Not All Those Who Are Against Empire Are For Collective Liberation

Just because an entity, whether it is an individual, group, or country is anti-Empire that does not automatically mean they are also for collective liberation.

The tendency for many to believe that “any enemy of your enemy is your friend” is a terrifying phenomenon that I have witnessed over decades and now, even within the “political left.”

I have witnessed entire movements unravel because of this.

Currently, it is playing out with the way many are unconditionally behind entire entities without discernment because they have expressed their support for the ceasefire. For example, just because a country is anti-settler colonialism by “Israel” does not automatically mean that that country is for the liberation of even their own people.

It is also critical to understand that some countries who have supported a ceasefire do not actually want a free Palestine too.

It is possible for an individual, entity, even country to position itself against “Israel” and not be for a free Palestine.

Automatically making these assumptions is extraordinarily dangerous.

This is falling into the trap of either/or binary thinking, a prized feature of white cis het colonial culture.

I have witnessed this across decades across movements.

For instance, just because you are gay does not make you anti-capitalist. Also, there are plenty of people who want an end to white supremacy but not cis supremacy.

Indiscriminately pursuing a “side” simply because it opposes something that you also oppose is falling into the same colonial binary thinking trap we are trying to dismantle.

All of this limits our capacity to imagine spectrums, to consider both and also, to have multiple truths at once.

Remember we need to get out of binary thinking. That is precisely what got us here in the first place.

Of course, we must struggle beside those who hold multiple and different perspectives, but not everyone is actually here for collective struggle. Some are only here to replicate oppression.

Deepen your thinking. Refine your understanding.

Our thinking must be expansive, infinite, imaginative, and creative for collective liberation.