BHM: Looking into the past and facing the future

Being black in this country can be taxing and exhausting- sometimes deadly. We are confronted with how much society refuses to accept its past mistakes and even embrace inequality to avoid facing reality or responsibility. Seeing video after video, witnessing the severe lack of change over decades, watching books being burned that celebrate our history and explain our traumas, being subjected to the entire spectrum of racism from microagressions to shootings. We are oftentimes inundated with negativity, but we seem to find a way to carry a on. We find a way to cope, to sit with the onslaught of transgressions and move through the world with the weight of this pain, in spite of it, oftentimes with grace. Sometimes not, but that is not without warrant. And it’s not about being strong, because that is not always the case. Strength isn’t something innate in us all, we are human. There are times when this world certainly does consume us. I can’t speak for every black experience and I shouldn’t have to. We all have different ways we deal with the past and understand who we are and our identities. However, we are still here and that does mean there is a perseverance and persistence that cannot be ignored.

Yes, Defund the Police. Rethink the System.

I think what’s being missed when people say defund the police is the ultimate goal: The creation of an environment and culture that enables communities to thrive rather than be terrorized. Providing services that will help people experiencing homelessness, funding clinics that can take care of people suffering from addiction, providing more succinct healthcare, and livable wages. This isn’t rocket science, but it certainly is a science. Defunding the police is definitely something we should be working towards, but in tandem need to address the needs of each community, because they could vary considerably from state to state. Defunding the police is a blanket term but determining how that process will go and deciding which programs will benefit from this reformation is equally important.

All Black Lives Matter

There is no question. There is no debate. There is no wondering. Black Lives Matter encompasses all black lives, all walks of life, all black people no matter how they identify or who they love. There is a sentiment going around that you can somehow support Black Lives Matter but select which types of black lives deserve preservation, uplifting, and care. I just want to simply say, that is not true.

Quotes That Resonate and One That Does Not

I’ve been thinking about a lot of quotes recently. Then, I started seeing one circulating yesterday that made me want to scream.

Revolution Is Never Clean

Rioting is what’s going on for sure, because the definition of riot according to Merriam Webster is, a violent disturbance of the peace by a crowd. However, the people inciting the riots aren’t necessarily the protestors and not every protest ends with a riot. Have you been seeing videos circulating of the way police have been treating protestors? Lest we not forget why these protests are happening. This started as a protest for George Floyd, and has evolved into a protest for all black lives. Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery are the most recent names that come up when talking about homicidal police, but there are so many more lives we are fighting for. The protests are happening because law enforcement has not been upholding its duty to protect its citizens. People in uniform have been using it as a cover to terrorize black communities and kill unarmed black people with impunity.