2020 has been a year. The list of items that have happened is none in which anyone has seen during their lifetime. I have to say the last ten days have been a mental rollercoaster. The amount of love, hate, and indifference in the world seems to be at an all-time high. But I want to let people who know me, who don’t know me, or just enjoying reading to take a peek behind the curtain. For those who don’t know I AM BLACK, I am not ok, and I don’t want to talk about it.
Everyone reading this may say, why the post, the answer is this medium is a one-way conversation. I have never been good at expressing myself to family,friends, and co-workers; however, there are many “are you ok” happening, and I want it out there, black people are not. While I did not know the list of people below:
](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5361cd10e4b06295cb175d8a/1591340305863-8B87JNGJRERG7ZNUSTJL/nprcodeswitch-saytheirnamev3_custom-611bc1dd2182776ab04951ae5ddfc4fa60d617b6-s1600-c85.jpg)
Image credit:[George Floyd’s Death At The Hands Of Police Is A Terrible Echo Of The Past: Code Switch: NPR](https://www.npr.org/2020/05/29/865261916/a-decade-of-watching-black-people-die)
Black people feel their collective pain. Think about the image you just saw. A formatted list of black women and men who have died at the hands of the police. The fact that there is a list is a shame, and the fact that we have to keep a record is another travesty. This list keeps me up at night because any of the black people I know in my life could be on the list or even me.
For those who struggle with the all lives matter or black lives matter or enter race/nationality here lives matter, I want to sum up what it means to me. Every day I set foot out of my house, I pray I make it back home without incident. I pray that I don’t get pulled over for what is a non-issue for people not of color. As I walk down the street near my job, grocery store, or stroll, I pray that no one tries to point me out for doing something that makes them uncomfortable. Living a life of contstant fear, hoping nothing I've done steps out of line. Lastly, work, the way people think, act, react to my black colleagues, and I am one of the most significant stressors. From my perspective, what I need people who agree or don’t agree with either side is to understand how things in which are typical for most people are not normal for my race or me. Treating me and my life as if it were your own, advocating for me as you would promote for yourself, is what we(I) need.
While great conversations are happening across America about this topic, what we(I) need most is action on those conversations not just dollars. We need
Legislation at all levels
- Federation
- State
- Local The legislation includes financial, criminal reform, social-emotional, workplace, voting and more.
Youth programs for our kids so the streets are not raising them due to hardships of the current rules and regulations. Our youth need financial literacy, professional opportunity, literacy programs, affordable youth sports programs, accessible social-emotional programs in low-income neighborhoods.
Workplace equality - I applaud all of the organizations throwing money towards black causes; however, actions are worth a thousand words. I need to see organizations making changes that make the workplace a fair and equitable place. Minorities need to be in key leadership positions with authority to influence and make changes in organizations. Quicker handling of allegations against individuals in an area of power, not by sweeping the problem under the rug. Stamping out racial profile within the workplace by not allowing bigotry and understanding that many minorities in corporate America aren’t in a position to enjoy a day off on a whim, providing better support options. Until I see organizations making these changes out in the open, all the money in the world will not solve this problem but will ease white America’s consciousness that they have done something.
Lastly, to my fellow black people, what is the plan? I understand the events that have transposed recently but think Rodney King was in 1991, and think of all the other events in our short history here in America. Ask yourself what has changed? There have been a few significant moments, but not enough to prevent another killing of an unarmed black man. Rodney King happened 29 years ago, and we, as a society, have not learned or grown. So what’s next? We need to band together to put a plan into place to start to affect change in our communities if we are going to live another day.
Lastly, for those who don’t understand what it is to be black, I’ll say it in three words.