Tag Archives: black lives matter

I Don’t Know What To Say About This (or What Happened Doesn’t Feel Real)

Posted on January 8, 2021 | Comments Off on I Don’t Know What To Say About This (or What Happened Doesn’t Feel Real)

Like so many people, I spent a lot of my time on Wednesday watching the breaking news of the Trump supporters storming the Capitol and breaking in. I spent most of the day in shock watching what was happening. I found out because some members of a message group that I’m in started talking about how they were in shock. I asked what was going on, and once they told me I immediately turned on the news.

I had the news on my phone sitting next to my computer so I could listen as I worked. There were a few times during my work shift that it was quiet so I could watch and not just listen. And that made things even more unbelievable. It didn’t feel real. It felt like a scene from a movie or a news story about another country. This didn’t feel like it could be here and actually happening.

I couldn’t believe I was watching our Capitol being broken into and damaged. The number of people who were able to get in without any attempt by the police to stop them was shocking. We have all seen what has happened during various Black Lives Matter protests. When Trump wanted to walk to a church for a photo op, tear gas was immediately used to clear a path in the middle of a peaceful protest for him. But when people were committing crimes and waving guns around, authorities acted like they were helpless. They didn’t stop anyone from climbing the walls or breaking windows. We have all heard how police feel like they have no option but to shoot if they feel threatened. And they seem to feel threatened when someone raises their voice or walks away. But it’s ok with them and they feel safe when people are running at them with guns? It’s disgusting.

And the people who were attacking the police are the same ones who scream that blue lives matter and who tell people that they wouldn’t be shot if they just listened to the police. But they don’t feel like they have to listen and they didn’t seem to care that they were trying to physically harm the blue lives they claim matter. I guess they only matter to them if the police aren’t on the opposite side as them.

All of this was because some politicians refused to believe that they lost. They created ideas that fraud was occurring. They claimed that counting ballots that were received on time but being counted past midnight due to the number of ballots they had to count were somehow no longer good. According to them, it doesn’t matter if you voted legally, if it took too long to count them and an arbitrary deadline wasn’t met, they weren’t legal anymore. They made up a rule that the counts had to stop at midnight even if they weren’t done. They believed that because of the size of a crowd, there was no way they didn’t win. Crowd size doesn’t equal votes. I didn’t go to any rallies (I wouldn’t have gone even if there wasn’t a pandemic), and that doesn’t mean that my vote wasn’t real. They were making up so many false claims that they knew were false but that their followers would believe. And because of that, they created the mob that tried to break democracy.

There may be some politicians that believe in what they were saying, but I know many of them didn’t. If they did, they wouldn’t have changed their minds just because of what happened. So many politicians who said they were going to protest the count didn’t do so. So either they knew they were lying and were feeling like they should stop, or they believed what they said and they were ok with ignoring fraud. Considering how much noise they made trying to claim any fraud, I doubt they would ignore fraud.

I want to be hopeful for our future and our government, but after what happened on Wednesday it’s really hard. I know that a new administration is coming in, but that will not stop the supporters who have been attacking anyone they feel is against them. The supporters are turning on the people who they thought were the greatest because they no longer work with the narrative they want to believe. I can’t see how this will stop as long as Trump lies and makes up things to feel like he is adored by some people.

I am grateful that he has been banned from social media sites. Some of the bans are permanent and some are temporary. But even if they were all permanent, it’s a little too late. The people who made groups online to organize this mob weren’t Trump directly. They are people who feel empowered and emboldened by what Trump has said and they have taken things up on their own. They will not be stopped because the person they look up to most is silent. They will still talk among themselves and I am worried about what they might try to do next.

As I am writing this post, very few people have been arrested after attacking the Capitol. I hope that this will change. Anyone who broke in should be arrested and punished for what they do. They should personally pay for the damage that they created. And they should not be allowed to be anonymous. They shouldn’t be allowed to hide what they did. They should have to own up to what they did and what they believed in and accept that they will be judged by many for it. This was not a small mistake or lapse of judgment. This was planned. They knew what they were doing. And they didn’t stop until they were forced to. This was all their choice to do, they cannot be dismissed as confused about what they did.

The next few weeks will possibly be a very trying time for our country. I hope that we will come out of it ok and we will be able to rebuild. This country should be for all and our government should be fair and for everyone. And we need to work back toward that. I don’t know if we can get there soon or if it will take a while. But we cannot continue going the way we are going and expect that everything will be ok. This will be a challenge, but I hope that many people are up to that challenge. I know I am and I will not stay quiet when I see injustice and wrong as I did on Wednesday.

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Working On My Reading List (or Thankful Again For The Library)

Posted on June 12, 2020 | Comments Off on Working On My Reading List (or Thankful Again For The Library)

When the Black Lives Matter protests started and the idea of working toward becoming anti-racist was talked about more and more, one thing people started to do was to create anti-racism resource lists. I shared links to a few of these lists last week. And I’m grateful that people took the time to create these lists so we could start working on our anti-racism education as soon as possible.

I started to watch video clips that were posted right away. And I quickly read many of the online articles that were shared. Those were easy resources to access and view. But I wanted to make sure I was reading books from the reading lists too. Ideally, I would have bought those books to support those authors. I know that is the best thing to do, but I really don’t have the money right now to do that. So the next best option for me was to get those books from the library.

And I think a lot of people had the same idea as I did because when I went to put myself on the waitlist for “White Fragility” (which was the book many people recommended to start with), I saw that it might be a while before I had a chance to read it.

But I think the library saw how many people wanted to read the e-book and they quickly bought more digital licenses for it. I got an email 2 days after putting myself on hold that the book was available. I am currently finishing another book I was already reading, but this is the next book that I will be reading and I have several friends also reading it that I can discuss things with.

The same day that I got off the waitlist for the book, I saw on social media that the library was posting about how they have added an on-demand social justice book section online.

There are so many books now that are available without having to put yourself on hold. I love that the library did this because not only does it help people read these books as soon as they want to but it prevents people from forgetting that they want to read them if they had to wait weeks or months before they were available. I do hope that reading anti-racism or social justice books isn’t just a trend or fad and people will always want to educate themselves, but I’m scared that in a few months people won’t be as passionate about the issue as they are now. So letting people read those books now (or listen to the audiobook version) is a really good thing.

I haven’t gotten any of the on-demand books yet since I am going to work through one book at a time, but I have been going through the reading lists and either putting myself on the waitlist or adding books to my wish list so I have more than just the ones that are on-demand available to me. I know that I need to read up on how to be anti-racist and I’m glad that the library has so many books for me to choose from.

If I feel like I need to re-read one of the books or take notes in them, I might buy one so I could do that. But for now, I’m just going to use the library for the resources they have for me and not use not being able to buy books as an excuse to not read them.

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Feeling Weird About Blogging Other Stuff (or Posting Silly Posts Just Feels Wrong)

Posted on June 9, 2020 | Comments Off on Feeling Weird About Blogging Other Stuff (or Posting Silly Posts Just Feels Wrong)

My last few posts (with the exception of my workout recap) have been about the Black Lives Matter movement and my feelings about how I wrongly thought I was a good ally and how I’m trying to fix that. I feel like that was necessary to write about. I’ve written about BLM before and how strongly I feel about it. I’m not going to not write about something just because I’ve written about it before. And this time I have a new perspective on things and how I have been wrong before. I’m not perfect, but I’m working on fixing myself. I’m open to new ideas and how things I might have believed my entire life aren’t right. I’ve got a lot to change, and it’s going to take time. But I’m taking action and change as I can and I know that any steps I take to being a better ally are good.

And part of working on being a better ally is wondering when I can write blog posts that are about other things in my life. I have a few posts in mind, but I do feel weird sharing them when there are so many important things going on in the world. I’ve seen many of my fellow bloggers have this same struggle. We don’t want to seem like we are ignoring the issue, but we also might have other things we want to write about or don’t have enough new information to have a new blog post about BLM.

I haven’t been posting much on social media over the past week except for on my Instagram Stories. And almost everything I have posted has been about BLM. A few things have been random, but I don’t want to be silent or a part of the problem. And I think for a while, that’s how things will go for me. I see my social media platforms as a way to get information out quickly and frequently. My blog posts aren’t seen by as many people as my social media posts are and things I write can easily become outdated (and I don’t go back to edit old posts unless I feel the need to add an edit to the top, but the original content remains). So I know my voice on here isn’t as big as it is elsewhere.

I do still want to post about BLM, but only when I have information to share. That information might be some books I’ve read or shows I’ve seen, news about progress, things that need to be understood or protested about, and things like that. If I have a new realization about myself and the white privilege I have, I will probably write about that too. But I do want to write about a few other things that are happening as well. And I don’t want people to see me writing about other things as ignoring the issue or not considering it. I’m aware that I might get some backlash if I post something silly, but I do feel like my online presence is covering the issues in places other than here.

There may end up being a post about BLM every few weeks or every week. I don’t know just yet. I’m learning new things at as rapid of a pace as I can, but I also know that compared to others I might be slow to discover things. I’m not a perfect ally, not by far. But I am striving to be better and am listening to those around me who know more and know better for guidance. Whether or not I write about that on here doesn’t mean that I’m not doing it. But I will share things as I can about what I am learning.

And I would love it if people would write in the comments if there are any resources, media, social media accounts, or anything else regarding BLM that any of you feel like I should be aware of. I am taking so many suggestions and recommendations and I want to allow any of you reading this to share what you have found helpful. We should all be working together to be better allies and to share with others what we know and how we can learn more. I hope that you all have things for me so I can add them to my list.

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Still Taking Action When Overwhelmed (or We Cannot Stop)

Posted on June 5, 2020 | Comments Off on Still Taking Action When Overwhelmed (or We Cannot Stop)

There is no doubt that this week was overwhelming for a lot of people. There are a lot of reasons you could be overwhelmed. For me, it was a combination of taking in a lot of information and working through it.

While some of this was related to the pandemic, it was mainly about the Black Lives Matter movement and working toward becoming anti-racist. It wasn’t easy realizing that while I thought I had been doing the right things and had the right beliefs that I was wrong. I never thought I would be told that. But it’s true and it’s a lot to take in.

A lot of people spent this week not posting their own things on social media and only amplifying voices that deserve to be amplified and might not typically have that chance. And for the most part, I did do that on social media. I rarely posted anything about myself. I did have my blog posts posted on twitter and Facebook. I did post a few other things that weren’t related to current issues. But I focused my time online on finding people who deserve to be heard.

And as far as writing my blog posts this week, I also felt like maybe I shouldn’t be writing about myself. I did have my workout recap and my monthly challenge posts. But I didn’t want to write about anything else that might be silly or frivolous. Being able to take a break from what is happening in the world is a privilege and I didn’t want to take advantage of that. I tried to stay focused on sharing important things, even if I was feeling overwhelmed. What I was feeling was only a fraction of the people who have been living with this for their entire lives feel. It’s only right for me to keep pushing through.

Instead of writing about something random, I just want to encourage you all to make sure you listen to what people are saying. Look at people on social media that you might not typically follow. See how you can help. Share information. And don’t stop doing that. Even if the protests stop, unless there is a change in this country with how the police treat black citizens, we cannot be quiet. Stay loud and make sure that those who need to be heard are getting heard.

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Sharing Some Resources (or Working On Being Anti-Racist)

Posted on June 4, 2020 | Comments Off on Sharing Some Resources (or Working On Being Anti-Racist)

As I shared the other day, I am coming to terms with how I have never been anti-racist. It’s a very different mindset from what I have had my entire life, but I know that I need to change and I am so grateful that I have friends who have shared some good resources to work on this. One friend also shared that if you haven’t been anti-racist, you likely have had a bit of racism in you. I hated that idea, but the more I thought about it the more that I know it is true.

I don’t make an effort to only give my money to white-run business or to white authors, but that is what I have done if I look at my past. So many books that I love are about white characters. There are a few that are about black characters but often I don’t know that until I’m already partway through the book. If a character isn’t described by their skin color, I default to thinking they are white. And for brands, I usually don’t know who runs a company or pay attention to that. But I now know that black-run businesses don’t get the same opportunities as white-run businesses do so I might not have the chance to buy from them unless I make a little effort. I never was trying to avoid black-run businesses, I just didn’t know that because of many different factors I wasn’t being presented with the chance to buy from them.

Fortunately, during Blackout Tuesday there were so many lists going around with different resources for anyone to look at. There were books about racism or how to become anti-racist. There were lists of black-run beauty companies that many of us hadn’t heard of. There were movies, tv shows, and podcasts that discuss these issues that maybe hadn’t gotten the same publicity that other media had. There are hundreds of lists out there and the ones I am going to share are only a few. I recommend doing a search or looking on social media for more because there are so many out there.

The one thing I saw the most over the past few days was this link to a google doc of anti-racism resources. This has lists of books, videos, podcasts, articles, movies, and tv shows to look at to work on becoming anti-racist. There is also a section for resources of media to help raise anti-racist children. There is also a list of organizations to look at and their social media links so you can follow them on there. Plus they link to more lists of anti-racism resources.

This list from Medium has sections of what to read, listen to, watch, and follow on social media. There is also a section for kids and teens.

If you are going to be buying any books (either from these lists or books in general), this google doc has a list of black-run bookstores. They are listed by state and it includes if they are open for shopping, only doing curbside pickup right now, or only shipping. But there are so many stores you can buy from and I believe the ones that can ship books can ship them anywhere in the country.

Some people may think of black-run beauty businesses as companies that make products specifically for black people. That is not true. Just like how white-run beauty companies don’t just make things for white people (although you might be able to argue that they do, but that’s a very different story). Here are two different lists of companies to look at and you might find a new favorite product! I understand that maybe right now you don’t have money to buy any new products, but you can still look and take notes on what you’d like to buy when you have the money.

And if you want to do a search for black-run businesses in general, I found a few lists that do just that. Here is a list from New York Magazine. Here is the directory for Black Wall Street. And this is the link to Support Black Owned. Again, I know this doesn’t cover all the lists or all the types of businesses, but it is a start.

I’ve also seen lists of black-run restaurants and coffee shops, but I haven’t found a good list that I could share on here that covers more than just Los Angeles. Please do a search online for the lists for your area. Many of them are doing delivery and takeout or curbside delivery, so you can order from them even if restaurants are not open yet for your city.

Some people who believe the response to Black Lives Matter is to say all lives matter might argue that white businesses should get promoted too. But that’s all I’ve done in thousands of posts. I didn’t have to go out of my way to say they were white-run businesses. Unfortunately, that is the default. I am trying to use my voice and my blog to give some opportunity to a large group of businesses that I have not given that same chance to. Yes, people will still shop at white-run businesses and read white authors. I bet that most money will still go to those. But I want to make a conscious effort to not do that with all my money. I want to increase my awareness of businesses that I have not been shopping from in the past and make sure that I don’t fall back into that trap. I know right now everyone is hyper-aware of this issue and will be making efforts. I want to make sure that this change is permanent and not just because it’s such a big issue right now. And I hope that you all will increase your awareness, work on becoming anti-racist, and support more diverse businesses, authors, artists, and creators.

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Hope And Health (or I Don’t Have The Motivation To Do A Bigger Challenge)

Posted on June 3, 2020 | Comments Off on Hope And Health (or I Don’t Have The Motivation To Do A Bigger Challenge)

When I was struggling to figure out monthly challenges in the past few years, I had no idea how tough it would be to plan them when I’m isolated at home. Even though many of my challenges don’t involve me leaving my house to do them, my motivation while isolated is nowhere near it normally is. I don’t feel the push to do a ton every day. Some of this is due to physical exhaustion and some of this is mental exhaustion. This isn’t an easy time for any of us, but I’m trying my best. I am working on being gentler and kinder with myself because it’s so easy to compare myself now to myself before. But we are living in a different time and that’s not a fair comparison.

Because of those factors, my monthly challenges lately haven’t been very intense. They have mainly been about taking care of myself. Last month, I challenged myself to stay hopeful. And for the most part, I think I did an ok job with that. I paid attention to the news to see how things were progressing with testing and cases in LA. The news was sounding better. Things were starting to be able to reopen. Even if I wasn’t going to go to places, I was hopeful that them being reopened was a good sign. And I was staying hopeful that we were through the worst of this wave (I still fear another wave in the fall, but that’s another issue).

But then at the end of the month, it became harder to be hopeful. Not because of the pandemic but because of police brutality. I was saddened to see those stories happen, but I tried to stay hopeful in amplifying the voices that needed to be heard and working on being a better ally. I wasn’t quite as hopeful as I was before, but I also became more aware of the racism and discrimination out there that I might have been blind to before. I found hope in seeing people taking action and learning how to take action myself. I am hopeful that one day, we will find a way to have systematic change with law enforcement and how people are treated. I am not hopeful that it will happen soon. It will take a lot of work and we cannot let up.

This month, my challenge is related a bit to wanting to be hopeful. I want to work on my health. This is about both my mental and physical health. For my physical health, I need to find ways to work out harder and I need to eat better. Those aren’t easy, but they can be done. And they are things that I have been working on for a long time.

But more importantly, I want to work on my mental health.

I am overwhelmed with everything going on in the world and it would be so easy to retreat and hide. But the more I learn about racism the more I know that I cannot use my mental health as an excuse to avoid hearing these stories. I need to find a purpose and actionable things to do whenever I hear stories of police brutality or racism. I need to find a way to not let these affect my mental health because I need to be a source of amplification of voices who may not have the same privilege that I do. I need to find a way to turn this activism into a positive thing for me and not an upsetting thing. This is a huge shift in my mindset, but I know it will be for the better. If these situations don’t make me run and hide but instead make me feel like I can help and seek ways to do so, I will be a better ally for so many people. I will likely be able to handle other stress in my life as well, but that is not my focus. My main focus is to turn the feeling of being overwhelmed or sad into the push to get to action.

I have already been working on this idea. Yesterday was Blackout Tuesday where we were not supposed to post on social media. Originally, I thought that meant we were supposed to stay off of social media and I was planning on doing that. It would be an easy way to avoid and hide from things. But my friends corrected me and said it was not about being silent but about sharing and amplifying the voices that should be heard right now. And that’s what I did. I found posts from leaders in the Black Lives Matter community and shared them. I took time to educate myself, find reading and watching lists, and followed new accounts that I know would continue to share information. I didn’t hide and avoid things because that would have been easier. I took in the information, which wasn’t always easy, and made sure to share it. And I feel like I felt better doing that than I would have if I didn’t.

Hopefully, I will be able to continue to strengthen and repair my body and mind this month. My mind is the priority to me because I know that being able to be focused and taking action is more time-sensitive. I know that it is needed now. And I am hoping that doing that will lead to other positive changes with my mindset and how I react to things that might be negative or upsetting. I want to be a voice of change and not a silent supporter.

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Black Lives Matter (or Working On Being A Better Ally)

Posted on June 2, 2020 | Comments Off on Black Lives Matter (or Working On Being A Better Ally)

There is no debate that our country (and a lot of the world) is hurting right now. There have been protests that were peaceful (and some horrible people took advantage of and made violent). There have been curfews in Los Angeles because of this. And while the murder of George Floyd was what people were protesting, it was not just because of that murder that people were upset.

Police brutality, especially against black Americans, is unfortunately not a new issue. Just in the recent past, we have multiple instances of this. There was the shooting of Breonna Taylor, who was sleeping at home when police burst into their home and her boyfriend reacted as if someone was breaking in. The police were not in uniform and did not knock or announce themselves. I can’t imagine why anyone would assume someone breaking into their home would be police and not a criminal. Her boyfriend shot to defend them and their home. And the police shot back and killed her. I have heard that they weren’t even at the correct home when the police barged in. And the person they were looking for was already detained. Her death was so senseless and unnecessary.

The murder of George Floyd was just heartbreaking. I have seen the video, and I feel horrible that I watched it. Someone’s death should not be used as a learning tool. But I have also seen the videos of him before the police were kneeling on his neck, cutting off his air supply. He was already in handcuffs. He was not fighting. He wasn’t happy about being taken away in handcuffs, but he was not a threat. And the officer that was kneeling on him did so for almost 9 minutes. 3 of those minutes were after he was unconscious. That was also unnecessary. And none of the police officers watching this man die said anything. They just stood back and were silent.

I cannot imagine the fear that black Americans feel every day with what the police might do. I am privileged that way. But I have always considered myself an ally and that I try my best to help. But with the protests in the past few days, I have realized that I have not been as good of an ally as I could be.

I was raised in a pretty diverse area. I was raised to not see color. I had friends that were diverse. My parents never thought twice about a friend who didn’t look like me. My high school was even featured in the newspaper for not having a majority of any ethnicity. I took this idea of not seeing color throughout my life. And I have learned how wrong this idea is.

The idea of not seeing color means you don’t see the discrimination or issues of those who might not look like you have. It’s almost the same idea of All Lives Matter (an idea I hate and feel is disgusting). I do beleive that Black Lives Matter is an important movement and have supported them. But I have realized that my privileged place of claiming to not see color is also discounting the issues that others may be experiencing. This wasn’t intentional, but I know that I did it. And I am working on correcting my mindset and I know I have to learn to grow.

I also never gave a thought to the idea of not being racist versus anti-racist. I believe that I am not racist (although I have learned that some of the privileged thoughts that I have could be considered a bit racist, but I’m working on it). And I have always thought that racism is wrong. But I don’t think I have ever been actively anti-racist before. I am working on that now. I am making sure that I am speaking out against racist behavior and not just not acting that way on my own. I am using my voice when and where I can. Being silent is the same as agreeing with the hatred and I will not do that anymore.

And while I cannot donate a lot of money, I made some small donations this week to groups that are helping. Even though my donation alone won’t be enough, if thousands of people gave small donations it adds up and can help make real change.

The groups I donated to were Campaign Zero, The Freedom Fund, White People 4 Black Lives, and the ACLU. I encourage everyone to donate to those groups or the others that are helping the protesters or helping to eliminate police brutality. If you have been watching any of the protests, you have seen how the police have been acting. They have been shooting people with rubber bullets who are not doing anything or at reporters who are doing their job. They have arrested reporters for no reason. They have run over protesters. They have maced people who were walking by. This is despicable behavior and it must be stopped. So many innocent people have been hurt by the police during these protests. The police were not defending themselves, they were acting up. And if they are supposed to be the calm and rational people to defend us, they need to be retrained. Acting rash and attacking citizens who are not doing anything wrong is not what we need. And yes, some criminals do need some stronger force, but that force should not equal death. It’s not a black and white issue of doing nothing or acting at full force with all of their strength. There are so many shades of gray with how police can stop the illegal behavior. And they need to do that more often.

I’m working on being better about using my voice for what I believe in. I know I’m not perfect and I know I have a lot to learn. I have asked some friends of mine who are very involved in activism to call me out if I am not being a good ally because I know they will do it from a place of love. But it is not up to them for me to be better. I need to be in charge of educating myself and making sure I am the person I want to be.

Please, don’t ignore the protesters just because you may disagree with how they are doing it. First, the protesters are typically not the ones looting or causing destruction. The protesters have been begging people not to do that and there are lots of videos showing them stopping it. And for people who say they should be doing more passive protests, that’s what they have been doing for too long. Take kneeling during the national anthem. So many people who said it was wrong and disrespectful to do that are now saying the protesters should have done something that was calmer. That’s what they were doing while kneeling. They were not respected or heard then. So they had to be louder. And now is the time to listen, learn, and speak out.

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What Is Happening? (or Why I Support Black Lives Matter)

Posted on July 8, 2016 | 3 comments

At the time I’m writing this post, there have been 2 black men killed by police (Alton Sterling and Philando Castile) in the past 2 days and 4 cops who were shot at a peaceful protest about those killings. Honestly, I don’t know what to write about this but I can’t stay quiet.

All of the killings recently have hit me so hard. I saw the videos of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile online and was just shocked by what I saw. I don’t watch violent things usually and these videos were some of the most horrific things I’ve ever seen. I am impressed at Lavish Reynolds (the girlfriend of Philando Castile) who was able to stay calm and film what was happening so that the world could see what happened in that car. Some of my friends posted about how the police violence isn’t new, it’s just the fact that everyone has cameras now that allows us all to see what’s happening. That may very well be the truth and we can’t turn a blind eye to it.

I’m not trying to say that all cops are bad. I know cops who are very good people and I understand that they do put their lives on the line every day and that can be scary. But for a cop to feel it necessary to shoot a man point-blank in the chest multiple times while they are on top of him because they believe he has a gun in his back pocket (which he can’t get to because you are holding him down) is ridiculous. Police are supposed to enforce the rules but they aren’t supposed to also be the judge, jury, and executioner for the people they stop.

I know that many members of various police forces are speaking out about this violence and saying that it is not necessary. They are showing so many examples of where white men who are either pointing a gun at the police or shooting at them are able to be stopped without dying. Sometimes those men are shot, but never multiple rounds at point-blank.

I’m embarrassed to admit that many years ago I questioned if the men who were killed by police did do something wrong. That changed with Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, but especially with Tamir Rice. I saw that surveillance footage of Tamir Rice and was disgusted. I can’t believe that the cops shot a child within seconds of arriving to a 911 call where someone thought he might have a fake gun and after they shot him they didn’t think to do any lifesaving measures. Seeing that made me realize that these shootings aren’t because the victims did something that made them so high risk that the police had to shoot them to protect others, these shootings were because the police were scared or acting irrational.

I remember seeing this amazing tweet last year which really made everything clear to me.

Black Lives Matter

I’ve been so mad for years hearing people question my friends who were sexually assaulted or raped saying that maybe they shouldn’t have worn whatever they were wearing and then they wouldn’t have been raped. For the record, my friends who have been attacked have been wearing things like a pajama set (a man came and raped her in the room she was sleeping in), jeans and a t-shirt, a dress at a black tie event, and maxi skirt with a tank top. The men who raped them would have done it no matter what. So victim-blaming them doesn’t do them any good.

It’s the same with all of these incidents. I have friends who are raising young black men and they have had to tell their sons for years that to prevent being shot by police they need to obey no matter what. But then when Philando Castile was doing just that in getting his ID from his wallet as the officer told him to do, he was shot and killed. What are mothers and fathers supposed to tell their kids now to not be shot during a routine traffic stop?

When I was starting to write this post, it was just going to be about the shootings and how I just don’t know what to say about things. And as I started writing, the news from Dallas came out where snipers were killing cops at a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest. I don’t believe that the snipers are a part of the protest but decided to take advantage of a situation and perhaps try to get the blame landed on the group.

But Black Lives Matter is not about only caring about the safety and lives of black Americans. It is saying that black lives matter just as much as white lives and that needs to be recognized. It’s like the example I saw on Facebook today:

Bob Deserves Food

Nobody is saying black lives matter more than others, they just want them to be recognized the same way as others. Nobody is asking for privilege, they are asking for the privilege to go away and for equality to exist. This needs to happen. There have been too many shootings, too many attacks, and too many parents scared for the lives of their children.

This is not just a bad police issue, this is a humanity issue. And I want to see the change happen within my lifetime so I know that my friends and family who are scared every day can finally feel safe in their lives.

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