Schon wieder, deutsche sch-einheit

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, there were violent riots against people of color, especially Afro-Germans. This was reported by the poet May Ayim in 1993 in her published collection “Entfernte Verbindungen. Rassismus, Antisemitismus, Klassenunterdrückung”. In 1990, she wrote her famous poem grenzenlos und unverschämt / ein gedicht gegen die deutsche sch-einheit.¹ With the recent results of the state elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg, German flags are now being raised bluntly, in time to inhuman 'deportation songs'.
Ayim's writings contain everything that is still important today. Then as now, she has named realities that Olumide Popoola aptly writes in 2021: „Ich fühle mich gespiegelt, gesehen, benannt. Ich kann sein, weil May da ist.“ (“I feel mirrored, seen, named. I can be because May is there.”)²

It's getting colder and darker. It's October and this October is worse than the last, although we couldn't have imagined it back then. Wanted to. I think about how people die from racism. And when we say that, many people are unaware of the many ways in which this happens: I'm holding May Ayim's poetrybook blues in schwarz weiss / nachtgesang in my hands and think about how she died from racism. She often described a kind of quiet violence in her poetry. Her resistance could respond loudly, but sometimes just as quietly:

(…)
es ist ein blues in schwarz-weiß
1/3 der welt
zertanzt
die anderen
2/3
sie feiern in weiß
wir trauern in schwarz
es ist ein blues in schwarz-weiß
es ist ein blues
(…)

(Auszug: blues in schwarz weiss, 1990)³

((...)
it's a blues in black and white
1/3 of the world
dances on top of
the other
2/3
they celebrate in white
we mourn in black
it's a blues in black and white
it is a blues
(...)
)

May Ayim received no empathy from mainstream society.

…hm, verstehe.
Kannst ja froh sein, daß de keine Türkin bist, wa? Ich meine: ist ja entsetzlich,
diese ganze Ausländerhetze,
kriegste denn davon auch manchmal was ab?
‚…‘
(…)

(Auszug: afro-deutsch II, 1985)⁴

(...hm, I see.
You're lucky you're not Turkish, aren't you? I mean: it's appalling,
all this foreigner-baiting,
Do you ever get any of that?
'...'
(...))

No empathy for the pain that is alien to oneself: that is the German attitude when we look at Palestine solidarity, which is limited in Germany and, when it is there, is paid for with a cudgel. People who express their grief, solidarity or anger about the genocidal war against Palestine are politically persecuted in this country. But there is no outrage at this. It also fails to materialize when German reporting betrays its seriousness by differing so clearly from that of other countries. However, the horror is there: but it must be kept secret and anonymized, it should always find the right wording, be quiet and between the lines - then, yes, only then can you say something in a talk show. Can one?

(…)
und während sich
politiker
in
affären verwickeln
und
aufrüstend
zu anstand und ordnung
ermahnen

werden
die wenigen
rebellinnen
als terroristinnen
verbrannt

(…)

(am anderen ende der revolution, 1986)⁵

((…)
and while
politicians
in
embroil themselves in affairs
and
arming themselves
to decency and order
admonish

will
the few
rebels
as terrorists
burned
(...))

Welcome refugees, you have the choice between two of the following options:
a) give up your complete identity
b) be called a terror… you know what

Oh, you don’t like any of those options? That’s too bad, because we do our best to keep those in great condition: through our tv show debates and the high circulation of springer press and…

For example, we are having a debate about migrant stabbers. And the AfD is doing its best to fill its “ isolated case ticker” with reports of crimes committed by migrants. Even if these reports are only selective and more than half of them cannot be verified. Lying press! Everything is allowed. „Muslims who share our values belong to Germany.“ By all means, the rest doesn't. Anti-abortion activists? Welcome, how Christian of you! How democratic! ASSIMILATE TO US - the CDU could also say this instead of 'integration'. Then they wave treats for the animals:

(…) Ach Menschenskind! Das ganze Elend in der Welt!
Sei’n Se froh,
daß Se nich im Busch geblieben sind.
Da wär’n Se heute nicht so weit!
(…)

(afro-deutsch I, 1985)⁶

(...)
Oh golly! All the misery in the world!
Be glad
that you didn't stay in the bushes.
You wouldn't have come this far today!)

We: democratic - you: bushes.We: democratic - you: stabbers ordered to be deported. Got it?
White misbehavior doesn’t exist. Or at least sometimes.

Yes, we have fascists who carry out attacks. But first and formost, we have a stabber in Solingen who was supposed to be deported. Yes, we have German men killing ('their') women and INTA* every other day. But first and formost, we have a stabber in Solingen who was supposed to be deported. Yes, we have fascists who threaten and attack you on the bus, on the train, on the street or at school in broad daylight. But first and formost, we have a stabber in Solingen who was supposed to be deported. Yes, we have 69 femicides in Germany alone as of October 2, 2024. But first and formost, we have a stabber in Solingen who was supposed to be deported. Yes, we haveseveral victims of police violence who die every month, but first and formost…

People are always chanting how silence is violence - but I always think that the wrong people are being addressed: Because this violent silence doesn't just come from an acknowledgement of the atrocities that are then staying unspoken of. It goes much deeper... it's the impression that something doesn't concern you. This silence, which is so violent, is not one that is there out of fear, but one that feels easy: a levity of being that you can only experience when life is designed in such a way that it really doesn't have to concern you. It is a luxurious silence, one that is protected by police force, almost like the private property that allows you to live a comfortable life. And suffering then becomes a disruptive factor that threatens this harmony of silence. And to protect this silence even better, there is then the substitute silence:

(…)
kaffeetrinken
im entsetzen
über mord und täglichen tod
plaudernd

hoffnung und zorn
wachsen
zu
jute-statt-plastik-aktionen
(…)

(am anderen ende der revolution, 1986)⁷

(drinking coffee
in horror
about murder and daily death
chatting

hope and anger
grow
to
cloth instead of plastic actions
(...)”)

But there, between the lines, the shadowbanned Instagram accounts and deleted stories, the conversations in private, in the schoolyard, at breaktime... there is a message buzzing in these spaces. You may not want to hear it, even if it's invited on TV, but it's there and it's inevitable:

(...)
1/3 der welt vereinigt sich
gegen die anderen 2/3
im rhythmus von rassismus sexismus und antisemitismus
wollen sie uns isolieren unsere geschichte ausradieren
oder bis zur unkenntlichkeit
mystifizieren
es ist ein blues in schwarz-weiß
es ist ein blues

doch wir wissen bescheid – wir wissen bescheid
1/3 der menschheit feiert in weiß
2/3 der menschheit macht nicht mit.

(blues in schwarz weiss, 1990)⁸

(“(...)
1/3 of the world unites
against the other 2/3
to the rhythm of racism sexism and anti-semitism
they want to isolate us erase our history
or mystify us to the point of unrecognizability
mystify us
it is a blues in black and white
it is a blues

but we are aware - we are aware
1/3 of humanity celebrates in white
2/3 of humanity does not join in.)

3. Oktober 2024
Ila Mägdefrau

Literatur

1:  Vgl. Das Jahr 1990. Heimat und Einheit aus afro-deutscher Perspektive. In: Ayim, M. (1997). Grenzenlos und unverschämt / May Ayim. (1. Auflage). Orlanda-Frauenverlag.

2:  Popoola, Olumide: Vorwort zur Neuausgabe. In: Ayim, M. (2021). blues in schwarz-weiss / nachtgesang. Insurrection Notes, Vol. 13. (2. Auflage, 2022). UNRAST-Verlag.

3: Ayim, May: blues in schwarz weiss. In: Ayim, M. (2021). blues in schwarz-weiss / nachtgesang. Insurrection Notes, Vol. 13. (2. Auflage, 2022). UNRAST-Verlag. Hier: S.90.

4: Ayim, May: afro-deutsch II. In:(Ebd.) Hier: S.33.

5: Ayim, May: am anderen ende der revolution. In:(Ebd.) Hier: S.89.

6: Ayim, May: afro-deutsch I. In:(Ebd.) Hier: S.26.

6: Ayim, May: am anderen ende der revolution. In:(Ebd.) Hier: S.88.

3: Ayim, May: blues in schwarz weiss. In: (Ebd.) Hier: S.90.

General note: The provided translations of the poems aren't official and therefore only for readability purposes. They are not meant to be quoted or used otherwise.

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