Introduction
Hanif Abdurraqib’s annotating collection of essays, ‘They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us,’ becomes a beautiful exploration of the lives of discriminated people in America. Through a conscientious use of his narrative, cultural critique, and social commentary, Abdurraqib explores multifaceted themes, such as identity, consciousness of origin, and resilience in the face of colonial oppression. At the center of his work, we see an inquiry into how society treats and views the disadvantaged by using different creative and cultural techniques. These essays reveal deeply unsettling aspects of the current situation experienced by marginalized communities, thereby demystifying power dynamics and other social problems that contribute to their subjugation.
The Power Dynamics of Race and Identity:
Through “They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us,” Hanif Abdurraqib meticulously scrutinizes systemic power differences, which are constructed along racial and ethnic layers of society. He breaks down the complexities of privilege, oppression, and resistance in today’s world. Further on, he goes into the roots of ethnicity, income, gender, and sexuality fronts where such components play the role of identity. He tries mainly to unmask white supremacy in all its forms and the way it divides and privileges people. He, therefore, calls his readers to adopt the duty to alter this power relationship themselves (Clark).
Abdurraqib reveals the uninterrupted presence of race as a factor that shuffles power dynamics, quite often leaving people undeservedly poor and subordinate in America. The performance of the racial identities, including in the process of their establishment and enforcement through means of violence, coercion, and erasure, takes center stage in his investigation. The author elaborates on the aspects of policing and censoring by mentioning state violence and surveillance as well as everyday cultural norms and stereotypes of black individuals. He thus assigns great importance to the demolition of these discriminatory systems and the creation of quite viable platforms that welcome in and make the marginalized communities feel good enough to be represented.
Furthermore, Abdurraqib salutes the resilience and the resistance of those who challenge these power dynamics with courage and with bravery. He descends on the routes employed by the communities of color in the previous time to challenge the shackles of slavery and fight for liberation and societal transformation. While providing a platform for the underrepresented in history, Abdurraqib actually helps to reform narratives of defiance and continuance in the context of long-term injustice. In the essay “Surviving on Small Joys,” the author excellently portrays the strong bonds of black communities who live under relentless power and oppression. Correspondences are made between the struggles of past generations and the current battle for equality. Detailed portrayal of racial and identity relationships empowers the readers to confront the harsh truths of American society.
The Marginalization of LGBTQ+ Individuals:
Abdurraqib carefully analyzes the systemic exclusion and persecution of the members of the LGBTQ+ in society. This is evident in the manifestation of discrimination and prejudice against the group that is negative to them. A series of insightful essays bring out the pervasive homophobia, transphobia, and heteronormativity which, in the end, creates an environment that ostracizes and marginalizes LGBTQ+ members from both the public and the private spheres. Multiple aspects, such as race, class, and gender, are shown, giving the audience a better understanding of how the various types of discrimination amplify the hardships of the trans and gender non-conforming people of color who struggle for equality.
He delves into the causes of the LGBTQ+ minority deprivation, which originated from the colonial, imperial, and imposing of Western norms of sexuality and gender onto other cultures. The analysis further looks into how the colonization aimed to destroy indigenous cultural diversities regarding gender and expression by forcing them to conform to the existing two-gender binary, which thus served as the wall for any non-conforming identities. The dissection reveals how the current ruling regimes perpetuate the brutality and oppression against sexual minority groups passed from colonialism. For instance, literary quotes from renowned writers such as Audre Lorde and James Baldwin allow us to see the problems LGBTQ+ people have. In his essay “Brief Notes on Staying // No One is in Their Transitory Best Art Right Now,” Abdurraqib looks at how works written by queer authors can give people hope and each other understanding during times of crisis (Abdurraqib).
The inquiry also involves an examination of religion and conservative ideologies, which have been tools for the oppression of marginalized LGBTQ+ individuals. The analysis is divided into a part in which churches are accused of discrimination and violence towards many of the gender transitions and queer community. The criticism is that religious rhetoric is distorted by homophobia and transphobia in order to spread religion and make the readers rethink how religious doctrines are misused to take away LGBTQ’s fundamental rights. With sharp and observant statements, Abdurraqib calls for society to recognize the innate significance of the personal identity of LGBTQ+ people and, in addition, reminds us to create a world that respects and appreciates different sex preferences and gender identities.
The Impact of Economic Inequality:
Through Abdurraqib’s lens, economic disparity is revealed as a powerful force that disproportionately affects the lives of those who are already struggling under the weight of systemic racism. The terrible contrast of income and opportunities continues to prevail in America, and it must be addressed for the advancement of social and racial equality. Economic marginalization deepens the poverty and social discrimination chasm for those who have been socially excluded on the basis of race and ethnicity, thus excluding them from educational, health, and employment opportunities.
Abdurraqib’s treatment sheds light on the complex relationships between race and class, where economic deprivations go hand in hand with numerous other threads of systemic oppression that extend the sufferings of marginalized groups (Maslen 113-116). The critique is further expanded to the capitalist mechanism, which is built on the profit motive and the privileged few benefiting disproportionately at the expense of the poor majority. By way of captivating stories, the oppressed voices assume the focal spot, explaining the crosses that working-class people have to bear in the midst of social apathy and economic depression.
He also investigates how privilege and power keep economic inequality growing, leading to those in the system retaining the status quo. It, undoubtedly, makes the readers draw a line between responsibility for economic disparities and an actionable solution to eradicate the basis of poverty and inequality. By applying dramatic narrative, the author shows that we need a reorganization of the old economic system to establish a new and evidently just and fair system.
The Role of Music as a Form of Resistance:
In his work, Abdurraqib investigates music’s resistance-orientated power as an objectified weapon against oppression and marginalization systems. The author achieves this by using meaningful poetry and sound observations, which results in music being seen as the medium through which social change and freedom are achieved. Abdurraqib uses diverse musical genres and artists to express how music celebrates the plight of the voiceless and serves as a united factor in bringing people together. For Abdurraqib, music isn’t just a source of pleasure but an effective weapon against the dominant narratives that silence the historically marginalized. From hip-hop to punk rock, jazz to folk, Abdurraqib gives an example of how humans strive to make music in every facet of life that manifests in reaction to social injustice and inequality (Abdurraqib). Music documentaries through the ages of protest songs and anthems, from civil rights to the present day, show how music has long been a powerful tool in campaigning for social progress.
In addition to the above, Abdurraqib highlights humans’ intimate and emotional relationship with music as a guide through adverse conditions and a source of peace in troubled times. With the help of personal experiences and beautifully descriptive images, Abdurraqib reveals the profound influence that music can have on every end of our lives, making it a source of courage, a source of hope, and inspiration. Resistance through music is one of the points where Abdurraqib enables readers to pay attention to what art can do to create commonality, steadfastness, and optimism amid suppression.
Indeed, music is seen as a unifying factor where language, culture, and geographical barriers cease to exist and thus bring the communities together and amplify the voices of the unheard. This frame of mind underlines that music not only enables the challenging of authority narratives but also offers a point of verbalizing the unsung stories and exposing them to the public (DeCoste). Through observing how artists use various platforms of communication, one can notice their determination to talk the truth to power and address pressing societal issues like systemic racism, police violence, economic inequalities, and other types of social injustices. Through their songs and their appearance, artists claim power, bring the authority of influential people down, and motivate the audience to get involved in the struggle for the creation of a just world.
Conclusion
Hanif Abdurraqib’s “They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us” uses a diverse complex of literary and cultural allusions to discover how society looks at the disadvantaged. By employing historical facts, literary figures, and symbols, he can impart the undeniable influence that race, identity, and power have in the modern American national environment. From the discrimination of LGBTQI+ people to the impact of economic inequality and music as a means of fighting, Abdurraqib offers profound and genuine wisdom on the problems marginalized people go through and the ways they courageously handle them. Employing the personal narrative, critical cultural view, and social commentary, the writer makes people reconsider their assumptions and biases, thus imagining a more just world for everyone.
Works Cited
Abdurraqib, Hanif. They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us. Two Dollar Radio, 2017.
Maslen, Kylie. “From the outside, listening in: Hanif Abdurraqib’s’ They can’t kill us until they kill us’.” Kill Your Darlings Jan-Jun 2018 (2018): 113-116.
DeCoste, Kyle. Imagining Freedom: Black Popular Music and the Poetics of Childhood. Diss. Columbia University, 2024.
Clark, Simon. ” This American Skin”: Bruce Springsteen and the complexity of American identity. Diss. Murdoch University, 2017.
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