Friday, June 12, 2020

Black Lives Matter

I'm sure you know by now George Floyd was murdered by police. A black person being murdered by police is nothing new. As a white person I am not the one you should be listening to on racism, police brutality, anti-racism, etc. Please GO LISTEN TO BLACK PEOPLE!

I've recently learned (and I know I still have a lot of learning to do) being "not racist" isn't good enough. And no matter how "not racist" you think you are as a white person, you still are. This isn't an attack. Systemic racism runs deep, in ways us white folk, myself included, don't even realize, don't think about, because it doesn't affect us. We need to step up and listen and work on being actively anti-racist. There are so many ways one can help.

If you worry whatever little you can do isn't enough, don't. Don't use "I can barely do anything" as an excuse to do nothing. Stuff nearly everyone can do: Listen to black people. Follow them on twitter, youtube, instagram etc. and listen to what they have to say. Do not demand they educate you, that is emotional labor that they do not owe you. Many are speaking up themselves though, so listen to what they have to say. Think about their words. Sit with them. If it's uncomfortable, that's a good thing, it means you are being given the opportunity to learn and grow. Take it.

On social media, share their words, boost their voices. Share, retweet, etc. In terms of educating yourself, free ways to do so include google if you have access to the internet. Google it. If you have access to a library see if you library does libby or overdrive and if they do Hoopla. I mention that for my fellow homebound folks who can't or find it difficult to get out the house for whatever reason. If you can go the library, go see what they have, but otherwise try getting a library card if you don't already have one and seeing about libby and hoopla because via them you can get ebooks and audiobooks for free right at home through your library. If you can (it's cheap but I understand not everyone has the money) you can also check out scribd.com. They have a vast selection of ebooks and auiobooks you can check out.

If you do have money to donate or spend on black owned businesses/artists/authors, you can do that as well to help. A great resource to figure out where to start helping is here https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/ I plan on working on reading more books by black authors and listening to more black voices. Sure, I already did, but I didn't really do it on purpose and I need to be more conscious of it. I can and need to do better going forward, and educate myself.

People say "Black Lives Matter" because they are treated like they do not. Saying "All Lives Matter" takes away from that point. If you're saying "but all lives DO matter!", no one is saying they don't. However black lives are treated as less than, are killed for the color of their skin, are treated like they don't matter, have been shown their lives don't matter to a lot of people, to society. That is why we say "Black Lives Matter". Black lives are the ones in danger. Please stop drowning out a plea for justice.

I will not be silent because white silence is violence and to be silent is to be complicit.

"We can disagree and still love each other, unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist." - James Baldwin

I hope I am not over-stepping, but if I am or getting anything wrong, please let me know. I promise to listen and work on doing better.

Again, the link for a place to start learning and helping is https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

Do not stop there though. Keep going. Go and listen to black people.

My Social Media: Youtube | Twitter | Tumblr | Goodreads | Instagram | Letterboxd | TV Time

No comments:

Post a Comment