Tag Archives: Nigger

07.08.12
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Re-Appropriation & Politics of Value


INTRO

After having some discussions with my brother & comrade William Richardson in regards to the re-appropriation of words I decided that a big component of that discussion should include looking at the basics of who/what controls meaning/value in a society.  I believe that this is a crucial point of the discussion because if the oppressed are the ones working to re-formulate the meaning/value of something then they will do so in vain (in many ways) because of one daunting truth: THE OPPRESSED DO NOT HAVE CONTROL OVER DICTATING VALUE/MEANING…they lack the social and political power & thus their attempts will be shot down & destroyed by the majority population.  Re-appropriation is about re-formulating or changing the meaning or value of a word or object.  Such change requires that the majority audience accepts the said re-appropriation or social backlash will ensue. Continue reading →

06.28.12
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Re-Appropriate What? [BTC]


Not too long ago I had a conversation on Facebook that almost every queer or POC activist has had at one point or another, the conversation about reclaiming or re-appropriation words. The background of this conversation is that we know there are words that are used as slurs against oppressed communities such as nigger, queer, or slut. Especially in the black community there has developed a “movement” where people in oppressed communities are using these words in a positive or ironic way as part of their normal vocabulary. This process of reclamation/ re-appropriation is supposed to take the power out of these words and use the power of the words against the enemy. Like everything else in politics, there is alot of arguments and discussions about this political action and idea. For this piece I would like to give a few short thoughts on re-appropriation and when do I think it becomes a useful action for a community. Continue reading →