Tai Allen + Co
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05/11/2026
Sunday was Internatioal Day of Remeberence for Trafficking, Slavery & Abolition.
Sunday was Mother’s Day…
…My Mom is the legacy of what America promised, stole, ruined and ruins. She is the fighter for Civil Rights we read about or watch on screens. She is the boot strap owner, who understands it takes a village. She is the night school co-ed. She is the lost school days because of the movement to fight segregation. She is result of Civil Rights successes while being reminded that the spectre remains.
She is legend.
She is from a family line of Black Americans — stolen from Gambia in the 1840s — who fight & fought to beckon the promise of Democracy. We know the lie is killing Black people, enslaving Africans and destroying people not White. Punishing those poor & working class of all backgrounds.
Now, my mom is a witness to the dismantling of all the work that could have killed her; a witness to removal of gains being labeled a crimes.
This hurts.
Mrs. Allen is watching the enemies, from her HS days, evil-phoenix back into power. Fire and flames are being used to burn away remedies; the rule of law; and, the slope us into authoritarianism.
All the strategy in my head goes back to my mom (and dad): Build a community you can trust and battle for. Be good. Be educated. Be willing to fight. And don’t become the harm.
Happy Momma Day to all the moms — no matter how it is defined. Happy Mom Day to my hero. No her, no singing. No her, no superhero dad. No her, no understanding of my place in the Palmer Lineage.
Palmers (Leas and Wallers), we fight evil & oppression.
We have since 1767.
We don’t Toby.
PART TWO from Paris: America is my place of birth that never feels like home.
It is my house but a lot my neighbors and landlords are f***ing chaos-creators & stupid. (Recall from Part 1 stupidness is our word for supremacy.)
I have a family legacy of combatting all the causes, symptoms and reasons for the chaos created by systemic stupidness. Today we synonym “supremacy” with “stupidness.”
–
One time, in Paris, a cop car full of clowns decided I was causing issues on a corner. They pulled up and spoke aggressively with the cop-stare. Then…
…I spoke in English.
The clowns smiled and wished me a good evening. See… Stupidness allowed them to approach me. Stupidness allowed them to treat me better than the Continental Black they hoped to intimidate.
–
And this fighting is tiresome. I once told a friend how leaving would solve my woes about America. I temporarrily forgot that the bad behavior of America was sailed over by English, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and French.
All the stories of the Black Expat can cloud judgement. It is probably a want for change.
However, being here did give me rest.
It also reminded me that there is a global conflict against the African Body.
Paris is a battle ground. It is not a escape. It is another place for me to love and worry about.
While foreign on foreign soil, I stay connected to the freedom fights, the workers on the ground, the cultural leaders forcing change.
I cannot help myself.
Not trying, too hard, to help myself.
–
I feel like progressive thinkers are linked by a chain. It is a long, invisible want to not be different but the solution. We are always thinking and imagining a new world. We are always hoping the newness can start now. Save us all, now.
To protect my spirit, I pause and refuse to let the outside ruin the beautifuls that surround me.
–
Two kids are playing on the stationary ski. They are getting zero results and millions laughs.
–
I am going to miss Paris.
I cannot wait to get home.
There are some fights to engage and some things to build.
04/05/2026
Sometimes Black excellence reads like Black ignorance or Black-Forgot-Where-Come-From-Ness (like Akron/Cleveland).
-Tai Allen
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