Kehinde Thurman
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kehindethurman.bsky.social
Kehinde Thurman
@kehindethurman.bsky.social
120 followers 91 following 30 posts
I stay writing and talking about Black girls & women and interpersonal violence.

kehindethurman.com
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kehindethurman.bsky.social
Pink background with white text reads “In Warmth of Other Suns, Isabel Wilkerson details the life of George Swanson Starling who fled the south during the great migration. He had been working the orange groves in Florida doing grueling work for very little pay. At great risk to his own safety, he organized folks to band together to demand higher wages. He would often negotiate to get them something like a week’s worth of wages for one day of work. Thing is, when the demands weren’t met, it meant they couldn’t work so they had to go without pay for a day.” Pink background with white text reads “And even though sometimes those folks had already made more than what they would have earned for the week in the days prior, not working for a day here and there caused a lot of fear in folks. Fear for their actual safety, fear for their livelihoods, fear they would make the grove owners/controllers mad. Eventually, folks got scared enough that they turned on George. Told the people that hired them that it was all George’s fault and he’d made them go along with it. Ultimately, George had to flee for New York or he would have been harmed to a great degree, likely fatally. The people’s fear of what they would lose if they demanded more was valid. As was George’s desire to demand better treatment for all of them.” Pink background with white text reads “But the only way through to better was them sticking together. And the folks who oppressed them knew that. So the fear worked in their favor. At the end of every day, it don’t matter if we think we our ancestors. The reality is that one day we will be the ancestors. And we get to decide which kind we want to be. Whether we will be kind who were just fearful of what we lose if we demand more or whether we will be the kind who demanded more in spite of the fear. Either choice is valid.* Only one gets us through to better. There will be great cost to all of us either way. *Fear is valid. Snitching ain’t.” Pink background with white text reads “And while this could be related to Target, this definitely ain’t just about Target. The Target boycott is an opportunity to do some lighter work. Ol’ dude nem ain’t even brought out the tanks yet. Because if we scared about what we lose if we don’t demand better from Target, we in for a rude awakening for the fear these folks gon work to instill. At some point, we gon have to make much harder choices. I hope we choose community. I hope we choose it now.”
January 26, 2025 at 3:45 PM
kehindethurman.bsky.social
Pink background with white writing that reads, “My momma used to say that if I ever got jumped, to just make sure I grabbed the biggest/baddest one and focus on taking them down. Best case scenario, the others would see I could handle the worst of them and get up off me. Worst case scenario, I took at least one of them down with me. Target, Walmart, Amazon nem trying to jump us. We only need to take one down to get the rest of them up off us. Let’s show Target we not playing. Especially during Black history month. And those of us with privilege and access can take on more than one of the bullies at a time.”
January 25, 2025 at 6:37 PM
kehindethurman.bsky.social
My first post being a book by a Black woman makes all the sense. Now reading:
Yellow book with Black hand holding money and wearing gold rings and a gold bracelet. Hot pink title reads “Bad Fat Black Girl” by Sesali Brown
November 20, 2024 at 5:33 PM