Allies, This Is A Marathon and A Sprint, At the Same Time.
It’s like Jake Tyler Brigance, Matthew McConaughey’s character from “A Time To Kill”, made America close its eyes and imagine George Floyd was white. The issues now, are the same ones we’ve been screaming at you about for decades. After the Civil Rights movement, America decided to tune all that racism out. But now, you can’t change the channel. Now you don’t have to go fishing for examples, they’re in the streets every day. The can of worms has been opened, and once they are open, there’s no going back. If you’re thinking about being tired, get yourself an energy drink because you’re in this for the long haul. And judging by the history of the United States, it will be.
Not all people were oblivious to the mistreatment. There are a lot of them who hate the way this country treats Black and Brown people. Not enough of them rallied behind us to make a difference. The system accounts for the fringe base of people who buck it. What it isn’t prepared for, is when a huge segment of people it counts on to be indifferent, is brought online and not as a tool to reinforce the institution. When those people pick a side, and it’s not to keep things the same, leaders in charge of maintaining things, rightfully, get tense, as the shook ones instrumental plays on repeat.
The people upholding white supremacy are wrong. They cannot keep it in place, based on being right. They knew it was wrong when they voted on these bills and covered for these police officers. They knew it when they didn’t shut down banks for predatory lending toward Black people. What they will do, is try to wait this thing out. Like Trump in the bunker, at the first sign of trouble, they’ll keep tossing us crumbs, hoping that we get full.
The statues going down are long overdue. It’s amazing how, suddenly, this person that has a history of being crème of the crop trash, has no business being immortalized, in my presence. It’s so coincidental, that now band-aid can make a bandage closer to my skin color, and the syrup goddess, Aunt Jemima, after 130+ years of being offensive, will be removed. #BlackLivesMatter has been written in official statements so much, it should lightweight, just be used as the letterhead going forward. Thank you for the acknowledgment, we matter now. We always did, you don’t get kudos for the bare minimum.
Those things are nice crumbs, but they’re not what we’re looking for. And what we’re looking for takes time and patience. Refunding social services and community enrichment organizations can only happen if you keep the pressure up. Right now, people are interested in hearing from Black voices. They’re brilliant, deserving, and important, but they’ve been this way, the entire time. While it is long overdue, for you to listen to us tell you how to be a good ally, in the back of our minds, we know we need to strike while the iron is hot. We know how much of a stretch it is to believe that, BOOM, the leaf is turned, for good. We need the recently converted to keep this on their tongues because by and large, white people, only listen to other white people.
It’s just the way it is. You, with your new information and voice, need to continue to amplify past the next few weeks, or months. If you’re really about it, make it a part of your everyday life. Does this mean, you have to think about it all the time nonstop? No. Human beings don’t think about one thing all the time, but it should come up. If Black people can’t escape it, as of now, you shouldn’t be able to either. The same statues, that remind us of a short-lived group of traitors who wanted to fight against America, should do the same for you. When that guy, who lives in that house in D.C., tries to cover for racist behavior, it should make you outraged. The phrase, “I don’t see color,” is now retired. It’s everywhere and you see it.
Allies. The road ahead will be littered with extreme resistance. Family members will disown you, and your circle of friends might disappear quicker than that fifteen dollars Netflix snatches every month, but that’s OK. Being on the right side of history, usually means, being alone, until its convenient. Everything worth having, requires a level of commitment, that fuels and takes away from your soul. The fatigue that might be creeping in right now, is nothing more than the ease of the way things were, trying to convince you to go back. Don’t fall for it, stand up to it. Replace those urges, with purpose. The discomfort, the system is feeling now, is just the beginning. You can’t stop the revolution, has to become more than just a feel-good chant as we march the streets. It needs to become canon. A reminder to you, that being weary is normal, giving up is not an option.
