I haven’t said much on current events via social media. And I realize now I definitely should’ve posted this sooner.
So now I want to concisely and effectively share my thoughts with you (so that then we can get back to amplifying and educating and the nitty-gritty of it all).
I have been too quiet because I have not wanted to feel like I am posting something for accolades or acceptance or for outward appearance.
I don’t want a pat on the back or to check a box. I don’t want this to be an internet trend that rises and falls without lasting change.
Yet I realize this is not an excuse.
To those who have felt that my silence means that I am complacent, I am sorry. I do not want to remain silent when it is necessary to speak and to help Black voices and resources and solutions be heard.
So I want you to know these words come from a place of honesty and a hunger for change.
I am listening.
I have been fortunate to learn much in recent months and years, yet I still have a long way to go, and I am continuing to learn.
I am acknowledging that I have allowed the perpetuation of systematic racism.
I acknowledge that the protests and the rioting and the moving happening right now is part of a larger protest against a country that has worked against Black folks since its inception.
I am apologizing for past ignorance.
I strongly believe change cannot happen until white people accept we are the problem, and our avoidance or watering down of this fact is what allows racism to continue to run rampant in our society.
I am amplifying Black voices.
I am seeking to create change in my local community and in this nation.
To my white friends and readers and people reading this, I urge you to do the same.
There are incredible black voices out there right now, and I encourage you to listen to them more than me right now.
I’m sharing a few resources that have had a profound effect on me personally (and I would love to have a conversation with you about them!):
- This Vox Video:
- literally anything Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, one of my favorite authors, has touched.
I know you’ve already heard this all a million times, but it must continue to be said as long as systematic racism persists.
Please do your own research.
Please sit with the discomfort, and keep asking yourself the hard questions.
Please keep listening to the incredible Black voices out there.
here are countless books and movies and articles and podcasts than I have room to post, so here is just one link to many of these resources.
“First Listen, Then Learn: Anti-Racism Resources for White People”
Let our education lead to continued action that lasts months and years and decades beyond posting black squares.
(image via Pexels)