Great piece! This has been one of those moments that highlights for me how Black Americans are very much still Americans. Our reasoning can also be corrupted by noxious, individualist political frameworks even though we’re targeted by the country’s dominant ones. We’ve gotta be brave enough to confront that
I hear where you’re coming from, and I understand the angle, but I have to push back a bit. As one of those Black women who’s been saying exactly this, I think it’s more layered than what’s being presented here.
In my experience, choosing to “let them do it” and leaning into rest and preservation hasn’t meant abandoning our livelihoods—or our communities. Like you mentioned, in both my real life and online spaces, Black women are choosing rest, but we’re doing it intentionally. Not as a retreat, but as a form of resistance. We’re not walking away from the work—it’s just evolving.
Black women have long been the backbone of our families, our churches, our schools, and our movements. We’ve led while being tired, stretched thin, and often unacknowledged. So now, when we say “I’m part of the 92% y’all got it,” it’s not a betrayal of our liberation. It’s a survival strategy. It’s a different way of being committed. We’re not forsaking the fight—we’re choosing to fight differently.
I do agree with you, though, that our blind allegiance to the Democratic Party is something we need to interrogate and actively address.
We know the cost of not prioritizing our wellness, and we also know our wellbeing is collective liberation. So yes, we can afford to rest. In fact, we can’t afford not to.
I think that’s fine if that’s where you’re coming from but that’s not where a lot of women who have been chanting this are. I know a lot of women who don’t do any social justice advocacy, community building/participation outside of voting— that’s not doing the work, it’s passive participation in the electorate. Many Black women in the US in particular are subscribed to hyper individualism, which is the master’s tool. Black women who are the backbone of their communities and refusing to be on the front lines is a separate conversation about healthy intracommunal boundaries— which is something that needs to happen not as a reaction to an election but just in general.
This! As a Black queer femme, this is so important! I always say there is diversity of thought and value systems in the 92%. There is homophobia and transphobia and classism, etc in the 92% and we would be so much more powerful using “focus on us” energy to dismantle the white supremacy within our people so we can fight for liberation for all of us fr. This was a great piece and thank you for writing it!
My observation is none of my Black women activist friends are resting or have ever rested. My wife and I were with a gang of them April 5 not at the March but at a mutual aid event providing food clothing feminine hygiene etc to the community. My non activist Black women friends are as always non active. Your article is spot on.
As a black woman who did get up and demonstrate last sat (it was hardly a protest— there were no demands) I find this piece makes a lot of assumptions about black women who are in the 92% — that we’re sipping lattes from our high horses while leaving the community and those who come behind us to fend for themselves. This concept is categorically misaligned with what we all know black womanhood (the foundation of our communities tbh) to be. There has never been a time in history where black women have gotten so far ahead collectively as a group that we left our communities behind.
Are there individual cases of this? Sure. But collectively this is just counter to our culture. The point of this article is correct, now is the time for finding ways to take action that will support and sustain our immediate communities whatever they may be. To be black and a woman in america is to know that no matter the political party in power, our group will always be counted as one of those that suffer most from oppressive and discriminatory policies. But I will continue to be proud that of the black women who voted, 92% opposed fascism and that even when we were presented with two awful choices we knew which one not to make.
I say this as someone who critiqued Kamala and was not enthusiastic about her candidacy and moderate policies/proximity to republicans. The 92% imho more than anything is a reminder that despite our personal differences and preferences, as a group we collectively stand together politically. I think there’s value in that.
I get what you’re saying but I’m not sure I agree that we collectively stand together politically because for many reasons mentioned in this piece, voting democratically is really not a metric that can determine that. Now, as I mentioned— I cannot assume why ALL Black women made that choice but there are a lot who have leaned into toxic hyperindividualism as a result of this election — this meme of women sipping lattes watching the world burn down that has been circulating is a reflection of that.
I think if 92% of a group vote in one way, that is a signal that we are standing together and that we’ve put aside whatever personal critiques or opinions to make a choice together; not saying that is/was a right choice and I gather you believe it was a wrong one which is totally ok. I sincerely appreciate dissent and I’m not saying that ironically. These discussions are really important for us to have together.
But ya our two party system is broken, it serves only the top 5% in this country, and on and on. The idea that black women are going to sit back and watch the world burn would never happen because most of us don’t even have the luxury to not work. There’s generally no sitting back for us ever. So if we’re working on behalf of our families which comprise our communities then essentially that is doing some kind of labor that supports the larger community. Also more than anything this “we’re sitting this one out” to me feels similar to your mom or gma saying something to the effect, “I’m not buying y’all nothing else,” after buying you a bunch of things. We understand it in that moment, like where that feeling comes from, but we also know that’s not true because that’s just not her. She is always going to look after and care for what’s hers.
I agree, these conversations are important and I’m glad we’re having it. This election was complicated so to look at the choice to vote for Kamala through the lens of right or wrong, kind of flattens the complexity of what we’re going up against. A choice between a Black woman and fascism was always going to be a no brainer for Black women (and again, not saying all), who are happy with representational progress and tend to vote democrat anyway. If we can hold the truth that we’re not monolithic then we should also acknowledge that some of us do have luxuries to tap out. I find that some of these 92% proclamations are lacking class consciousness as well— not to mention that as Americans, many of us have baseline luxuries compared to Black women in other parts of the world, that afford us the privilege to live lives of relative comfort even as we are the backbones of our families and communities.
Yes, especially those Black folks in these so-called “Promised Lands”. Where I’m at, DC and the DC centric parts of Maryland and Virginia are getting rocked right now.
So many Black folks who if they were of a different mind, would have invested their high federal and federal-adjacent salaries into our community economy in a way that liberates all of us.
Folks who would have understood that folks like me who are griots, artists, and true spiritual beings and leaders, need to not be serving the state, especially if we have achieved the financial abundance that we claim we have in “Chocolate City”.
That we need common ground, but common ground is not a neoliberal agenda or mindset that has us wanting to be the oppressors and colonizers we left behind.
Meanwhile, I believed some of the hype for a while because I grew up in a lovely, kind, and caring Black world in NC, that was there for you until you got sick and gay and sometimes fat. Then, it threw you to the wolves and closed rank as the ugliness of hard segregation, became new South progress, exploitation, abandonment, and gentrification.
So I came seeking the space to bloom, and I have, but now, it’s a liminal space. I am protecting my peace, but I know 100% the fight is not over. Thanks for sharing!
Personally I agree. The only rest I have been doing is not allowing myself to be the person that starts the uncomfortable conversations or participating in public marches. Outside of that i still boycott businesses that support Israel, I try to keep up with the policies being passed, I support black content and businesses, I donate when I can and I read up on black struggle movements the 60s that were more about infrastructure and economics. Biggest example that was discussed by Martin Luther King Jr., was Operation Breadbasket. I would also recommend keeping up with the conversations within the black community from Ronald S Martin's show on Youtube and many other black youtube creators.
this was a good piece and although i particularly have more optimistic views one some of your points i agree overall! i feel like a lot of what’s been said and what you wrote can coexist at the same time. i personally agree that kamala could’ve done better overall and i absolutely hate the amount of turned eyes to genocide although i still feel as though she definitely was the best candidate to at least set the foundation for progression.
I feel collected! And more contemplative than I have in months. Frankly, I’m tired of the bullshit across many verticals but I agree that we have to move beyond a % and realize this isn’t a zero sum game. It’s our actual lives, and the lives of future Black generations. Thank you for the wake up call!
Your words express what I’ve been thinking since November about this damn 92%. We cannot and shall not allow fascism lying down. I do want to point out that Tricia Hersey who wrote the Rest Is Resistance manifesto is of the philosophy that resisting capitalism and replacing individualism with a stronger and deeper sense of community is how we can make an impactful change in society. She cites those who organized before us as important sources for her work. Folks have taken the meaning they wanted from her words. But this essay has the right idea for how we create change together.
I keep trying to point out the holes in this ideology of sitting back and pretending we will be fine, and of expecting black politicians and millionaires to save us somehow, but a lot of people don't want to hear it. So they won't.
Thank you for this word! Because I too am perplexed at how we can "sit out" tyranny that will be knocking on our front doors or dragging us out of them.
Great piece! This has been one of those moments that highlights for me how Black Americans are very much still Americans. Our reasoning can also be corrupted by noxious, individualist political frameworks even though we’re targeted by the country’s dominant ones. We’ve gotta be brave enough to confront that
This is exactly it!
I hear where you’re coming from, and I understand the angle, but I have to push back a bit. As one of those Black women who’s been saying exactly this, I think it’s more layered than what’s being presented here.
In my experience, choosing to “let them do it” and leaning into rest and preservation hasn’t meant abandoning our livelihoods—or our communities. Like you mentioned, in both my real life and online spaces, Black women are choosing rest, but we’re doing it intentionally. Not as a retreat, but as a form of resistance. We’re not walking away from the work—it’s just evolving.
Black women have long been the backbone of our families, our churches, our schools, and our movements. We’ve led while being tired, stretched thin, and often unacknowledged. So now, when we say “I’m part of the 92% y’all got it,” it’s not a betrayal of our liberation. It’s a survival strategy. It’s a different way of being committed. We’re not forsaking the fight—we’re choosing to fight differently.
I do agree with you, though, that our blind allegiance to the Democratic Party is something we need to interrogate and actively address.
We know the cost of not prioritizing our wellness, and we also know our wellbeing is collective liberation. So yes, we can afford to rest. In fact, we can’t afford not to.
I think that’s fine if that’s where you’re coming from but that’s not where a lot of women who have been chanting this are. I know a lot of women who don’t do any social justice advocacy, community building/participation outside of voting— that’s not doing the work, it’s passive participation in the electorate. Many Black women in the US in particular are subscribed to hyper individualism, which is the master’s tool. Black women who are the backbone of their communities and refusing to be on the front lines is a separate conversation about healthy intracommunal boundaries— which is something that needs to happen not as a reaction to an election but just in general.
Facts!
This! As a Black queer femme, this is so important! I always say there is diversity of thought and value systems in the 92%. There is homophobia and transphobia and classism, etc in the 92% and we would be so much more powerful using “focus on us” energy to dismantle the white supremacy within our people so we can fight for liberation for all of us fr. This was a great piece and thank you for writing it!
My observation is none of my Black women activist friends are resting or have ever rested. My wife and I were with a gang of them April 5 not at the March but at a mutual aid event providing food clothing feminine hygiene etc to the community. My non activist Black women friends are as always non active. Your article is spot on.
As a black woman who did get up and demonstrate last sat (it was hardly a protest— there were no demands) I find this piece makes a lot of assumptions about black women who are in the 92% — that we’re sipping lattes from our high horses while leaving the community and those who come behind us to fend for themselves. This concept is categorically misaligned with what we all know black womanhood (the foundation of our communities tbh) to be. There has never been a time in history where black women have gotten so far ahead collectively as a group that we left our communities behind.
Are there individual cases of this? Sure. But collectively this is just counter to our culture. The point of this article is correct, now is the time for finding ways to take action that will support and sustain our immediate communities whatever they may be. To be black and a woman in america is to know that no matter the political party in power, our group will always be counted as one of those that suffer most from oppressive and discriminatory policies. But I will continue to be proud that of the black women who voted, 92% opposed fascism and that even when we were presented with two awful choices we knew which one not to make.
I say this as someone who critiqued Kamala and was not enthusiastic about her candidacy and moderate policies/proximity to republicans. The 92% imho more than anything is a reminder that despite our personal differences and preferences, as a group we collectively stand together politically. I think there’s value in that.
I get what you’re saying but I’m not sure I agree that we collectively stand together politically because for many reasons mentioned in this piece, voting democratically is really not a metric that can determine that. Now, as I mentioned— I cannot assume why ALL Black women made that choice but there are a lot who have leaned into toxic hyperindividualism as a result of this election — this meme of women sipping lattes watching the world burn down that has been circulating is a reflection of that.
I think if 92% of a group vote in one way, that is a signal that we are standing together and that we’ve put aside whatever personal critiques or opinions to make a choice together; not saying that is/was a right choice and I gather you believe it was a wrong one which is totally ok. I sincerely appreciate dissent and I’m not saying that ironically. These discussions are really important for us to have together.
But ya our two party system is broken, it serves only the top 5% in this country, and on and on. The idea that black women are going to sit back and watch the world burn would never happen because most of us don’t even have the luxury to not work. There’s generally no sitting back for us ever. So if we’re working on behalf of our families which comprise our communities then essentially that is doing some kind of labor that supports the larger community. Also more than anything this “we’re sitting this one out” to me feels similar to your mom or gma saying something to the effect, “I’m not buying y’all nothing else,” after buying you a bunch of things. We understand it in that moment, like where that feeling comes from, but we also know that’s not true because that’s just not her. She is always going to look after and care for what’s hers.
I agree, these conversations are important and I’m glad we’re having it. This election was complicated so to look at the choice to vote for Kamala through the lens of right or wrong, kind of flattens the complexity of what we’re going up against. A choice between a Black woman and fascism was always going to be a no brainer for Black women (and again, not saying all), who are happy with representational progress and tend to vote democrat anyway. If we can hold the truth that we’re not monolithic then we should also acknowledge that some of us do have luxuries to tap out. I find that some of these 92% proclamations are lacking class consciousness as well— not to mention that as Americans, many of us have baseline luxuries compared to Black women in other parts of the world, that afford us the privilege to live lives of relative comfort even as we are the backbones of our families and communities.
Yes, especially those Black folks in these so-called “Promised Lands”. Where I’m at, DC and the DC centric parts of Maryland and Virginia are getting rocked right now.
So many Black folks who if they were of a different mind, would have invested their high federal and federal-adjacent salaries into our community economy in a way that liberates all of us.
Folks who would have understood that folks like me who are griots, artists, and true spiritual beings and leaders, need to not be serving the state, especially if we have achieved the financial abundance that we claim we have in “Chocolate City”.
That we need common ground, but common ground is not a neoliberal agenda or mindset that has us wanting to be the oppressors and colonizers we left behind.
Meanwhile, I believed some of the hype for a while because I grew up in a lovely, kind, and caring Black world in NC, that was there for you until you got sick and gay and sometimes fat. Then, it threw you to the wolves and closed rank as the ugliness of hard segregation, became new South progress, exploitation, abandonment, and gentrification.
So I came seeking the space to bloom, and I have, but now, it’s a liminal space. I am protecting my peace, but I know 100% the fight is not over. Thanks for sharing!
Personally I agree. The only rest I have been doing is not allowing myself to be the person that starts the uncomfortable conversations or participating in public marches. Outside of that i still boycott businesses that support Israel, I try to keep up with the policies being passed, I support black content and businesses, I donate when I can and I read up on black struggle movements the 60s that were more about infrastructure and economics. Biggest example that was discussed by Martin Luther King Jr., was Operation Breadbasket. I would also recommend keeping up with the conversations within the black community from Ronald S Martin's show on Youtube and many other black youtube creators.
Oh my god, thank you for sorting through what I know is a tsunami of frustration to find these words! Brilliantly stated.
you said so much of what i’ve been thinking and feeling since seeing “the 92%” and “FAFO” memes post- election. well done!
Sheesh. I mean damn. I could have restacked every single paragraph. Well done with this.
this was a good piece and although i particularly have more optimistic views one some of your points i agree overall! i feel like a lot of what’s been said and what you wrote can coexist at the same time. i personally agree that kamala could’ve done better overall and i absolutely hate the amount of turned eyes to genocide although i still feel as though she definitely was the best candidate to at least set the foundation for progression.
I feel collected! And more contemplative than I have in months. Frankly, I’m tired of the bullshit across many verticals but I agree that we have to move beyond a % and realize this isn’t a zero sum game. It’s our actual lives, and the lives of future Black generations. Thank you for the wake up call!
Thank you for being brave enough to say it!
Your words express what I’ve been thinking since November about this damn 92%. We cannot and shall not allow fascism lying down. I do want to point out that Tricia Hersey who wrote the Rest Is Resistance manifesto is of the philosophy that resisting capitalism and replacing individualism with a stronger and deeper sense of community is how we can make an impactful change in society. She cites those who organized before us as important sources for her work. Folks have taken the meaning they wanted from her words. But this essay has the right idea for how we create change together.
I keep trying to point out the holes in this ideology of sitting back and pretending we will be fine, and of expecting black politicians and millionaires to save us somehow, but a lot of people don't want to hear it. So they won't.
Thank you for this word! Because I too am perplexed at how we can "sit out" tyranny that will be knocking on our front doors or dragging us out of them.
thank you for reading!