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Hi everyone! Tomorrow is my birthday! But more importantly, it’s Juneteenth, a commemoration of the end of slavery in the US. So if you want to give me a birthday gift, which I know you were all thinking about, do this for me (THREAD):
1. Enjoy some art by black creators! If you’re into sci-fi, you need Octavia Butler in your life. Watch the adorable Craig of the Creek, head-writer’d by the amazing @MrJeffTrammell. For the love of God watch @blacktress’ stand up. Do your own digging and discover your own favs.
2. If you’ve been supporting the Black Lives Matter movement by protesting, calling, writing, social media-ing, and generally being great, make sure you’re taking some time off to rest. Recharge. Self-soothe. This is a marathon, not a sprint. You’re no good to anyone burned out.
3. If you’ve gotten overwhelmed, tapped out, and haven’t come back - take your rest, but do what you need to do to come back and keep fighting the good fight. You’re needed.
4. If you are annoyed that I’m posting about this, if you’ve told someone “all lives matter” in the recent past, if you believe that the cops committing murders are just bad apples, if you don’t understand why folks are chanting “defund the police,” then please, do this for me:
Be curious.
Find an article, a video, a podcast about race by someone you don’t agree with. Get all the way through it. Imagine, as you watch or listen or read, that this piece of work was not constructed to make you feel bad. Consider that its goal is not to dismiss you or villainize you.
See it as someone’s attempt to be heard. To express their truth. Let that truth take up space. Don’t worry, for a moment, if your POV is not being represented. You’ll be able to return to it in a moment.
What thoughts come up? What feelings? Maybe you’re angrier than you were before. But maybe there’s a part of their experience that speaks to you. Maybe there’s an idea in it that makes sense to you. Find the differences fascinating. Find the similarities intriguing. Be curious.
Racism is not a switch we flip on or off. Humans are messy. We can try to be a good person and still perpetuate white supremacy. We can inflict harm without saying a single slur. I don’t like to think of people as “good” or “bad.” But some people are stuck. And some people grow.
And if you want to grow, there’s only one step I can see: try. Just try. Try to love more, try to listen closer, try to see the humanity of the people around you. Just try. And when you fuck up? Try again.
That would be the greatest gift you could give me. Just try. I don’t expect you to be perfect. I’m sure as shit not. But I know we have the capacity to be better. I hope you have the courage to try.
