There is an alchemy to Black survival that defies all logic – an ability to transform oppression into oxygen, sorrow into symphony, and concrete into fertile ground. This is not poetic exaggeration but historical fact, written in the hardened hands of sharecrop farmer, the fire of freedom fighters, and the unbroken spirit of generations who refused to vanish. Black resistance has never been a single act but a continuous practice – a rhythm passed down through spirituals, protest chants, and the quiet determination to exist unapologetically.
History’s fingerprints remain on our present – from the pseudoscience of racial eugenics to the weaponization of IQ tests, the past isn’t dead; it’s not even past. As the Equal Justice Initiative documents, the racial eugenics movement wasn’t just history – it was policy, sterilizing Black and Brown women under the guise of “science” well into the 20th century. Today, we see its legacy in everything from biased algorithms to healthcare disparities. Yet against this backdrop, Black resistance persists – not as reaction, but as creation.
The TED Talk by Stefan Dombrowski exposes IQ tests as tools of exclusion, designed to “prove” white superiority while locking marginalized groups out of education and opportunity. The Guardian’s investigation into race and intelligence reveals how these discredited theories keep resurfacing, repackaged as “human biodiversity” or “race realism.” Like the forced sterilizations PBS reports on, these ideas weren’t just wrong – they were weapons.
Yet in response, we created our own systems of knowledge. The same communities targeted by eugenics birthed freedom schools. The children labeled “slow” by racist IQ tests produced jazz, hip-hop and algorithms that now power the world. As the EJI notes, oppression keeps changing uniforms – but so does resistance.
The False Racist Theory of Eugenics (PBS) claimed Black bodies were only fit for labor. So we made our joy revolutionary: Cookouts where the potato salad recipe is a mathematical masterpiece; HBCU homecomings that double as economic engines; TikTok dances that algorithmically outmaneuver shadow bans. This isn’t escapism – it’s evidence. Every Black born circle disproves eugenics. Every viral #BlackBoyJoy clip refutes the stereotypes IQ tests were designed to “prove.”
All this reveals a truth: oppression always claims scientific justification. But our existence is the experiment that disproves their hypothesis. When the EJI documents forced sterilizations, we answer with birthworkers. When IQ tests label us, we respond with innovation. They wanted their pseudoscience to be the last word. But we’re still here – calculating, creating, compiling our own data set of survival. The numbers don’t lie: resistance isn’t just possible; it’s already multiplying.
So, to my people, to those turning pain into power, trauma into triumph, protest into policy; they told you that you wouldn’t make it. But here you are – not just surviving, but building. Not just marching but creating. Not just dreaming, but manifesting. Your existence defies their logic. Every time you pass down a story, protect a Black child’s wonder, or reclaim what was stolen, you are writing scriptures for a faith they can’t destroy.
They keep trying to bury us. They forget we are seeds. And seeds don’t just grow – they multiply. The revolution won’t be televised because it’s already here – in our kitchens, our group chats, our laughter, our tears. We are the harvest of a hundred midnights.