Pilot Episode Resource
Poem Breakdown
déjà vécu by Noor Simsam
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You may have heard of “déjà vu,” translating to “already seen.” In contrast, déjà vécu means “already experienced.”
The concept behind this written piece is the feeling of Groundhog Day, where you feel the same difficult emotions—the same trauma, the same numbness, the same anger and helplessness hate crime after hate crime. The piece follows the theme of memory, which is often tied to trauma. Flashbacks, a common symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are recurrent involuntary memories. While hate crimes feel like flashbacks due to their recurrent nature, they are real.
It becomes recurrent enough that it feels like it is a part of the fabric of how things are, it becomes tradition, rather than an isolated incident that's supposed to be an exception or an anomaly.
I then introduce the variables that make up this repetitive pattern:
• Machiavellian leaders: Named after politician Niccolò Machiavelli, this word is synonymized with being deceptive. In this context, it is the immoral practices of exploiting traumatic incidents for political gain (i.e., joining an intimate vigil for a campaign photo-op).
• Opportunistic allies: these are people who do not think or reflect critically, rather perform “social justice” trends to gain popularity.
• Neoliberal cognitive dissonance: these are liberals that are adamant on proving that they are progressive. The cognitive dissonance lies in their internal conflict between beliefs and inconsistent behaviour. They choose to offer empty performative gestures, rather than build genuinely helpful community care.
• Lacking imagination to see beyond scarcity: this refers to the political scarcity argument that there are not enough resources to resolve a problem (i.e. “there’s not enough funding, you should be grateful you don't feel as unsafe as you would be in a war-torn country.”) In reality, there is a bounty of resources that simply lack the innovation and strategy to be allocated properly.
• An oblivious democracy that asks "how could this have happened?": this refers to folks who act clueless and completely forget the last time a similar hate crime occurred. There's a large attachment to the idea that “this is not our Canada” or “this is not our London,” but the history is indisputable. Due to the privilege of not being directly impacted by it, they feel no consequence to being forgetful.
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I now characterize the repetitive pattern as a formula where abandoning your racialized identity is a function of respectability politics. A Faustian bargain is a deal with the devil. Just as an agreement with the devil has its drawbacks, there is only so much that you can erase of yourself without still playing a lethal game of chance, much like Russian Roulette. A 20 year-old white supramcist can still glance at you and decide you're not worthy of life
Here, I hone in on the idea that this is not an isolated incident, rather a pervasive systemic disorder that functions at the cost of our suffering and our quality of life.
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A commodity is something that can be bought or sold. In economic terms, something is elastic when its price changes with demand; these are usually things that are not essential, such as luxuries and comforts. In contrast, something is inelastic when its price remains the same regardless of demand; these are seen as invaluable necessities that cannot be substituted (i.e., healthcare, tuition, utilities, water). Here, I say while our humanity is not a commodity at all, a racist narrative is costing us our lives and its consumption needs to fundamentally change.
I play on the word elasticity. In physiological terms, it is when a tissue returns back to its original form after an injury. However, because I am talking about memory, I correct it to the brain equivalence, being neuroplasticity. This is the brain's ability to adapt and gain resilience and is extensively studied to be positively correlated with better chances of rehabilitation and recovery for amnesia, as well as other brain injuries where there's damage in localized memory regions. Thus, I am saying not only are we going to recover this memory on an individual level and address political amnesia (in reference to Laura Tingle’s book, Political Amnesia: How We Forgot How to Govern)., we are also going to make it a part of our long-term institutional memory to create institutional prevention and rehabilitation.
Lastly, I envision that my kids and grandkids will not have to experience this recurrent pattern; our deja vecu (already lived) becomes their jamais vecu (never lived).
déjà vécu:
a feeling that an experience from memory is repeating itself.
a feeling familiar to those that must see the oppression of their own
as a tradition, rather than a tragedy.
it is the inevitable outcome of unchanged variables:
machiavellian leaders,
opportunistic allies,
neoliberal cognitive dissonance,
the lack of imagination to see beyond scarcity or extend an abundance of privilege,
and an oblivious democracy that asks:
"how could this have happened?"
every time it happens.
a formula set up as a Faustian bargain between identity and politics,
until a family neighbourhood stroll becomes a game of Russian roulette.
treated as an incidental finding amidst a pervasive endemic,
touted as statistical insignificance,
yet our dead bodies are the data points.
our déjà vécu can no longer be an elastic commodity,
where the increasing cost of our lives does not urge change.
its elasticity, nay its (neuro)plasticity, must rehabilitate political amnesia,
and reinforce itself into institutional memory
until déjà vécu is the next generation's jamais vécu.
Glossary
Arm-Chair Allies - This is a play on words (because Sarah loves alliterations). The term is meant to address how some people identify as “allies” but only from a distance, like sitting on an arm-chair. Think of people who will tweet about an issue on twitter but will not go out of their way to support or open a door for the members of the marginalized group they claim to advocate for. See lipservice liberals, fauxgressives, and performative activism for more.
Compounded Collective Traumas - “Compound” is the build up of something. Compounded collective traumas is the build-up of collective traumas. In a 20 years post 9/11 world, Muslims have experienced compounded collective traumas of anti-Muslim hate and other intersectional inequalities (see definition).
EDI: An acronym for “Equity, Diversity and Inclusion”, EDI work is often the efforts many schools, workplaces and other institutions take to address racism, sexism, homophobia and other common social issues. We argue that the main problem with present-day EDI work however is that it addresses social issues on a very thin surface-level (or ‘the bare minimum’) and often is a corporate response to
Fauxgressives - This is a play on words. It combines the French word “faux” which means “fake” and “progressives”. In short, “fake progressives” who exercise “performative activism” (see definition).
Intersectional - “Intersectionality” as a framework comes from Black legal scholar, Kimberle Crenshaw. The framework helps us understand that identities exist in multiple intersections (class, race, gender, etc) and because of this so do inequalities.
Lateral Decision-Making - As a team, we aspire for lateral decision making. This means we try to share the decision making process. Lateral decision making allows us to take a collaborative leadership approach as opposed to having one person make all decisions on behalf of the team.
Lip-service liberals - This is a play on words much like “fauxgressives”. The phrase “talk is cheap” captures the essence of “lipservice”. A lipservice liberal is someone who promotes ‘liberal’ ideas through saying the right things but doesn’t take into account the actions necessary to make it come to life.
Neoliberalism - Neoliberalism is a big concept. It’s an economic framework that emerged in the 1980s that continues today. It is a reformed version of capitalism where economic profitability dominates social collective wellbeing. This belief system encourages commodification, privatization, individualism, and reduction in public spending. In the context of our podcast, when we say “neoliberal” we are addressing how social issues are turned into a spectacle or are commercialized. These efforts have symbolic value but they do not address systemic causes.
Neurodivergence - Neurodivergence is the term for when someone's brain processes, learns, and/or behaves differently from what is considered "typical." Another term is “neurodiverse” or “neuroexpansive” which implies being neurodivergent is not ‘bad’ or problematic but simply different and in the spirit of disability justice (see definition) may require access needs. The racialized leaders team is made up of neurodivergent people. We are transparent about our neurodiversity as a means of destigmatizing neurodivergence.
