06/02/2020
Right now, everything can be overwhelming. With new deaths of innocent people of color occurring each day / each week it is hard to find a place to begin.
I want to thank everyone who reached out to me to check in and see how I was doing, and asking for resources on how they can take action to protect POC and make this world a safer place.
For anyone who is white, I encourage you to educate yourself and those around you. Being an ally is not good enough, be an ADVOCATE for change. Open yourself up to critique from other POC when they tell you that something you said was prejudiced / racist and correct your mistake. When you hear someone make a racist remark when you're at work, or out getting groceries, wherever, correct.them. When you join in a protest, join hands or link arms with other white people to form a barrier and protect POC from being targeted by police and armed forces. If you are confused or unsure of something, research can be your best friend in understanding how to have discussions about racism with other white people around you. When in doubt, ask someone who is a POC and understand that their perspective is unique and doesn't speak for all POC. Most importantly, when you ask someone who is POC, allow them time and space to not answer the question. Being a POC is EXHAUSTING and having to explain why something is racist is tiresome and adds more burden upon us. Sometimes we may need time before we are able to respond so practice patience. And please don't expect a reward or recognition for being a decent human being.
For POC, lean into whatever you need right now. Whether that is a social media break, or increasing your post sharing, meditating, signing petitions, etc. you are allowed to be angry and upset and any other feeling under the sun.
When you can, exercise your power to VOTE for people of color and others who will actively take steps to end racism in our police forces, end racism EVERYWHERE, but especially for those on the receiving end.
