At first glance, the above photo appears to be a moving, heartfelt homage made by Campbell’s Soup Company to the innocent Black lives lost at the hands of racism. (Them murderous cops and nem are merely a symptom. The whole system gotta go.) With my instinctive “they tried it” side eye, this photo is nauseating and triggering af. This morning, my friend found these cans, mixed among the original soup cans, at a Kroger in Atlanta. She snapped a few photos and shared them on Facebook. My attention was grabbed immediately. I love(d) Campbell’s Soup. But I am mad bothered. Simply put, I’m tired of the placating and bs sentiments. I’m seriously over it. Ain’t ya’ll?
With that being noted, fuck Campbell’s and that paper wrapped around them cans. This does absolutely nothing for the cause other than continue to let us know that they know shit is amidst. But we are loooong past the bringing of awareness phase of this fight.
We know.
They know.
We know they know.
They know we know they know.
And STILL nothing tangible is being done about it. From them wack ass streets to these played ass cans, none of this low rent shit is holding any of them accountable for the injustices Black people face every day. No arrests have been made for #BreonnaTaylor. No convictions have been rendered. No time has been served. None. No policies and laws are in place to prevent these injustices from continuing to occur. (It’s continuing to occur #JacobBlake.)
We gotta stop “awww-ing” and supporting these blatant slaps in the face. This is the definition of insult to injury as found in Intro to Exploiting Our Emotions. Somewhere in Campbelland a group of soupy ass white women (This screams Karen to me) said, “Let’s change a few can labels so they think “we care”, even though we absolutely don’t, and grab these coins”. Bear in mind, there is no mention or promotion of this on the Campbell’s website or their social media platforms. And they post all types of boring shit. This was not about supporting us. This is trauma in a can.
Campbell’s Soup Company Website
Imagine being in Kroger, minding your black ass business and unsuspectingly seeing this on the shelf. My heart would’ve stopped for a moment. My anxiety would’ve gone into overdrive. I wouldn’t have been prepared for this shocking, unsolicited reminder. Isn’t it bad enough we can watch full videos of us been shot and/or murdered like less than dogs on TV and social media? FYI: You cannot post animal cruelty on social media. Just, by the way. It’s inhumane they say.
This was not about support and solidarity. This was racism saying, “M’m M’m Good Riddance. We don’t fool wit you Niggers. Love Campbell’s”. And I’m calling bull shit.
Dora the Goddess is a life experience, my damn thoughts and opinions writer/storyteller for Black With No Chaser. Goddess is a 2012 graduate of THEE Jackson State University and career youth and family advocate. She is a lover of God(dess), Black life, Black words/thought, Black love and food, in no particular order, but food is bomb af. Follow along. The Black Way.
