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BLM discourse truncates the policing problem as one of endemic antiblackness, and cuts of potential constituencies, treating other communities who have suffered police abuse and citizens who are deeply committed to achieving social justice as merely allies, junior partners rather than political equals and comrades. Moreover, characterizing the problem in terms of antiblackness further undermines the possibility of developing the kind of counterpower that is needed, since it promotes brokerage dynamics via the state-corporate/nonprofit complex set in motion by neoliberalism, converting what should be public concerns into new market opportunities, and revitalizing the black professional-managerial class with new blood and fresh faces. ...The demand to defund police and instead invest in working-class neighborhoods and livelihoods represents the promise of Black Lives Matter as a political force, but that tendency has been crowded out by a mainline and popular contention that sees "race" and racism as the principal motive of police actions, in ways that neglect the very workings of capitalist political economy and its specific consequences for the working poor across urban and rural geographies.

— After Black Lives Matter by Cedric Johnson (Page 162 - 163)

[Jane] Jacobs claims that a "well-used city street is apt to be a safe street. A deserted city is apt to be unsafe." True enough, but let's try this again with the city as a totality in mind: A city where all residents are guaranteed a modicum of food, clothing and shelter, and where inequality is not vast and considered some natural ordering, is apt to be safe. The deeply unequal and spatially segregated city is apt to be unsafe.

— After Black Lives Matter by Cedric Johnson (Page 117)

There was no pleasure, no I-told-you-so among the hedge-seers who had for so long predicted that the end was on its way. Now that everyone who cared to think about it agreed with them—though they might abjure the insight—those who found themselves suddenly and unexpectedly the advance guard of mainstream opinion were at a bit of a loss. What was the point of dedicating your life to giving warnings if everyone who might have listened—because the majority were still unbothered and would possibly remain so till the sun went out—merely nodded and agreed?

— Kraken by China Miéville (Page 121)

The couple felt enthralled by the landlord, perhaps due to the way she held eye contact. She seemed invested in them, unlike the other Americans they'd met. There was mold in the bathroom, a dead smell in the air.

The landlord spoke loudly, and the couple started to match her excitement. They found themselves looking forgivingly at a din of cobwebs and a cramped hallway. There was a broken air purifier and the couple compassionately smiled at it, too.

— Imaginary Museums by Nicolette Polek (Page 38)