This essay is concerned with the conditions of Black life in the 21st century and the continued need to imagine Black freedom as projects of self-sovereignty, in the current moment of global protests centered on the socio-economic inequities that people especially those of color face, deepened by the devastating effects of Covid-19. The essay’s focus is on the Caribbean island of Jamaica. I highlight the articulation of race and class that springs from a world history of anti-blackness, historicized through plantation slavery. The essay addresses the enduring violence manifest in physical assaults and political projects of Development, that lead to widespread deprivation for lower-income Jamaicans. Yet the essay suggests that it is these very sordid conditions that generate alternative imaginaries for a sustainable re-ordering of life.

本文关注的是21世纪黑人生活的状况，以及继续需要将黑人自由想象为自我主权的计划，在当前的全球抗议活动中，关注的焦点是人们（尤其是有色人种）所面临的社会经济不平等，由于Covid-19的毁灭性影响而加深了。本文的重点是在加勒比海的牙买加牙买加岛上。我强调种族和阶级的表述来自世界反黑历史，该历史通过种植奴隶制得以历史化。文章论述了人身攻击和发展中的政治项目中持续存在的暴力，这些暴力导致牙买加低收入人群普遍遭到剥夺。然而，这篇文章暗示，正是这些非常肮脏的条件才产生了对生活进行可持续重新排序的另类想象。