Things Won't Change Until We Do

BLACK LIVES MATTER

The fact that this movement is even a debate, a question, a controversial issue, is mind blowing to me. It's no secret this year has pushed us all to the edge. It's no secret that the world, never mind America, was NEVER great, and will never be great until we come together in unity and LOVE.

I am beyond disappointed and disgusted with humankind. For centuries we have allowed the ego to rule and hate to take over. Fear has been passed down time and time again as an excuse for our ill behavior, allowing the privileged to bask in the comfort of their skin color and ignorance. Honestly, I'm not even sure I can refer to the ill actions and lack of effort of others as ignorance at this point, because we all have what we need in order to better understand and sympathize with others right at the tips of our fingers. Knowledge is power. And we no longer can use “inaccessibility” or “lack of resources” as an excuse to not stand up beside those who need the support. As a white female, I was raised to believe racism wasn’t a real issue. I watched my family racially stereotype, as they fed into fear and left me the scraps.
 
For so long, we were programmed to sweep racism under the rug, as if after slavery was abolished, our hands were wiped clean. As if racism and white privilege didn’t continue to live on in front of our very own eyes; as if we didn’t let it. Pretending like we don’t live in this corrupt system that picks and chooses what our children learn instead of teaching them ways to shatter glass ceilings and prosper with love is how they keep us contained. They want us to believe that segregation is necessary. As a country, we run on power and greed. And as long as we’re not personally being affected, it doesn’t matter, right?

WRONG.

To the white people who continue to let the 1% control you all, you are capable of stepping outside of your bubble and standing beside your black brothers and sisters. You do have a choice. Put yourselves in their shoes and imagine how they might be feeling. Is it not blatantly obvious as to why the senseless, violent murders over the countless years have caused an uproar? Enough is enough.
 
We were not meant to live this way. In hate. In shame. In fear. I am so embarrassed of the color of my skin. I am so embarrassed of my ancestors. I am so incredibly embarrassed of the world we still live in.
 
I cannot stress this enough, love is so much more powerful than hate. That is why people still choose fear. Because they are scared of fully letting go of what doesn’t actually serve their higher good and fail to understand the true purpose of life. The bottom line is this, we all bleed red. We can break the barrier that we allow to keep us segregated. The good we can accomplish together instead of selfishly continuing to try to outsmart our neighbor, while the government continues to outsmart us, is possible. But only through compassion. Only through change. Only through knowledge. Only by shattering our egos. Only through love.
 
It’s okay to admit your wrongs and to make a choice to change for the better. It’s okay to put your friends and family in their place, to take a stand against racism and rise above fear. It's okay to cut people out of your life who choose to live in hate vs. love. You are not alone in this shift. Do not allow black people to suffer the consequences created by recycled habits built from the comfort of white privilege. 

“You speak of justice, yet you are cruel to those most in need of your help.”
– The Hunchback of Notre Dame
 
“Peace is not the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice. We must assume responsibility for disturbing a false peace in order to establish a true justice.”
– @CoryBooker
 
“You are personally responsible for becoming more ethical than the society you grew up in.”
– Eliezar Yudkowsky
 
“Unlearning white supremacy is deeply personal, existential, and difficult work. It often feels horrible.. It will shatter your ego and your belief system. Do it anyway.”
​– Sonia Gupta

Black Lives Matter does not mean that all lives don’t.
But all lives won’t matter until black lives do.