What "Respect My Existance or Expect My Resistance" Means.

Hello Dreamers.

At time of write I have this side hustle trying to sell print on demand posters of some of my digital art. Its called Bold Expressions Spot if your interested to check it out.

You can own this image as a poster print here. Has an alternative colour swatch.

As part of operations I run a few ads on Facebook. There I link to other posters in the store. A/B testing showed that many resonated with the "Respect My Existance or Expect My Resistance" piece over others within my collection.  Those posts have gotten a lot of Likes and Shares on Facebook.  As with anything screaming 'woke' some confused trolls have come along who don't seem to get it.

Origins of the Phrase

It might be a surprise to no one that I didn't think that one up.  The earliest known quoting of the phrase would be in the 1960's during the Civil Rights movement in the United States.  Coined by black Americans fighting for human dignity and equal rights under the law.  During Jim Crow, where Blacks were literally considered less than Whites.

Overtime the phrase has been co-oped by other traditionally marginalised groups for the fight-words that they are, in their own demands for equality and dignity.

What Does It Mean?

The phrase can be broken down in 2 ways: Respect Existance, Expect Resistance.

1. To honour the inherit dignity of your fellow human.  To accept and acknowledge them, and allow for them to be different without penalty.  That what they are is neither fiction or error.

2. Failure to do the 1st will result in those fellow humans to push back.  It becomes a matter of survival, for with its absence, the affected humans are in danger of exploitation, and even death.

   
   

In Closing

You have a right to exist, however that manifests.  So long as you are not hurting anyone you should be allowed to life your life, regardless of ethnicity or gender, or who you fell in love with or how you want to form community.