I hadn’t planned on writing this piece; it was a spur of the moment thing where the thoughts and emotions swimming in my head compelled me to spill them over onto paper.
The internet has erupted with conversations that speak so closely to me as a black person – make it a young black woman at that; and that’s conversations regarding racial injustice. Pretty sure that there are those ones that roll their eyes in a “this again” manner or those smart alecs that find it appropriate to chime in with the “all lives matter” line when issues of race or the Black Lives Matter movement is mentioned. Well, it must be nice to be them to know that you’re shielded by your privilege that ensures that your existence is never made that much harder just because of your skin colour.
Racial injustice reveals itself in all the spaces we find ourselves in in our society – the justice system, healthcare, education, working environments, and opportunities. It’s in the systems set in place, the remarks, the behaviour, the attitudes, the red tape… And it’s not always blatantly obvious and aggressive but sometimes rather hidden in the offhand jokes and subtle commentary to the point that you may not even notice. Let’s not even go into the lack of empowerment for black careers because writing a thesis is not up my alley at the moment but here’s an article from Marketing Week to start putting matters into perspective.
People, in general, are usually very well aware of their actions and what they say to those around them – the same goes for racism. We need to stop excusing unjust behaviours and dismissing it as an oversight or an “I don’t think they meant it that way.”
It really pleases me that these conversations are happening. May they continue to happen both online and offline. May we have the courage to speak out against the injustices that happen to us day in and day out without fear of being labelled or further ostracised for it. Because Black Health Matters. Black Education Matters. We Black Livelihoods Matter. Black Lives Matter.
