Hi Mark,

This is really helpful. The idea that we are planting seeds is a lot easier to get on board with and seems a lot more attainable than overnight change. I think many people are unable to do this because most of the time, we let our anger control the driver’s seat. I mean how could we not? We’re also impatient.

I feel a great deal of confusion and indecisiveness in terms of aligning myself with the movement. I think the movement means different things to different people, because it never really has been specifically outlined but we have all attached significant meaning towards it over time. The social connotations outweigh the real goals of it in the first place.

I will voice my support for the movement, get comments on it, then reconsider. When I try to insist that black lives matter without referencing the movement, I feel like I get backlash or seem unsupportive. It feels like a lose-lose situation to me and I feel increased pressure to “pick a side.” But you are right, aligning with the movement has the capacity to drive away the nay-sayers at the first word.

So then I ask myself, is the movement less about changing the opposing party’s opinions, and more about supporting the community in which countless lives have been lost? Can it possibly be both? I don’t know.

And then there is the argument of power in numbers, too. If more and more people support the Black Lives Matter movement, then they will visibly outnumber the ones who don’t. It’s a kind of protection, in a sense. The most vocal and bold proponents of change are most likely to attain it. In a quicker manner, at least.

There is something to be said for the idea that planting seeds is complacent and/or not enough right now, because these people have been violated and suppressed for so long, and enough is enough… Now or never. People have been trying to plant seeds for a while and it hasn’t been fruitful. Kind of a “desperate times call for desperate measures” state of mind.

Like I said…It is very hard to navigate, especially as a person who is privileged in the sense that I don’t have to fear for my life right now. I feel guilty that I, as a white person, get to comfortably sit on my couch and debate whether or not to join the movement, and even consider ways that joining or not joining affects me. Black people right now do not have a choice…their lives are at stake right now. The only reason I do it is because I really want to be informed on what will do more damage than harm. It’s upsetting because I have the capability to view this situation from a logical point of view right now, when other people are at the mercy of their emotions and prisoners of their own pain. That’s not fair either.

Maybe it’s me being naive, but I just want to help in the best way I can, and every day I dedicate to having these discussions I think I’m getting closer to answers.

Thank you for your insightful and honest response. I wrote this with the specific goal of feedback in mind.