๐ŸŒฑ Reframing 'Racism' in a Fascist America

Part I: Radical Black Joy & Resistence

Sam Chavez
Sam Chavez

Table of Contents

Hey y'all, welcome back! ๐Ÿ‘‹๐Ÿผ

The firehose of the new administration is on. We take a pause to reflect on what 'racism' means in the modern context, by reflecting on a piece I wrote last February. It's more relevant than it was then. Plus some organizing actions to protect immigrants. Read on for more...

In Case You Missed It: 
๐ŸŒฑ for activists: ๐ŸŒฑ Liberatory Bodies Coalesce
๐Ÿ“š for communicators: ๐Ÿ•น๏ธ AI is a Proxy War for Global Narrative

๐Ÿ“š Are you a communicator? Update your preferences to get our Friday Digest with tech, media, & communications resources for social change.


Getting to the roots - evaluating the news with a social change lens
Getting to the Roots | Evaluating the news with a social change lens
  • ๐Ÿ“š Well Hello, Dolly! Sheโ€™s a Musical - ๐Ÿค“ To start with some brightness, Dolly Parton's autobiographical stage musical will debut in Nashville before a planned 2026 release on Broadway.
  • ๐ŸŽฌ Get Free From Billionaire Government Takeovers - ๐Ÿค“ Get Free, a Gen Z-led organization, disrupted the morning commutes in D.C. on Monday to protest Musks takeover of government payment systems. Watch Anthony Torresโ€™ update on their organizing actions. (join the campaign)
  • ๐ŸŽ™๏ธ Black & Indigenous Solidarity - ๐Ÿค“ This weekend, I helped organize the 25th Anniversary Two Spirit Powwow. At the opening dinner, a Two Spirit Indigenous elder reminded us that we have been here before and we're still here! No matter how much they've tried, Indigenous and Black folks remain on this land and we are resilient. This is a great listen from the LANDBACK for the people podcast.
  • ๐Ÿ“ธ What to Know Before Boycotting - @jnaydaily has a helpful IG carousel with tips on how to buy less and boycott more in a healthy way without shame.
  • โœ๐Ÿผ Protect Immigrants from Google Analytics - If you're in the Bay Area, there is a campaign to ask local government to stop the use of Google Analytics to protect immigrants and other vulnerable populations. Write to your local Supervisors and City Councilmembers to ensure the city and county does not use Google Analytics, store PII, or use other surveillance technology

๐Ÿฟ Donโ€™t forget to scroll to the end and watch our weekly video for activists where we dive into on a weekly news topic.


[Re-Print] The Evolving Face of Racism in the U.S.

Part I: Radical Black Joy & Resistence (See Parts I, II, III)

๐ŸŽง Listen to today's Newsletter:

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Reframing Racism in a Fascist America 2
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Below is a piece that I wrote on February 8, 2024. It was meant as a way to energize the public against the evolving face of white supremacy in our society before the election. Welp! The message remains today. We must both know our enemy, while also building liberatory ways for us to live outside of their views.

This month, we will be celebrating Black Joy and the long history of radical joy and rest in Black resistance. On Saturday, I sat down with some amazing sisters to talk about it. More on that next week!

Sam Chavez on LinkedIn: This Saturday, I kicked off a restorative weekend with two amazingโ€ฆ
This Saturday, I kicked off a restorative weekend with two amazing sisters: Lisa Hurley and Sharon Hurley Hall (she/her)! We had the juiciest conversation onโ€ฆ

I have a visceral memory from 2021. The kind where you know exactly where you were and how you felt at a specific moment. I was boarding the 7 bus on Haight St. in front of Cafe International (a magical local spot) listening to the Pod Save the People podcast talk about the far rightโ€™s fever dream over critical race theory. The hysteria (men are so hysterical!) was so transparently an attempt to suppress the United Statesโ€™ racist history.

If you recall, there had just been massive protests demanding a deep reckoning with our racist past and present unlike weโ€™ve seen in decades. The protests were about police violence in 2020, but they were so much more. We truly were within an awakening at a society-wide (even global) level to acknowledge the systemic inequities that still seep into every aspect of our society.

It would have been an unraveling of the social hierarchy as we know it. A stepping towards a completely new era in the human project. My hope at the time and still today is that we can step into a new era where we turn towards a collectivist and sustainable system that rejects the violent, hierarchical, and righteous social order of the past.

Sadly, we never got to fully acknowledge, reckon, and shift within our institutions because of the racist backlash that followed the 2020 Uprisings. The hysteria over critical race theory was the first wedge meant to undo the social progress we made in 2020, but it was not the last.

At the 7 bus stop, I felt that familiar sinking feeling when you see whatโ€™s happening but canโ€™t stop it. That feeling is not new over the years. Marginalized people feel it all the time. Women warning about abortion rights while every Supreme Court nomination lied under Trump. The millions who have marched for a ceasefire in Palestine to give both Palestinians and Israelis a better future. Iโ€™m sure everyone reading this can think of those moments for them.

From CRT to Modern Slavery

I think about what felt possible then and what does now. It feels markedly different. We were passing the Child Tax Credit, the biggest climate infrastructure bill in history, and discussing systemic solutions to police reform. Now, we are watching our institutions crumble further because of the many issues we cover in this newsletter. The mediaโ€™s inability to callout the threats we face, technologyโ€™s further encroachment on our lives, capitalist influence over elections, and the ever increasing wealth gap, to name a few.

Living through this backlash has not been easy. When systems of power are threatened, they often work extremely hard to defend themselves. When I look at what was possible then versus now, I am reminded by how threatening change must feel for the people who are desperately resisting a more inclusive society.

Letโ€™s not forget that while we see modern day slavery reported in the news, we are also increasingly moving towards a non-white country and that scares the crap out of some people.

This piece of news is a perfect microcosm. The biggest brands are using forced prison labor so they donโ€™t have to pay people their worth. These are brands we see spending millions on ads. McDonald's, Target, General Mills, Coca-Cola. These are brands that have reported record profits since 2020. At this point, these brands are stealing from us via inflation and by using illegal labor. Cool, cool.

Greedโ€™s Racist Impacts

We know these brands but do we know the prisoners who are being forced to work for a few dollars? Most people know that the prisoners are likely disproportionately Black and brown. We know this and yet some of the biggest brands in the world are okay with exploiting this system. Why do you think that is?

Would you believe it when I say that itโ€™s racism? Capitalism and the desire to accumulate and hoard wealth are intrinsically tied to racism in a world where worth is still determined by skin color. Brands know that some people will look away and justify the prison labor over the false notion that most people in prison are โ€œbad guysโ€ because of their own biases about crime.

So letโ€™s get back to the 7 bus stop. We are swimming in these types of revelatory moments that open up peopleโ€™s eyes to the systemic inequities of our world. Each of these moments can be our opportunity to step back from the inevitability and create our own change. In 2021, the backlash started with CRT and itโ€™s ending with modern slavery today.

This month, weโ€™re talking about the modern faces of white supremacy and how we can readjust our view of racism to be stronger activists. I am particularly excited about my conversation with Sharon Hurley Hall out next Monday! (Follow the podcast) We dive into the waters and discuss how racism is the water, not the shark, and how that can be transformative for our inner growth. See you next week for more!

Read the Full Series:

  1. ๐ŸŒฑ The Evolving Face of Racism in the U.S.
  2. ๐ŸŒฑ Resetting the Terms of the Debate: The Right's Media Trap
  3. ๐ŸŒฑ Our Great Stumbling Block
  4. ๐ŸŒฑ Sum of Us | Bridging Connections to Build Coalitions

Further Reading:

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Resources for the People. Resources and events to grow and root into your activism

๐ŸŒŠ The Water, Not the Shark

My conversation with Sharon Hurley Hall is a great way to kick off February. I love Sharon's view on organizing against white supremacy. As she says, racism is not the shark lurking under the water. In reality, racism is the water. We live in a society swimming in the structures of white supremacy. So if we know that's our starting point, how do we then organize? (listen on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or more)

๐ŸŽ™๏ธ Subscribe to our podcast: Spotify โ€ข Apple Podcasts โ€ข YouTube



let's grow together - this week's video reflections, ideas, and curiosities

[Unlocked] Raw Election Reactions & Reminders

These past two weeks have been absolutely wild! In this moment, we are being called to stay grounded through the intentional chaos so that we can move forward intentionally and through solidarity. Iโ€™m unlocking a Seedling Member video from directly after the election. I hope these reflections support you in however you are moving through this political moment. Find our latest videos on our ๐ŸŽฌ Quick Bites page.

๐ŸŒฑ Seedling Member Zone

And that's a wrap on this weekโ€™s newsletter! We hope you found this helpful in your work. Forward this to a friend and help democratize communications! If you have any topics you want covered, questions, or curious about our Donate a Membership program, please reach out and let me know.

In Solidarity,
Sam Chavez
the roots of change agency

About the roots of change agency โ€” Navigating heart-first activism & storytelling. We explore the ๐ŸŒฑ roots of our world to support organizations and activists ๐Ÿฅต avoid burnout and ๐Ÿ“š tell empathetic stories that cultivate connections that ๐ŸŒ empower โœŠ๐Ÿฝ social change. Donate to support our work.

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Sam Chavez

Sam is a writer, strategist, and curious human. She founded the roots of change agency in 2020. Sam is a queer, white, LatinX activist whoโ€™s passionate about a livable planet & equitable societies.

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Navigating heart-first activism & storytelling. We explore the ๐ŸŒฑ roots of our world to support communicators, organizations, and activists ๐Ÿฅต to avoid burnout and ๐Ÿ“š tell empathetic stories that cultivate connections that ๐ŸŒ empower โœŠ๐Ÿฝ social change.

Learn more about the Roots of Change Agency.