Cussed (Kacchako)

#BLM

I promise I'm working on the next chapter. Its about half way done. Ive been struggling with exhaustion from work (shout out to all the essential workers) as well as struggling with depression. Anyways, I wanted to hop on here and give my $0.02 about what's going on in America.

Black lives matter. Whether you're religious and believe that all lives are sacred, or you're secular and believe that the Constitution says men are equal, what we have been seeing should make everyone feel  sick. Americans like to believe that we are exceptional. That our way of government, that our values, are morally superior and ultimately just, but as is so often the case, we have failed.

In the 1700s, we actually voted about Black people being worth 3/5s of a person. After Civil War and Lincolns death, Johnson abandoned the South to the status quo antebellum and Jim Crow. The 50s and 60s brought around the Civil Rights movement, but that just changed things on paper. In the
90s, the beating of Rodeny King was caught on tape, and a lot of the country was shocked by the police brutality we saw then.

We have no excuse to still be shocked when we have done NOTHING to change this. I am white, and while my life has been far from easy, I am still aware of the privilege my skin color has given me, a privilege I havent earned yet I have still benefited from every day of my life. I speak out against racism and bigotry and social media, but the truth is I have never put myself between a Black body and the system which is abusing those bodies, and frankly that is a failure on my part. While I am not responsible for the system of racism that we have in this country, I am still a participant in it. By not physicly standing against it, I have been allowing it to continue.

So this weekend I plan to go to a protest to stand in solidarity and, if necessary, to stand between.

White people in the US who read this: there is still a pandemic raging, so I won't tell you to go to protests (though I will support you if you do), but I ask you to keep your eyes open to the world around you, this racism exists everywhere and it is insidious. While there are obvious examples, like a white man kneeling on the neck of handcuffed black man FOR 9 FUCKING MINUTES, it is not always so obvious but it IS there. When you see it, have the courage to call it out. Confrontation can be scary, but it is nothing compared to the fear my friends have described when telling me what they've experienced living while Black. We have been raised in a racist society and it is impossible to not have taken some of that into us. This does not make us bad people....but refusing to see it, refusing to learn, and refusing to be better DOES make us bad people. Read about White fragility. Read about the experiences of others. Learn about our horrific history in this country. We can do better for our fellow Americans. Make sure you vote.

For my Black readers, you are beautiful and you matter and I promise to try and be better. I promise I will not be a silent participant in your oppression. I promise to listen when you speak. I promise to use my privilege when those in power try to deny you your voice. I promise to always scream for justice. I promise to vote, not just in major elections, but in local ones. I promise to research the judges and D.A.s, the sherrifs and police chiefs. I promise to only support those who also support you.

#BLM