The Social War on Racism
Yesterday I felt completely paralyzed. I spent a large portion of my day staring at my phone in disbelief taking in every photo, every video, every status update, and every comment war. I usually catch myself when I feel like I’ve been on social media for too long and I’m able to put my phone down. Yesterday felt different. I felt like I needed to take this intensive masterclass on what is going on in the world and learn what everyone around me is thinking instead of avoiding the news in fear like I usually do.
I truly felt frozen and I struggled to find the right thing to say or do on social media since that’s how we express ourselves these days. It felt cheap to simply repost a BLM graphic without context or post a quote and a trending hashtag without a call to action. I was scared to share the wrong videos or photos in support of the cause for fear that they wouldn’t be fact-checked and I would end up looking dumb or even worse, racist.
After talking to my family last night and asking what I’d like to believe are the “right questions” I can now understand why my silence would be deafening. I didn’t think I needed to remind my own social media community that I stand with the black community and I stand heavily against racism, but I think I realize why I need to say it. I often feel like my actions or words won’t matter in the big picture and can’t single-handedly make a change. I think I understand now that they do. As someone who used to create works of art using thousands of little ink dots on a piece of paper to eventually take the shape of the subject, you’d think I’d get it sooner. Somehow I’ve forgotten how much every single dot matters, and together they can form something truly powerful.
I’m not 100% sure that I’ll say the right thing or post the best post, but I have to say something. To my brothers and sisters in the human race who have been affected by racism and the corrupt justice system we’ve been living in for literal centuries, I hear you and I see you. I stand with you and I’ll do whatever I can to educate myself and fight alongside you in this ongoing battle to finally make a change.
✊🏻✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿
*if you read this entire rant, thank you*