Black Lives Matter Sparks a Revolution
In order to move forward, we need to find a new normal.
People are sick and tired of being treated like second class citizens due to the color of their skin. We have come too far as a society for it to continue. At least, we should have by now.
Black people have been educating us for years. How many times have you seen videos or read articles where someone is gently and kindly explaining why locs or cornrows are appropriation? Or why it is not ok to touch someone’s hair without asking?
How many black people need to be successful before the old guard and racists see them as equal as a whole? It is funny, in a sad way, isn’t it? How white people can point out successful black people as singular occurrences while holding white people in high regard as a whole.
The reality is that the only thing holding black people back is the need for white people to keep them there. We need true and lasting reform, in more ways than one. This spark has lit a fire under our nation as a whole. Watch it burn.
If my white kids can run around the park shooting water guns at each other without any concern, black kids should be able to do the same. If I can wear a hoodie and walk down the street or into a store without being labeled a possible criminal, a black person should have the same ability.
There is no reason a black person should be pulled over just for being black in a white neighborhood or for being out late. There is no reason that loss prevention needs to follow a black person around in a store.
Black people live in fear. They only make up 13% of the population but somehow, they are 2.5x more likely to be killed by police. This statistic does not count how many black people have been murdered or gone missing while the police sit by and do nothing.
There have been cases of blatant murder that the police dub suicide or accidental death just to avoid having to do their jobs. Does this happen in other situations? Sure. But it happens at a higher rate for those in the black community and that needs to change.
Black people should not be compared to white people when they sound educated. There is no version of “speaking white” that is valid. We may have regional accents, but there is no “white accent”.
The words, “for a black man/woman/child,” should never come out of anyone’s mouth for any reason. There is never a,” you are so well behaved for a black child.” There is no, “you dress so well for a black man.”
These are all things that black people have heard. These things would never be said to a white man or child. They shouldn’t be said to anyone. Ever. In case you haven’t noticed, black people aren’t the only ones fed up, either.
These protests have grown. The rights of black people are the number one issue. That is what we are focused on. However, make no mistake. Everyone is done stepping aside while the cis white man controls the world.
Indigenous people are done. Women are done. The LGBTQIA+ community is done. The Latinx community is done. The Chinese are done. The Japanese are done. The Koreans are done. Those of us who do not fall on the Christian spectrum are done. Everyone who has been bullied and pushed down in order to keep them on top is done.
We are fighting for the rights of black people. We are fighting for their right to live. We don’t mean survive. Surviving is not enough. We mean living and living well. They will no longer be afraid. They are done. We are done.
This is a revolution. Things will never be the same. If that makes you upset, you should examine why. For the rest of us, we will fight to make that happen. People are finally standing together and standing up for black people and it is powerful.
Racism cannot stand. We cannot grow as a society while there are still people suffering for nothing more than the color of their skin.
