We Must Do Better
Post by Ryan and Shanice Lowe
We Must Do Better.
The beautiful thing about technology is that it makes all of this ugliness visible.
As a Husband to a Black Woman, and soon to be Father to a Black Son, the events of the last week, and even long before the Floyd murder in this country, have been scary to watch, and terrifying to consider in terms of how it will impact my families lives in the years ahead. In fact, i'm guilty of largely ignoring most of these problems, at least in my actions or the effort I have put towards being an active part of the solution. That will change.
We are witnessing a boiling point in this country, a demand for action and an emphatic proclamation that how we have "addressed" issues such as these in the past, will no longer be acceptable. We all must come together to do better. It must happen and happen NOW.
I firmly believe that almost everyone in this country agrees that what happened to Mr. Floyd was murder. Take away the distractions the media parades in front of us, of riots and looting and focus on the simple truth that if you are not white in this country, you are not able to live without fear and that must change.
"Where do we start?" We can each start with ourselves and our inner circles. Speak up when you see comments or jokes that are not right. Speak up when you witness deflection "Well looting isn't protesting!". Speak up when you see the spread of misinformation on social media. The challenge we must overcome is in every community, every business, every set of friendships, and by calling it out, when it happens, we can all do better together.
Beyond racism, lie many other challenges we must work to solve in the time ahead. Access to opportunity and education to help our lower income communities, especially the youth, so that all have a path to prosperity. Equal opportunity to turn these skills into promising careers in the industries that will define the future of our world in the years to come.
It's very easy to watch the media, the violence, the crime, and to get angry. To pick a side. To assign blame. This is what further drives the divide in our country and we need to look above it, and ignore it collectively. The windows will be fixed, the walls will be repainted, the corporations who lost inventory will be ok and many of those who committed crimes will be punished. The mechanisms are in place to ensure all of these occur whether or not you make comments on social media.
Instead, I ask each of us to channel our emotions, our brainpower, our frustration, and come together as one country, one group of citizens to identify, acknowledge and correct the racial injustices that have lurked in our society long before this past week. The beautiful thing about technology is that it makes all of this ugliness visible, we ALL have seen it, how can we not? And therefore in our hearts we ALL know what must be done to correct it.
Respect your fellow men and women. Defend one another against views of hatred or prejudice, no matter how innocent the intentions. Progress these ideas constantly, keep them relevant in your mind and actions. We are all one, we are all in this together, and we all need to do better to protect our friends and families of color, and all minorities, so that everyone has an equal opportunity to enjoy the liberties and freedoms of this great nation and do so without fear.
How you can take immediate action.
1. LEARN.
So You Want to Talk About Race by @ijeomaoluo
How To Be An Antiracist by @ibramxk
Me and White Supremacy by @laylafsaad
13th on Netflix by @ava
American Son on Netflix
The 1619 Project via @nytmag
2. DONATE.
@aclu_nationwide provides legal services for people with civil rights complaints.
@naacp_ldf supports racial justice through advocacy, litigation, and education.
Communities United Against Police Brutality operates a crisis hotline and engages in political action against police brutality: cuapb.org
Black Lives Matter @blklivesmatter
3. KEEP GOING.
We need to commit. Not just today, or this week. But for the rest of our lives. These words by @ijeomaoluo get to the heart of it. “Allies: Now is the time to be in the service of Black liberation. Limit your response to what is of real, tangible help to us. Give money, call your reps, protect Black people at protests, elevate our work and voices. Don't make us swim through your tears while we fight.” This has been happening for hundreds of years, and it must come to an end. We have to find a way to move forward, together.
Ryan and Shanice Lowe