Issa Rae already read our minds by saying she was "rooting for everybody black," now we get to put our money where our mouth is! The Los Angeles chapter of Black Lives Matter is fighting against white supremacy and white capitalism with its initiative entitled, "Black Xmas," which pushes for holiday shoppers to buy from black-owned businesses, per Newsweek.
We’re dreaming of a #BlackXmas…where folks withhold dollars from White capitalism and use resources to #BuildBlackCommunity. Instead of spending, DONATE to a Black organization as a holiday gift for your loved ones or #BuyBlack. Go to https://t.co/klHABpJaeu for more.— #BlackLivesMatter-LA (@BLMLA) November 26, 2017
“We say ‘white capitalism’ because it’s important that we understand that the economic system and the racial structures are connected,” said California State University, Los Angeles (CSU-LA) professor and BLM leader Melina Abdullah on her weekly radio show, Beautiful Struggle. “We have to not only disrupt the systems of policing that literally kill our people, but we have to disrupt the white supremacist, capitalistic, patriarchal, heteronormative system that is really the root cause of these police killings.”
Black Xmas, which was a mission for last year's holiday season as well, calls for an elimination of traditional holiday shopping and instead transfer that energy into investing in the black community.
“Black Lives Matter and other organizations build a strong critique and understanding of racism and white supremacy and sexism and homophobia, transphobia, but we have to have as much hatred or vitriol against capitalism,” explained Anthony Ratcliff, another CSU-LA professor and BLM leader. “Until we start to see capitalism [is] just as nefarious as white supremacy, we will always be struggling.”
For more information on the Black Xmas initiative, visit https://blackxmas.org/.
Let's root for everybody black and buy from everybody black!