It is often the case that cultures hide their ills in the silence of the society; that what is has often long plagued a country can be dismissed because of the time that has passed between occurrences. In many ways, the difficult work of dealing with these issues goes both unstated and unfinished because of other distractions.
This current pandemic that we are all facing has forced us all into spaces of seclusion and shutdown. The state of the society is one of survival and the result of the country being in survival mode has been silence. The recent acts of fatal violence against George Floyd, Breonna Taylor & Armaud Arbery by law enforcement happened in a moment where the racism at the underbelly of this nation was hiding in the silence created by Covid-19. We are left to mourn and grieve while processing the disappointing reminder that even in a global health crisis, America is still America & Black people are still face oppression while living here.
This truth ought color the way in which we should consider the moment we find ourselves in. To repeat the specifics on the surface of this moment understates the context. To say that another Black person has unnecessarily lost their life at the hands of law enforcement officers is not enough. To say that the perpetrators have not been charged & that there is little optimism that they will be indicted is not enough. To even say that while the world is dealing with a pandemic, bigots (and the systems that protect them) are still finding time to demonstrate their disregard for Black life is not enough. To truly apprehend the moment we have been forced into yet again, we must consider two rattling realities that are in its backdrop: those with the power to change things have not (and are hesitant to do so) & NOTHING has changed since the last time we were here.
The verisimilitude of this statement is difficult to digest, but, in order for us to move past our aggravation and into a state of action, we must be able to identify that what we have done before now (or haven’t done before now) has left us in the same detestable dilemma. The result of our articles, tweets, reposts & sharing are good for short term consciousness but not for long term consequence. Our protesting, operating in the politics of disruption, is good. But while demonstrations frighten and freeze decision makers, they seldom lead to a sustainable settlement of our struggle. Our raged responses to unprompted violence with violent retaliation make us just as wrong as those who have wronged our people first and triggers a sequence that inevitably result in more causalities from our communities. With all of the devotion we can muster, often with grief in our hearts & tears in our eyes, we have deployed these tactics with no success. What we have been doing has not worked and to continue to expect more from what we have already done is just as abominable as the actions we are attempting to address.
The next step toward our equity is to respond to this tension with tactics. What we have not attempted is what I believe will actually yield the best result. While we deal with the varied emotions of what it means to be Black in this country, if we are to be moved from the depths of oppression and be lifted into liberation, we must couple our exasperated reactions with calculated responses. Be angry. But, in our anger, we must begin to create and agenda in response to these injustices. Our response to these injustices must be to organize around policing our own communities. Our response to these injustices must be to spend less time destroying stores & more time dismantling systems. Our response to these injustices must be to press those whom we vote for to pass legislation that penalizes these hate crimes to the fullest extent of the law while voting out those who will not. Our response to these injustices cannot be to excuse the state sanctioned extermination of our people in the name of making the exterminators comfortable. Our response to these injustices must be to stop our silence around how this moment feels and refuse to apologize. Our response to these injustices must be to make of any form of bigotry, racism, stereotype & appropriation unacceptable (even if it comes from who you planned on voting for in an upcoming presidential election). Our response to these injustices must be to elevate our expectations of those who desire to stand in solidarity with us & not allow them to betray us with their silence. Our response to these injustices must be to divest our monies from ANY business or organization that supports institutions that do harm to black people. Our response to these injustices must not be to isolate our protests to a moment but to consistently protest in the name of a movement.
Our people are already connected to each other & (whether we realize it or not) have everything we need. We have enough intellectuals, preachers, activists, business owners, businesses, churches & organizations to start doing for ourselves. To affirm our collective agency is and will always be important (and we are under no obligation to make others feel comfortable while we do it). Our next step, the next movement, must be for us to operate in a way that makes the spiritual, emotional, physical & psychological well being of every African American priority. We must take care of ourselves and stop expecting anyone else to. This nation, this government & these institutions have all made their move…there is no denying that. The next move is on us & the time for that movement is right now!
