Tamika D. Mallory - State of Emergency: How We Win In the Country We Built

Tamika D. Mallory

State of Emergency

How We Win in the Country We Built

Forewords by

Angela Y. Davis and Cardi B

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Copyright 2021 by Tamika Mallory

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First Black Privilege Publishing/Atria Books hardcover edition May 2021

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Interior design by Tim Shaner, NightandDayDesign.biz

Jacket design by Laywan Kwan

Author photograph by Geeno Mizelli

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-9821-7346-3

ISBN 978-1-9821-7348-7 (ebook)

To my love, to my heart, to my purpose, my son, Tarique.

I know the pain that my work has caused you.

To be present for the world requires my absence

in your life at times when I am needed most.

Know that, while my work takes me to places you

cant follow, you are always with me.

It is because of you that I fight this fight,

to make the world better for you. I see your greatness.

Thank you for being my son and my best friend.

In order to see where we are going, we not only must remember where we have been, but we must understand where we have been.

E LLA B AKER

I m from the bottom. To a lot of you reading, you have no idea what that means. The bottom is a place where you have to learn to survive before you get to live. I grew up in the Bronx. That was my bottom, but the bottom applies to any ghetto in America. The faces may change, but the problems in every hood are the same. The bottom is a place where mothers have to figure out how to feed their kids. Its a place where there are no jobs. Its where there are more bodegas and liquor stores than grocery stores. Its where violence is so out of control that you have to slick your face down with Vaseline in case someone tries to fight you on the way to school. Its like a piece of society that America has forgotten, like a piece of a garden thats gone without water, so the only thing growing out the hood is weeds and that unlikely flower that survives through cracked concrete. I guess I would be considered the rose that grew from concrete. I made it out, but a lot of people I love are still there. Still suffering. Still neglected. Nobody can hear their cries for help. So, I use my voice.

Dont get me wrong. I aint no activist. Tamika is the activist. Shes the one the people need. Im just a real-ass bitch whos not afraid to speak up when I see something wrong. Thats the thing that gets me. America is blatant when it comes to disrespecting and systemically murdering people of color. Its obvious. Its wrong, but everybody is afraid to speak up. Theyre afraid to lose their endorsement deals, afraid to offend their fans, but I cant help it. If I see it, I have to speak it, because Ive been blessed with a platform that people pay attention to. Yes, Im a rapper. Yes, I twerk. No, Im not trying to be your childrens role model. But I still have an opinion on the injustices of Black and brown people. I dont care that Im not perfect. I dont care that it doesnt come out eloquently. People misunderstand my message sometimes because it comes out wrong. I dont express it like a scholar. I get emotional. I let my anger bring out the accent, and sometimes it exposes the things I dont know. I curse. I call people out. I say all the right things the wrong way, but Ill tell you thisyou dont have to be a college graduate to be on the right side of history. My heart leads me to speak up. I dont gain anything from speaking up, for standing with Tamika, for aligning myself with Breonna Taylors family or bringing awareness to our brothers and sisters locked up in prisons. I just want change. Im trying to contribute to change. This conversation is for everybody. Every voice belongs at the table. From those surviving at the bottom, like I was once upon a time in the Bronx, to the rich white celebrities who grew up in Beverly Hills. Everyone who is willing to speak about the injustices against people of color should be welcome to this fight. No, Im not on the front lines. We have our superheroes for that. Thats Tamikas place. Thats not my place, but the awareness that I can bring with a single tweet, with a single social media post, with a single sound bite, is what Im bringing to the potluck. Thats my contribution, and yes, sometimes I put my foot in my mouth, sometimes I feel out of place, sometimes I feel unwelcome because Im not a traditional activist, but I still activate.

I hope this book, written by a woman who I look up to, a woman who shows all sides of herself to make sure she is relatable to regular people like me I hope I learn from her words. I hope this book gives me knowledge and helps me understand the history of the plight of people of color. I dont want to study it the way I did when I was in school. I want to feel Tamikas perspective. I want to be inspired and guided to be a better activist so that I use my voice in a way that is impactful to the fight for freedom because I am criticized a lot for speaking up and saying the wrong things. I see people talk about my lyrics and me twerking like those things dont allow me to give myself to injustice. The world makes me feel like I dont have a seat at the table sometimes, but the ones who love to criticize shouldnt care about who is sitting at the table. Whether its an old-school activist from the great civil rights era or a new-school social media activist. We all want the same things. If Im doing something wrong in the way I represent the movement, dont shun me, teach me. Help me. Tell me how to use my influence in a way that pushes forward the agenda for justice and equal rights. Thats what I want. Im so honored to be in this book with Dr. Angela Davis. She is our hero. Sometimes because of the haters, I feel like I should just shut up, but I know I cant. Its too serious. Dr. Davis, please tell me and people like me, how do we activate? Are we welcome? How does someone like me, someone who has no political background, whos a little loud, a little unbuttoned, how does that girl or boy from the bottom do their part?

CARDI B

T his pursuit of Black freedom for Black people has persevered over so many centuries and has claimed untold numbers of proponents. I consider myself one of many who have helped to push forward this struggle. It goes without saying that what is necessary to guarantee its continued presence is young people who can guarantee its future trajectory. Yes, of course you are welcome and you know that you are especially needed at this moment. Just as this movement requires the sturdy shoulders, forceful words, and steady leadership of our sister Tamika, we also need your vision, your creative power, and your unabashed political interventions. You inspire Tamikaand you inspire all of us. Young activists today recognize that structures have to be transformed, systems must be changed, and that we need a revolutionary approach to racism, misogyny, climate change, homophobia, and transphobia.