I remember the first time I was made conscious of my light skin racial ambiguity privilege ... it was a conversation that planted a seed in my mind that grew a new red wood tree in my forest of consciousness ...it was the middle of the night before our big first midterm in college , we were all studying in a lounge together , and we were exhausted borderline hAngry ... I felt the energy of the group so I told them lets go get some food ... one of my friends laughed and (F) said Ruben its Berkeley bro , nothing is open this late , and besides unless you got a car you aint got enough arms to bring all of our food back because aint nobody trying to get shot tonight everyone laughed ... (R) wait ... what? ... why would we get shot?! theres turf wars like that in Berkeley?!! ... (F) responded shaking his head no bro you aint getting shot , you dont fit the visual profile of the enemy of the state , theyll protect you and serve us to the soil... theyd probably get you too if they knew you were Mexican but you pass ... passing helps you stay alive ... After that night I became hyper aware of every time my friends felt unsafe and I felt unsafe ... I noticed how that fear developed proactive ways for us to protect ourselves ... We wore our college IDs as necklaces and in place of cell phone pant clip cases to say WE BELONG please stop questioning our place in this university with those stares and passive aggressive questions ... We wore college apparel as frequently and strategically as possible as symbols of please YES WE ARE A STUDENT HERE ... We struggled to figure out exactly how to communicate I CANT BREATHE to university staff and faculty ... We struggled hearing our families missing us, while at the same time, being happy we were in safer places and then during the holidays hearing their voices worried about our visits home for the holidays fearing something would go wrong so they would say Make sure to wear your college sweater to keep you safe ... Entertain that thought for a second, how college apparel function as DONT SHOOT non-bullet proof vests in the minds of our families. Racism (as all isms) are deep sickness that are infected they are not in our nature ... As with any sickness , we must acknowledge our illness , learn its points of origin , act on the healing needed, AND become proactive about preventing future infections ... May we march in unity towards healing fam ... A reflection in solidarity & unity with MILLIONS MARCH LOS ANGELES (LA) PHASE ONE
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 20:40:04 +0000
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