority have increasingly worked to undermine our capacity to assess information and distinguish between fact and false narratives.
As we continue our Africana Studies approach to reframing the U.S. semi-quincentennial year, we underscore the continuing need to deepen our literacy skills. Deep reading, reflection and critical thinking are essential in the face of Social Structure assaults on thinking and mass movements informed by objective reality.
Recovering the momentum of memory allows us to confront modern tactics that seek to diminish—or even eliminate—the vote as a tool of collective struggle. A post-literate era is particularly vulnerable to these attempts to undermine the very foundations of civic participation, informed engagement and mass movement.
The “Freedom Schools” call to educate ourselves is correct, but it must never stray from the enabling capacity at the core of what is under perpetual assault: deep literacy and reflection as the starting point for meaningful action.
