What if we do the work to understand how systemic racism is present around us? What if we practiced what we preach? What if the Minneapolis Police had charged the four officers right away? What if all children were treated as if they matter? What if people of color didn’t have just reasons for fearing the Police and the justice system? WHAT IF EVERYONE REGISTERS TO VOTE AND SHOWS UP?
Right off the back let’s get this straight.
Explaining What ‘Black Lives Matter’ Means
John J. Sygielski, president of Harrisburg Area Community College, has been using the #blacklivesmatter hashtag on social media, where he is active in commenting on community college and social justice issues.He noted on Facebook that some have questioned why he is using the hashtag when he is so closely associated with the community college. He answered by posting the image at right to his Twitter feed and Facebook page. Via email, Sygielski said that those who have complained were not affiliated with the college, and that students and faculty and staff members at the college have supported his efforts. (Exerpt from: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/07/11/students-colleges-and-academic-groups-respond-week-tragedies)
2020 has been a crazy year so far and we are just crawling into June. Not even half over. Makes me shake my head. Wow does not seem to say what I am feeling.In February I took a trip to Seattle for a new position at my company. It was very exciting. Seattle is or at least seemed to be a great city. While I was preparing to return to Los Angeles, they had just announced the first death from Covid 19 in King County (https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/one-king-county-patient-has-died-due-to-covid-19-infection/). I was pretty sure that was just the beginning.
The next three months are blur already. Stay In Place (SIP) or Stay at Home (SAH) orders. No toilet paper. Stocking up on regular groceries. The news coverage was frustrating, fluctuating and polarizing. Those that could work from home seem like the lucky ones. New York was hit hard. Hospitals were not prepared. Unemployment rose. People got more angry in part due to what felt to me like an unclear path forward.
I still wonder how are we going to recover? How will everyone be fed and cared for? Why are some people so cavalier about this situation? Conspiracy theories. Party Politics.
And then. On May 25th, George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis by a group of four Police Officers, video taped by on lookers and many of us were sent into a mix of rage and grief. (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html)
We could hear this grown man call out for him mother. The pain was real. I felt that call as if it was one of my three grown children. My daughter posted an image stating “All Mothers were summoned when George Floyd called out for him Momma”.I can’t credit the photo as the author is unknown, if you know who’s photo it is, let me know I’ll add.
The history of America is built on the blood of others. Some people came here to gain refuge. Some were here before us and were treated as less than human. Some were brought here as slaves and are still not treated equally in the face of the law or the system at this time, 400 + years later.
The protests started after the videos of George Floyd’s death surfaced, showing a complete lack of empathy, not to mention the harsh response to an alleged “$20 counterfeit bill”. To many of our shock and despair, the officers were not immediately arrested and charged. All four have since been charged. It has come out that two of the officers were very new to the Police force. Why does it seem that the Police are so afraid of men of color?
Many of the riots have been peaceful, others have turned to looting.
In the same way that some people complained about not being able to go out to dinner or get a haircut during the lock down, some people can’t understand how or why so many young people, many black would be pushed to protests. What would it have cost to implement Police and Justice reform before the death of another black man? What are we willing to invest to make life better for all who live here? Why does it seem that the needs of the affluent are more important than the needs of the less affluent?
In 2016, when Collin Kaepernick took a knee during the singing of the National Anthem. (https://theundefeated.com/features/a-timeline-of-events-since-colin-kaepernicks-national-anthem-protest/) People didn’t feel that peaceful protest was “right”. When Martin Luther King walked with others, people didn’t like that. Very few listened to what was at the heart of the problem that we, here in America, have an unfair system that treats Persons of Color (POC) especially Black people differently from other races, from Police profiling to much harsher sentences in court, from unequal funding of schools in less affluent neighborhoods, to unfair lending in financial institutions.
I have always believed that we as individuals must constantly monitor our behavior and ask how can we change to become our better self. I am asking myself what can I do to ensure that I face racism when I see it internally or externally with courage and change. I am trying to share what I learn with the people with whom I am in contact, so we are all MORE aware of the various injustices that our brothers and sisters of color experience daily. I am compiling or collecting a growing list of books, articles, podcasts, movies and more that I have found as a result of following people that know more than I.
The first step we can all take is to accept that we don’t know it all. Empathy is not always easy but it provides a bit of a bridge between what we can feel and experience and what we see others experience. So much time has passed, so many people believe we should be “past this” already. However, Jane Elliott demonstrates, that sorting people by color is no better than using the color of one’s eyes https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/late-night-on-nbc/tonight-jane-elliott-on-blue-eyes-brown-eyes-exercise/2442839/
The first book on my list is “How to be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi. https://www.ibramxkendi.com/how-to-be-an-antiracist-1The first podcast I added is 1619 (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/podcasts/1619-podcast.html), and the second is Seeing White (https://www.sceneonradio.org/seeing-white/).
I want to add that I think reform is going to take time and commitment. I advocate that we must not forget the ballot box. We need to not just vote for the president every four years, we need to be present at the local town halls and vote for local officials and make our values known.
I hope you can find some value or at least something to think about. I will continue to try to share info I find interesting or valuable.
The Janet Lee 