So let’s try to listen more, to educate ourselves better, and to find ways to not just be non-racists, but to be proudly anti-racist. If you have a voice, use it. If you have the financial means, donate to causes that fight racism. If you feel called to do so, take to the streets and exercise your first amendment rights. Contact local officials if you see something going on that needs to be changed through legislation. Sign a petition. And for god’s sake, please vote.

Also, don’t say “all lives matter” as a response to Black Lives Matter, it’s trolling at best and more often than not being used racist trope that belittles the struggles of an oppressed people. And unless you have a medical condition affecting your eyesight, don’t say “I don’t see color.” You need to see color and recognize that your black friends and colleagues had different life experiences than you because of the color of their skin. We all see color, it’s whether or not we let it affect how we treat people who look different than us. And if you’re mad about looting and rioting, yes that’s not good, but consider that A. a lot of the people taking part have nothing to do with the actual protest taking place, and B. if you’re that worked up about somebody looting a Target, I hope you brought that level of same energy and outrage when you saw Floyd get killed. Oh, and one more, when the topic is racism leading to the extrajudicial killings of blacks, don’t say “what about black-on-black crime?” Seriously, stop doing that. First of all, that’s not the issue at hand right now, secondly, there are plenty of amazing people in the black community working on that, and thirdly, if you, suddenly-concerned-about-black-on-black-crime-in-Chicago white person, really care about that topic, maybe consider learning more about how centuries of systemic racism contributed to blacks being in situations where violent crime rates might be higher because of underlying issues like poverty, poor education and lack of opportunity for upward mobility that, again, were caused in no small part by racist policies.

While it shouldn’t have taken yet another black man dying at the hands, or in this case, the knee of a cop to get us here, it feels like we might be at a tipping point as a nation. And if everything that has happening in recent months, from Breonna Taylor to Ahmaud Arbery to George Floyd, to a president who sympathizes with white supremacists but uses thinly-veiled slurs when it comes to black protestors, has been enough to shift your opinions or to just cause you to reach a breaking point where you can no longer remain silent, then hang onto this feeling and continue advocate for and an ally to a black community that is long overdue for some serious change.

All of this might make some people uncomfortable or even upset with me, but this topic is too important to stay silent. This is no longer about politics, about left vs. right or red states and blue states, it’s about right vs. wrong. It’s about being on the right side of history so you don’t have to someday explain to your grandkids why you enabled a tyrant who calls for military force against his own citizens who are trying to exercise their right to peacefully protest, who calls neo-Nazis very fine people but who calls black NFL players “sons of bitches” for peacefully protesting during the national anthem, and who suggests that summary execution as an appropriate response to property damage.

And finally, say it loud and say it proud:

Black
Lives
Matter