written by Reyna Gillet on behalf of the NP staff
We have a conversation started. We need to show up for them.
Marching to the Burnside Bridge – seeing the sea of people, laying down, the crowd of so many young people, teens, kids, all taking a moment and all saying “I can’t breathe.”
We’ve been listening to NPR in the mornings and trying to contend with our anxiety, guilt, and the overwhelming feelings of helplessness and grief. We can shut off the radio, but we need to continue to lean in.
We take solace in the organizing that is happening by Black leaders in our communities who are putting their voices out there. We need to show up for them.
We ask, “How do we contribute without taking away from someone else’s voice?”
Some of us are mothers, who talk to our children and show pride when they go to the protest. We tell people on social media who needs our donations. We show up in increments, and remember this is our work. We exist in the realm that asks us to do the racial equity work. This is the time for us to use our privilege and center Black voices. We need to show up for them.
Maybe the social media repost is the conversation. Maybe that 20 dollar donation is the conversation.
The anti-racist work we need to do is to respond, take action, and implement change. It happens at the dinner table. It happens at the grocery store. It happens while we wait for the light to change. It happens in the streets. It happens while we sit at our computers.
We may feel afraid to go outside and show up in a crowd because gatherings of people could mean we contract the virus and get sick and even die. Our Black communities have been feeling that fear long before Covid.
Justice moves forward slowly it seems. But it is moving forward. We need to show up for them.
The force by which our nation has suffered has come after many needless deaths and the voices are crying out to say “No more”.
We are listening.
George Floyd needs justice. Breonna Taylor needs justice. Tony McDade needs justice.
Black Lives Matter. Black Women’s Lives Matter. Black Trans Lives Matter. Now is not the time to be silent. We need to show up for them.
Reyna Alison Amy Carlos Derrick
Erica Holly Janet Karie Luke Monica