black lives matter
- madi
- Jun 8, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 28, 2020
There's so much to say it's difficult to decide where to start. I'll start by recognizing my privilege as a white woman. In saying that, I recognize that I can go for a walk, a run, get pulled over, reach for my wallet, all without being shot for the color of my skin. I can go through life without giving a second thought to the dangers the color of my skin poses to my life. But, I refuse to do that. I refuse to go through life without acknowledging my privilege. I refuse to go through life staying silent on matters of injustice.
I cannot begin to understand the fear and anger that Black people experience every day. As children, they learn how to act around police and how to survive in a world that was not made for them. White kids are allowed to be kids, while Black kids today are out protesting and speaking to the masses. But why?
I am in no way an expert on the subject of systemic racism, but I am committed to learning and educating myself. In watching 13th on Netflix I learned about mass incarceration. The 13th amendment seemingly abolished slavery. But, it allowed convicted criminals to be enslaved. Thus began the mass incarceration of Black people. Black people were arrested for petty crimes and merely for the color of their skin. America cannot function without free labor and thus uses prisons as legal slavery to maintain the capitalist agenda. Such is the reason Black people are criminalized for the color of their skin. Black people make up 13% of the American population and 70% of prison populations. Today, private prisons can sue states for not meeting their quotas. It's a vicious cycle. Black people get targeted, arrested or killed for no reason, spend years in prison for minor charges, released back into communities that are not well supported and have high numbers of police, and targeted once more. The system is doing exactly what it was set up to do and that is why we must abolish it.
Police reforms are a placating mechanism. Many cities and states have implemented police reforms, but research shows that they do not work. Cops refuse to implement them as they face zero repercussions for murdering Black people. The police system is set up to protect its own. This is why we must defund the police. The answer to societal issues for so long has been to increase police budgets in thinking that an increased police presence would decrease crime. This does the opposite as police create crime and seek out innocent Black people to meet their quotas. We have defunded education for so long, it is time to defund police and reinvest that money into communities. Crime is caused by a lack of resources, not by a lack of police. If we take the exorbitant police budgets and in turn focus on education, mental health, universal healthcare, substance abuse, homelessness, and community building, crime would go down along with the need for police. It's really not that radical of an idea once you put the people first.
In an effort not to take up space, I will stop there for now, however there is a LOT more to be said. Below are some resources at your disposal. Do not sit idly by and be complacent to systemic, systematic, and institutionalized racism. Speak up, do the work, and support Black people and Black voices.
I've compiled a short list of resources, accounts to follow, google docs, and Black-owned businesses to support. This is not an exhaustive list, but it is a start. There are many ways to educate yourself today, so start with your preferred medium and go from there. The sheer amount of resources at the tip of our fingers is insane! There is no need to rely on Black people to educate you. They are tired and they live this every day. You have privilege to merely learn about racism rather than living it. No one can force you to educate yourself, you have to take it upon yourself to do it and in doing so decide if you are going to be an active ally or passively side with racism. It should be an easy answer.
On the subject of supporting Black-owned businesses, in the age of Amazon it's easy to give in to our lazy tendencies and go with the fast, cheap option. If we all just took the time to research Black-owned and local businesses, we could make a difference because you cannot separate capitalism from racism. As a consumerist society we're always going to consume, so might as well support Black-owned businesses while doing so. Take the time, make the switch. I can promise you for every store you use, there is a Black-owned equivalent. Also, take the time to evaluate the businesses you support. Do they use Black models? Do they have Black people on their board of directors? How are they responding publicly right now? Is it a half-assed performative statement or are they really putting in the work? Ben and Jerry's for example called out white supremacy by name, if you're gonna buy ice cream, buy from them.
Books:
Me and White Supremacy - Layla F. Saad
Just Mercy - Bryan Stevenson
Unapologetic - Charlene A. Carruthers
The New Jim Crow - Michelle Alexander
American Dirt - Jeanine Cummins
White Rage - Carol Anderson
White Fragility - Robin Diangelo
Movies:
13th - Netflix
I am Not Your Negro - Netflix
Paris is Burning - Youtube
TV Shows:
When They See Us - Netflix
Watchmen - HBO
Instagram accounts:
@jackieaina
@blklivesmatter
@blackvisionscollective
@sooakland
@nowhitesaviors
@ihartericka
Podcasts:
1619
The Daily
Seeing White
With Friends Like These
The Great Man Within
Google docs with resources, places to donate, and petitions to sign:
Youtube:
Education:
Stream to Donate (watch videos with adblockers turned off, do not skip ads and you can donate just by watching!):
Black-owned restaurants in the bay area:
Black-owned businesses:
After publishing this, there's so much more I didn't touch on. How "All lives matter" is inherently racist. How focusing on the looting rather than the countless deaths by the hands of the police is inherently racist. How almost every system in our country is inherently racist ie education and medicine. I decided to take this post in a certain direction, but there's so much more to say. Look to Black voices at this time, not mine.
Powerful stuff. Thank you