You Have a Role to Play in Black Lives Matter
On May 31st, I watched Manhattan Beach police cars — with their sirens on — race downtown to the Black Lives Matter protests. I watched from my window, safely. As a white-passing, half-Black person, I have the privilege of not being seen as a threat by the police. The deaths of Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, George Floyd, Amaud Arbery, and so many more were a result of a violent racist system that I do not have to confront on a daily basis. But by not saying anything, I would be complicit in their deaths and in the violent, everyday racism that Black people in this country experience. By not saying anything, I would be condoning that same racism against my own family. But it shouldn’t take being Black to care about anti-Black injustices, acts of violence, and murders. Rather, it should fall on everyone else to condemn and act against racial injustice.
White people, it is your responsibility to speak up. It has never been easier for us to condemn racism. Black people, educators, activists, and artists have been doing the work in this country since 1619. It is the least you can do to amplify their work, their words, their activism.
Social media has proven to be an extremely powerful tool for activism, and even more so during a pandemic. The democratization of communication allows everyone to have a platform, no matter how big or small. If you want justice for George Floyd and for all Black Americans who have been brutalized and murdered by police, use your platform. Use your voice, but please, listen to Black people when they correct you.
Okay, so you’ve said something, then what? As Rachel Cargle, educator and activist, outlined in her Public Address: Revolution Now, the three steps that are necessary to continue to be actively anti-racist require critical knowledge, radical empathy, and intentional action.
Access critical knowledge by taking the time to educate yourself on issues of race and anti-blackness in America from Black artists, writers, and academics. Radical empathy occurs when you move past understanding and hold yourself accountable for your role in the pain of others.
If you have Black friends, loved ones, family members, classmates, co-workers, have you checked in on them to tune into radical empathy? Have you asked them what they need? Because this could have been one of them. Have you evaluated how your lack of action could be causing them pain? Because fighting for their justice is one of the biggest ways you can show love. Have you opened up important conversations with your white friends and family members? Because that is part of the work — it is not in the hands of Black people to educate.
Lastly, intentional action is crucial. Just as I have iterated, it is imperative that you use your privilege and power available to you and to hold your community accountable to use theirs as well. Connect with the civil rights and social justice organizations in your local community already doing the work. Yes, the death of George Floyd has caught national attention, but it is not an isolated event. Show up in your own community. Call to defund money from the police in favor of social services over policing, even donate to funds that are working on defunding and eventually abolishing the police. Hold your own employers and establishments accountable for their actions. If you can, put your body on the line and go protest. Do what you can with what you have because passivity is not an option.
On Saturday, I watched from my window. On Sunday, my brother and I attended the Black Lives Matter protest in Long Beach. Showing up, in person, reaffirmed my faith in the movement. To be amongst a group of people who are angry, who care, and who are willing to risk police violence is a feeling I will never forget.
If you are upset about the way that these protests have been carried out or about the destruction of property, you are missing the point and are prioritizing property over people. You cannot ask for peace without acknowledging and addressing why people are protesting in the first place. It is not our place to criticize. Because there will be no justice nor peace until there is no racist police. Until we defund the police. Until we abolish it. Until you commit to being anti-racist. Until Black Lives Matter.
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About the Author
Lola Proctor (she/her/hers) is a writer and editor based out of Los Angeles and New York. Currently a junior at New York University, she is studying the Politics of Fashion & Journalism. She is passionate about womxn in indie rock, fashion, writing, and feminism. You can find more of her work here.
