All men are marginalized equally, yet some are more marginalized than others. If you are black, you are no stranger to oppression. If you are a woman, you are no stranger to patriarchy. If you belong at the bottom of the social hierarchy, you are no stranger to classism. How peculiar of us to take just action against severe discrimination cases while we hypocritically turn a blind eye or dish out our own discrimination to those who don’t follow given criteria for a norm.
Most differences are centered in the political undertones that drive their social currency, and controversy is rooted in addressing, gnawing it, or pushing a button that shakes the table of what is considered acceptable. One of the most trying testaments to our generation is the topic of identity, gender, and finding your place in society when you actively engage with the question of who you are and who your tribe is.
As a spiritual being, as far as I can be, I have my reservations, my opinions about the recent turn of events with Lil’ Nas X’s Montero (Call Me By Your Name) and his collaboration with MSCHF to release limited edition Nike Sneakers with the Luke 10:18 Bible Verse, 60cc ink and one drop of human blood in addition to individual pairs that are named from 1 to 666. The ongoing topic around these shoes has been one of the most interesting topics to engage with from a distance.
On one end of the spectrum, you find that the same company that made the controversial Satan shoes also made Jesus shoes with elements related to Christ-like undertones, such as the association with the color white. On the other end of the spectrum is tipping my hat off to the precision of PR around the marketing of this product, the way that Lil Nas X is trolling the internet sending the world into a frenzy, making use of the age-old war of good and evil in effect using duality to his advantage.
However, this is not what I really want to speak on. The element in this narrative the world is sharing today which we would have forgotten about by the time you read this is the issue of the end clip of the Montero music video, which sparked an extensive conversation that people are not all the way hip to due to the conspiracy theory bug and the hyper-focus of the satanic interpretation of the video.
The LGBQTI+ community has been subject to a myriad of discrimination up to a point wherein some countries being homosexual meant death or prison. Only after years of senseless killings, protests, and the call for legislation that protects those who identify with any one of the letters and their meanings did the narrative of safety change for someone who identifies with any other Gender identity out of the heterosexual defaults.
Whether you were outcast by your family, denied work opportunities, or in this case, cast out of the religious homestead with the promise of eternal damnation, there was an extensive fear of coming out and living your truth as your identity was marred by normative consequences tied in discrimination. The scene where Satan is decapitated and his horns are worn are one with a very complex challenge to what we have perceived as right and wrong for a very long time. I killed satan, now what?
What it means to the marginalized and one interpretation of what Lil Nas X’s creativity wanted to say is we as the community that is marginalized, outcast, cursed for our identity have now taken away the source, the place you have promised us for being who we are now what? We have killed or are killing the very being through whom you condemn, punish and police us for being different. We are addressing the elephant in the room. How dare you use dated, politically bias narratives to play God with whom I should be?
Where we find a Jazmine Sullivan challenging the conversation of female agency, we find Lil Nas X challenges the religious discrimination that comes with being in the LGBQTI community in the spirit of culture with trolling. Did he push the narrative too far? I would tend to agree, however looking at this from a holistic perspective, what you would find in occult music videos that drive Illuminati messaging is homage, submission, and acknowledgment of Lucifer as the higher deity now a video where one kills Satan? That peeks a narrative that makes one take a second look at the spiritual war of the ages.
Again, with most political undertones that drive our social issues, it is a fundamental matter of perspective. Whether we agree or disagree with specific arguments reflects who we are and what we constitute as acceptable. I don’t even believe that Lil Nas X was trying to consciously fight the powers that be by taking a political stance where Lucifer dies, hell freezes over, and the damned have no place to go, so you have to make space for them.
This is just a takeaway on the merits of the damned If you are an outcast for the wrongs you have done that hey, you have to serve your time, answer for your crimes and find rehabilitation for the fateful day that you re-enter society intending to better yourself and salvage what you can of your life. However, in an age where no form of discrimination is being tolerated, not to say it is not happening, but to damn someone for being who they are, going as far as deeming them unworthy of life because of their Gender Identity provides plausible ground for a rather different hell.
Maybe it is time to rewrite the criteria of religious ethics and human morals as their traditional conceptions have not been one hundred percent inclusive. If anything, some laws of men have devalued our nucleus of identity because of agendas and narratives that thirst for our egos and consensus on what is universally right. If one were to ask me if I endorse this type of branding, would I buy these sneakers, to which I reply I would not, but would I open the door for someone who identifies with the LGBQTI+ community to have a safe space in my life? In a heartbeat.
I would love to hear your thoughts on marginalization in the comment section
The Story of Duality Continues.
Article by: Malibongwe Dladla
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