Black Lives Matter Toolkit

WHY THE AFGHAN DIASPORA MUST SUPPORT BLACK LIVES

Simply put, because injustice is injustice. Anti-black racism is a very real thing in our Afghan diaspora community and we, first off, must acknowledge our complicity in anti-blackness. We have to come to terms with the fact that we have not done enough to combat our biases and bigotry. As Afghan Americans, we profit off the hard work, sacrifice, and labor done by black folks who came generations before us. Waves of Afghan immigrants have benefited from the existence of The Nationality Act of 1965, something that was fought for by black activists and was made possible by the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The issues brought forth by the Black Lives Matter Movement are not ones that merely concern black lives, but ones that concern us all.

Solidarity with black folks is about a mutually shared collective struggle and a collective liberation. Afghans cannot be free unless all black people are free. The Afghan diaspora must not turn away from this moment and must instead embrace it wholeheartedly. In fact, our diaspora includes mixed race black Afghans who are part of our community and often feel left out. We hope this toolkit is instructive in having conversations in our community and beyond.

HOW OUR FATES ARE LINKED

Black lives are constantly attacked, targeted, surveilled, profiled, and otherwise harassed by the state. This has been historically true in the United States, as well as in many other places around the globe. The system at play is white supremacy. It is so powerful that generation after generation has spent time fighting it and trying to dismantle it. We’re now in a pivotal moment that requires further understanding, solidarity, and action from the Afghan diaspora. Saying “black lives matter” by itself is not enough. Our community must do the internal and reflective actions to match what we are saying.

White supremacy is also a system at play in Afghanistan, for example, where the American occupation has lasted 19 years. The same type of attempt at occupation that happened in Kabul or Helmand Province is visible in the streets of Baltimore and Minneapolis, cities with significant black populations. In fact, there’s a direct linkage between what the Department of Defense uses in Afghanistan and then repurposes for American streets, through its 1033 Program. For one to imagine how a black person feels in an underserved but overpoliced part of town, one can think of what parts of Afghanistan looked like while it was being patrolled by American or former Soviet soldiers. 

The Afghan diaspora must also understand that white supremacy is not our friend. The same system that wreaks havoc against black communities is the same one that bans Muslims from this country and works to stop many of us from voting. Many in the diaspora, in fact, recognize and condemn militarized attacks in Afghanistan, Palestine, and beyond. But it is critical to recognize that the same systems that illegally occupy Afghanistan, support an apartheid state in Palestine, and have created the worst humanitarian crisis in Yemen are the same structures that oppress and destroy black communities. Our communities are linked and mutually depend on allyship and a collective effort towards liberation.

HOW TO BE AN ALLY AND HAVE EFFECTIVE CONVERSATIONS

This moment is not about us–it’s about the liberation of black folks in this country. That requires us to be quiet, listen, learn, process but, most importantly, to decenter ourselves from the conversation. While our collective struggle is linked, it is important to remember being a good ally means centering black voices and stories. It is critical to unlearn racism by educating yourself with resources from black folks. 

We understand that having conversations about police brutality, white supremacy, oppressive structures, and police abolition can be difficult to have with our family members, friends, and neighbors. It’s essential to understand that many in our community are traumatized by their refugee pasts and fear instability. To have constructive conversations, this baseline of understanding is needed and moving the needle on conversations requires patience and unlearning on the part of many of our family, friends, neighbors, and ourselves. This conversation is one that needs to be started today but should be continued over the long-term. 

Another resource was created by ADEP Organizer Halema Wali on the way to explain the concept of police abolition to our parents in terms that they understand. See here.

WHAT TO READ AND WATCH

We suggest watching these easily-digestible videos for a quick introduction on the systems in place. 

Movies and shows we recommend:

  • 13th – Netflix
  • “The Racial Wealth Gap” Explained – Netflix
  • When They See Us – Netflix
  • LA 92 – Netflix
  • Malcolm X – Netflix
  • Time: The Kalief Browder Story – Netflix
  • I Am Not Your Negro – Amazon Prime
  • If Beale Street Could Talk – Amazon Prime, Hulu
  • Just Mercy – Amazon Prime

Podcasts we recommend:

Books and articles we recommend:

OTHER TOOLKITS

ORGANIZATIONS TO SUPPORT AND DONATE TO

RESOURCES IN DARI AND PASHTO

The following are letters authored by the folks over at the “Letter for Black Lives.” We have translated them into Dari and Pashto, thanks to the generous help of Behnaz Hessari and Daud Ayazi.

Letter for Black Lives (Dari)

Letter for Black Lives (Pashto)

“Black Lives Matter” in Dari and Pashto

We recognize that this may be the first time our community is having discussions in our native languages about black lives, and how we can accurately convey “Black Lives Matter” and other phrases and words that discuss racism and racial identity. We welcome discussion regarding context, as we think humanizing language is key to forward progress and consider our work to be a first step in the right direction. Please use the comments section if you’d like to leave suggestions.

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