Horizontal Hostility - Recognizing Our Cultural Blueprint
on horizontal hostility
FAMILIAR|UNFAMILIAR is committed to creating a sacred space where Black identity can define itself without translation or compromise. Central to this commitment is our recognition that horizontal hostility —the challenging of each other's Blackness or authenticity—has no place in our collective healing and creative expression.
The Blueprint Erased
One of the most insidious effects of colonialism is the deliberate erasure of Black contributions to global culture. When our history is systematically hidden, we unknowingly participate in policing each other's Blackness based on false narratives about what is "authentically Black" and what is "acting white." The truth is that we are the blueprint for American culture. Rock music, alternative fashion, diverse artistic expressions that are often coded as "white" have roots deeply embedded in Black innovation and creativity. When we penalize each other for embracing these cultural forms, we unknowingly perpetuate the very erasure designed to disconnect us from our cultural power. We cannot "act white" when we are the seed from which so much of what is claimed as "white culture" has grown. Our cultural expressions—whether in music, fashion, speech, art, or spirituality—represent the ongoing evolution of Black creativity, not a departure from it.
Embracing Our Fullness
There is no single way to be Black. Our experiences are shaped by countless factors including geography, class, gender, sexuality, ability, religion, family structure, and personal journey. The diversity within Blackness is our strength, not something to be policed or contested. In this workshop series, we reject the colonial pressure to categorize, rank, or authenticate Blackness based on arbitrary standards. These divisive practices stem from white supremacist structures that benefit when we turn inward against each other rather than focusing our energy on collective liberation. Instead, we embrace the multiplicity of Black experience. We honor each person's journey as valid and valuable. We recognize that our differences enrich our collective wisdom rather than diminishing it.
Our Sacred Commitment
When we gather in this sacred space, we commit to:
- Listening deeply to experiences different from our own with curiosity around any rigidity, pain or sense of danger that arises. Resisting the urge to question or challenge another's Black identity, but to understand it and to let it heal if it needs to. It might not be your job to get in there and root around. Witness and observe your own responses.
- Acknowledging that the contention we face from outside our community requires unity within it.
- Understanding that our differences reflect the vastness of Black existence, not deficiencies in authenticity.
- Recognizing that we are the cultural blueprint, the seed from which American culture grows.
- Celebrating the infinite ways Blackness expresses itself rather than limiting its definition.
- The transformation of colonial narratives into Authenticated Black Archetypes requires that we first release the colonial habit of policing each other's identities. Only then can we collectively reclaim the full and intricately decorated spectrum of our Black humanity and the cultural legacy that is rightfully ours. We not subtracting. We adding. We clarifying. We Expanding in grace.
Is there anything that resonated with you in this post? Anything that made you feel some kind of way? Hop on our Discord channel and talk about it!
StuffStud.io 2025