ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author argues that a framework called Afropessimism helps organizers expand political imaginations and possibilities by providing a sharp critique of liberal organizing and by embracing an uncivil politic to disrupt institutions invested in Black suffering. His analysis of what happened at Los Angeles County Office of Education and anti-Black dismal of legitimate claims through Saidiya Hartman’s articulation of the afterlife of slavery. In the afterlife of slavery, Black people receive a “negative inheritance,” being “skewed life chances, limited access to health and education, premature death, incarceration, and impoverishment”. The election of Barack Obama in 2008 brought about a large shift in the political lives of young Black people. In some ways, his visibility as a Black organizer turned federal politician further legitimated policy-oriented organizing as a tool for political change. In afterlife of slavery, Black people receive a “negative inheritance,” being “skewed life chances, limited access to health and education, premature death, incarceration, and impoverishment”.
