George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many other Black people have been killed by police.
And I haven’t been sure what to say lately. Or if I should say anything at all honestly.
So I’m not going to say anything else. Instead, I want to hand my mic over to BIPOC folks (Black Indigenous People Of Color).
Below are the best Instagram posts I’ve seen about racism that have helped me. And I think every white person should see these.
I've broken them up into four categories:
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Inspirational Moments Among The Chaos
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Educational Posts
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Enlightening Observations
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We Need To Keep Fighting Racism
Inspirational Moments Among The Chaos
Educational Posts
In an essay for the New York Times, acclaimed professor, award-winning author, and director of the Antiracist Research & Policy Center, @ibramxk dove into the topic of how to combat racism: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “No one becomes “not racist,” despite a tendency by Americans to identify themselves that way. We can only strive to be “anti-racist” on a daily basis, to continually rededicate ourselves to the lifelong task of overcoming our country’s racist heritage. We learn early the racist notion that white people have more because they are more; that people of color have less because they are less. I had internalized this worldview by my high school graduation, seeing myself and my race as less than other people and blaming other blacks for racial inequities. To build a nation of equal opportunity for everyone, we need to dismantle this spurious legacy of our common upbringing.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ In order to do this, we have to educate ourselves. We can learn about covert white supremacy, follow organizations leading the way for racial equity and justice, watch films, listen to podcasts, and read books. This doesn’t need to be seen as a chore, but can instead be seen as an opportunity — an opportunity to better understand ourselves, love our neighbors, and become the change we wish to see. #repost: @goodgoodgoodco
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Thank you for these action items @shiftingtheculture. We would also add giving resources. Right now, there is an Official George Floyd Memorial Fund and several organizations on the ground in Minneapolis who need support, including the Minnesota Freedom Fund, Reclaim the Block, and Black Visions Collective. Also, a note on “calling in”: sometimes there is also a necessity to “call out” so please allow space for both. The push to only “call in” can be a way of tone policing, confining, and dictating the ways in which marginalized groups and individuals are able to show up and respond to their own oppression. The feelings and comfort of the offender are centered and prioritized, while the person, or community harmed is further marginalized by having to respond within the confines of the perpetrator’s comfort and terms—not their own. This also never occurs in a vacuum and usually after many unsuccessful attempts to “call in”. #BlackLivesMatter #GeorgeFloyd
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Enlightening Observations
This was written by a white woman. And yes, amplify Black voices, and in that, amplify love. Amplify peace. Amplify empathy. And most importantly, amplify GRACE. @teamev’s poem is a beautiful example. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Black people in this country have never had the grace to be full humans. We started off as property, then became 3/5ths of a human, and are still treated as disposable. Living with heartbreak over blackness is a part of living in this country as a Black person. It shows up in big ways like murder. It shows up in little ways like the prevalence of liquor stores in Black neighborhoods, high student to teacher ratios in schools, food deserts, mass incarceration, targeted advertising etc. but none is so visceral for me today as the lack of grace and compassion given to those who are grieving. As though we are still less than. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ A lot of us are grieving loss upon loss upon loss. This pain is in our dna. I tried to write out a brief history of the abuses Black people have suffered but sobbed so hard I had to stop typing. This pain is both ancestral and current. If you haven't experienced it, dont understand it, or cannot find compassion for it, at the very least please do not invalidate the other’s experience of it. Grace please. Grace. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I pray that you never know a pain which stems from those you love being killed based because of an unjustifiable fear from those who kill them. I pray you never know the pain of consistently trying to find your way in a system not built for you to thrive. I hope you dont ever know the pain of your existence itself being a threat. And I hope you find a way to give grace to those who do.
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We Need To Keep Fighting Racism
Defund the police “The change in direction is monumental, but the size of the proposed cuts is not, activists have said. In LA, Black Lives Matter has been pushing for a “people’s budget” that allocates just 5.7% of the general fund to law enforcement, instead of the 51% of the mayor’s plan. More broadly, longstanding abolitionist groups, such as Critical Resistance and MPD 150, argue that the cities should not be looking for minor savings and cuts, but should be fundamentally reducing the scale and size of the police force and dismantle the traditional law enforcement system. That can start with finding “non-police solutions to the problems poor people face”, such as counselors responding to mental health calls and addiction experts responding to drug abuse.” This has been a long week, and by Friday I get exhausted. But we still at it, still working, still making our voices heard. Defund the police. #blacklivesmatter #defundthepolice
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