…and white silence is complicity.
There are so many things to be said about the current situation in our world. The first thing is that it isn’t new. This isn’t America breaking or a failure in the system. This is the truth about American racism and systematic injustice. It has always existed; now it is just being caught on camera.
The second is that we can’t do the work to end domestic and sexual violence without addressing racial violence. Freedom for some (i.e. freedom for cis white women) is not real freedom. We MUST acknowledge and fight to undo the racism and white supremacy that intersect with and uphold interpersonal power-based violence in our nation and world.
The third thing is that we don’t need more white voices weighing in on this. It is time to listen to, amplify, and compensate Black activists and leaders. They have been doing the work for generations. They know the struggle. If you are white, it is your turn to sit back, support the Black leaders in the movement, and use your white privilege to protect them. As Ijeoma Oluo said:
“Allies: Now is the time to be in the service of Black liberation.
Limit your response to what is of real, tangible help to us. Give money, call your reps, protect Black people at protests, elevate our work and voices.
Don’t make us swim through your tears while we fight.”
We can’t allow racism, racial violence, and policy brutality to claim any more Black lives, Black hopes, Black dreams, or Black futures. EVERY organization that works for a better world must participate in this fight for justice. Black lives matter.
