“The Revolutionary Column” is our monthly series by raptivist Bella BAHHS where she spits revolutionary commentary on politics and pop culture.

I won’t lie. I loved seeing discontented American citizens storm and seize the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6. I watched in utter delight as U.S. Capitol Police retreated and cowered in resignation as a slice of thousands of President Donald Trump supporters rioted and stormed the Capitol. 

It was the freedom for me. Freedom from the limitations imposed on Black Americans and our co-conspirators who dare to resist fascism.

I’m choosing to name this as freedom instead of white privilege because I want it, since I cannot ever have white privilege. I’m choosing nouns such as American citizens and protesters instead of white supremacists and terrorists because I want to be shown the same respect and dignity when I engage in acts of civil disobedience. 

And I do engage in civil disobedience quite often.

Last summer, I was tear gassed by the Chicago Police Department (CPD) during the protest that led to the removal of the Christopher Columbus statue in downtown Chicago on July 17.  A young Black girl named Miracle Boyd had her teeth knocked out. White co-conspirators had their heads busted open by batons. 

I don’t wish that brutality and unjust denial of first amendment protections on anyone. Not even my worst enemies. Not even Trump supporters. 

Sure, Trump supporters only seized the Capitol because they’re sore losers. The president lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden. But let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Insurrection is necessary.

The presidential election process in this country must be altered and the Electoral College should have been abolished a long time ago. Just because my preferred candidate won this time around does not mean that I can or should deny the truth of how fundamentally flawed and undemocratic the current system is. 

In 2016, presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by nearly three million ballots and still lost the presidential election. Instead of insisting that American citizens had been snubbed and demanding rectification, Clinton conceded the election and upheld the validity of the Electoral College. 

Any hope Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) had given me for the future of the Democratic Party died right there in the absence of an emergent leader who would defy tradition to defend the dignity of their constituency. And I decided right then that I wanted a coup. I’d even go so far as to say I manifested it.

Sure, my manifestations need fine-tuning. But seriously, who else but Trump would attempt such a thing and call for a violent protest to seize the U.S. Capitol? Who else has emboldened a base of supporters to fearlessly answer such a call? To even try their hand at such a seditious feat on U.S. soil, it had to be Trump and the Proud Boys.

Now obviously I’d prefer a President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ administration over a forcefully imposed Trump dictatorship. Still, considering the U.S. has a long-standing tradition of supporting coups abroad and ruthlessly interfering in foreign elections around the world, I’d say Trump’s persistent efforts to undermine the outcome of the 2020 presidential election is just chickens coming home to roost. 

After former President Barack Obama disappointingly proved to be no “Spook Who Sat by the Door,” I dismissed the possibility that a coup could happen as an inside job incited by a sitting president. I realize now that Trump is to white supremacists what I had hoped Obama would be to Black revolutionaries. 

I’ll never forget the day Obama assailed the young Black freedom fighters of Baltimore who protested the police murder of Freddie Gray in righteous rage, calling them “criminals and thugs” during a White House press conference in 2015. He asserted that “when individuals get crowbars and start prying open doors to loot, they’re not protesting. They’re not making a statement. They’re stealing.” 

I’ve never forgiven him for it. I know what it would’ve meant to the Black Lives Matter movement to hear him say instead, “I know your pain. I know you’re hurt. But you have to go home now. We love you. You’re very special.” That’s what Trump said on Jan. 6 to protesters who used crowbars to gain entry into the Capitol building to loot the offices of our representatives and senators and steal votes.

Right-wing extremists found the perfect leader in Trump. Now it’s time for those of us on the left to fine-tune our desires and manifest the leadership we need to survive the inevitable demise of the Republic of the United States of America. God help us.

(Black Ancestors Here Healing Society) is a Chicago-based raptivist and revolutionary, nationally known for making sedition irresistible through her art, activism and advocacy.