Neoliberalism has destroyed community
Happy Sunday. I was going to write a really great email about my packing list for Jamaica but as I was about to leave London to head back to Wolverhampton, I got a flat tyre. So instead sat waiting for the breakdown guy and I’m going to give you an extract from my book, New Methods For Women on Developing Adult Friendships.
This is very top of mind for me as last night I attended Symeon Browns launch for his new book, The Good, The Black and The Boujee, which is about the Black middle class in Britain, neoliberalism, capitalism and community.
It it he asks the same question I’m often pondering, but through the lens of race, rather than gender. That question is -
What is the cost of my ambition?
What does it mean to move through society and be poster children for social mobility at the cost of your identity, community and “Blackness”?
I, along with many other incredible Black Britons have been interviewed for the book, so I highly recommend you purchase it here.
One of the ways I’ve reflected on that cost is through having to leave my hometown in pursuit of streets paved with gold. And my obsession with Wolverhampton is really about proving that one should not have to leave their friendships, family and community to follow their passions, ambitions and creative fulfilment.
In the panel discussion for the book launch, Symeon ended on a poignant note. When asked about what the successful Black & Boujee can do for the next generation or to genuinely make change, he said -
“Start with simply show up. Yes we can talk about politics and radicalism and institutions and power, but until we show up, consistently for our people, we won’t succeed.”
Which is why I drove a 6hr round trip, paid for a hotel, and now paying for a flat tyre 😭 because it was really really was important for me to show up.
The follow essay touches on some of these themes, capitalism, community and... let me know what you think.
