Correction and Apology on ‘Dallas Activist Held as “Black Identity Extremist”‘ Article

Late Friday It’s Going Down published an article entitled, “Alt-Right Keeps Killing as Dallas Activist Held as “Black Identity Extremist.” In our rush to get the article published before the weekend, we failed to wait to hear feedback from organizers in the Dallas area about the case, and most importantly, about the history of domestic abuse surrounding the individual in question. A history which for many has been common knowledge for quite some time. We take full responsibility for this massive mistake and we deeply regret rushing the article out. By not taking the appropriate time to wait to hear from people on the ground, we risked causing further harm and trauma. We want to express our most sincere regret and apologies for this.

We are working on putting procedures into place to ensure we are engaging in the best practices possible when it comes to such matters. We also appreciate those that have sent us emails and messages, and thank them for pushing IGD to be accountable to the social movements and struggles that it covers.

Furthermore, after discussing the situation personally and taking direction from organizers in the Black Women’s Defense League, we would like to reiterate to our readers and listeners that we should all commit ourselves to support everyone impacted by mass incarceration and policing under this settler colonial system. This includes not only political prisoners, but women and trans people who fight back against their abusers, those most directly impacted by crippling poverty and lack of access to resources, and everyone that suffers from systemic violence and oppression under the American plantation.

In a world where our femme and trans comrades, lovers, neighbors, co-workers and family are subjected to the pain of abuse and assault, we want to acknowledge that poisonous manifestations of misogyny aren’t only in corporate board rooms and behind the closed doors of Hollywood studio executives. They are within our own movements, our homes, and ourselves. Those who face state repression, political prisoners for instance, are not immune from these poisonous tendrils of misogyny and inflicting real harm on others. We want to strive for a praxis that can include the space to resist state repression collectively as well as create real, transformative accountability in situations such as this.

As anarchists and autonomists who see both white supremacy as a central linchpin in the functioning of power, the State, and capital in so-called North America, as well as the primacy of Black revolt in the potential for liberation for all, it is our desire to forge connections with groups fighting for Black liberation. However, we must do so in a way that is based around mutual respect and understanding. We must center the voices of those on the ground as well as those most most impacted by the systems of domination. We have a lot of work to do and IGD wishes to be a platform to better enable that work in communities across North America.