Why “Black Lives Matter” is important to me In the last few days, I’ve seen some backlash to the #blacklivesmatter campaign among my friends on social media. Because I am (mostly) sane, I’ve refrained from getting into any fights with friends and strangers on other people’s statuses, but I really feel strongly about sharing why #blacklivesmatter is important to me personally. So let’s get personal. We have two nieces we love very much. They’re both 17 year olds. They’re both beautiful and hella talented and generally good kids. They’re the kind of kids that I have spent untold hundreds of hours just thinking about how awesome it is watching them become who they are. So much promise! So much potential! And one of them is more than twice as likely to die from gun violence as the other – and 25 times more likely to be injured by a gun. Yes, indeedy. One of my nieces is an unarmed, black teenager. I’ve seen some comments like, “All lives matter. Why are we separating the black ones?” Fair question. Why are we? Well, for me, what I see is that there isn’t anyone questioning the value white lives. White people enjoy a level of privilege that many white people are loathe to acknowledge. But it’s real and it’s happening. If you don’t see that in Ferguson and NYC and Cleveland and just about everywhere else, I’m not sure where you’re looking. When I post something about #blacklivesmatter, I’m not saying they matter more than anyone else’s. The idea I’m trying to convey is that as a society we need to start treating black lives like they matter. We need to start treating black lives the way we treat white lives. Ways we might do this include maybe not killing black people for no good reason, or starting to hold people accountable for killing black people. I’m embarrassed that this isn’t already a reality. I am scared for the sweet baby I rocked and read to, who will shortly be going out into the world – a world where she could be killed for being black. I feel so helpless when I think of how there is very little I can do to stop it. I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching in the last year on this subject because I realized that I didn’t know how to be an ally to the African-American community. So I joined the African-American employee group at work as an ally. I’ve started having frank conversations with a black colleague/friend about what I can do better. I’ve been reading everything I can to better understand the history and actions that have gotten us to this point. And I’m speaking up when I can. It wouldn’t feel like I was saying enough if I posted, #everyoneisequal or #everyonematters. Because most of my friends are white and there is no question that we’re equal and matter. It’s a given. But until it’s a given that black lives matter, until we stop the senseless killing, until equality isn’t a thing we even have to talk about anymore, until laws are applied the same to white people and people of color, until…until…until…I have to speak out. It’s likely not going to always be with the #blacklivesmatter hashtag, but my sentiment will remain the same. #equality, #justice, #love, #peace, #everyone, #allthetime, #evenwhennooneiswatching. Thanks for reading.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 05:13:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015