So I have thoughts on this and this is the internet which means I have to share them. The way I see these type of things, there's 3 main possibilities and I'm only sorta okay with one of them.

1. The message finally got through and woot, yay, finally! Sorta okay.

(1/9) https://twitter.com/iSmashFizzle/status/1277596419071913985

2. Someone not black (probs another white dude) was like "Hey, did you know racism is bad" and the other dude was like "wait, really, why did no one ever tell me this before?" even though like a ton of people told them, they just weren't a white dude.

(2/9)

Okay, so the 3rd one requires a story. I got bullied a lot in high school. Ugh, I know, fucking sob story and also trying not to center myself so let's TL;DR this one. 9th grade, there was a retreat at some camp ground. There was a bonfire, some kumbaya moments, etc.

(3/9)

And people were talking about their issues like one person was like "Hey, I cut myself and that's bad". A bunch of people got all crying like and started to apologize for being a bully. Suweet, problem solved, no more bullying. jk, it was back like a week later.

(4/9)

That's what I'm worried about here, but it's what I'm most expecting. Right now, people have their feet held to the fire. Be a racist fuck, face the consequences. But what happens when that fades? I mean this is the first time we've had protests over black deaths, so...

(5/9)

Wait, it isn't? We've had protests before? Huh, that's weird, I never learned about them in school. And according to some friends, blackface wasn't considered wrong 30 years ago. Yeah, who knew? I sure didn't. /s

(6/9)

So why am I writing this thread? It's a reminder. It's a reminder not to allow bullies to crop up a week later and it's a reminder to keep having the tough conversations, to hold people's feet to the fire. Hold racists accountable.

(7/9)

The amount of anti-blackness that I grew up with and that crops up every now and again is astonishing. I'm sure there's a ton of stuff I still haven't dissected or figured out myself. But we have to work towards betterment. We can't let up.

(8/9)

History will try and wipe these protests off the map of time. Books won't report on it, or will call it "police rights" or something. I look forward to seeing how the world changes because of these protests and because of tearing down statues and deplatforming racists.

(9/9)