Why Black Lives Matter

If your mind isn't wrapped around the horrors we've seen over the past few weeks then you're clearly not paying attention.

Even after slavery was abolished, even after George Zimmerman was convicted of murdering Trayvon Martin, even after Ahmaud Arbery was murdered by racists: racism still exists.

While we mourn the loss of George Floyd, among countless other colored people killed by racism and police brutality, there are a number of ignorant people using the hashtag #AllLivesMatter.

We know that all lives do matter. That's what we're taught all throughout our entire lives. DUH.

But the phrase 'All Lives Matter' being regurgitated over and over on countless news websites and social platforms isn't part of the problem to ignore. Almost everyone with tan or dark skin has faced decades, if not centuries, of oppression. Not ALL of our ancestors have been through that.

So shining a light on 'all lives' is an asshole-move when the only lives being threatened right now are Black Lives.

I'm Jewish. My people have been fucked over too. But you don't see me going to protests for Ahmaud or for George Floyd being like "JEWS MATTER TOO". Duh, we all matter.

The oppression that colored people have faced from slavery to Trayvon Martin's murder in 2012, to George Floyd's death at the hands of an American officer in 2020: it seems never-ending.

We all have voices and we all need to use them for change. If you're going about your day without thinking of how to change this; how to make the world more equal, you're part of the problem.

Stop pretending everything's fine. Use your voice, especially my fellow white people. Keep the conversations alive. Show up to the marches, donate to appropriate organizations, vote consciously.

Watch the fucking news. Get angry and show up. That's where change comes in.

"Ignorance is bliss for the majority, but ignorance is death for the minority”

How do you think our most influential historical leaders would feel watching the news today?

I think Dr. Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman, and Rosa Parks would be devastated to see that we're pretty close to being back to where we started. Sure, we don't have separate bathrooms or water fountains but what we do have is unwritten, segregated laws.

Being pulled over while black seems to be a crime. Reaching into your breast pocket while black seems to be a crime. Running while black has become a crime as we saw in Ahmaud Arbery's case. Being black seems to be a crime. The worst part is, all of these have been punishable by death.

If the world was blind would this perpetuate? Or would people finally see what actually matters? The inside of who we each are.

Our bodies are simply the vessels that carry our souls to be able to speak, think, feel, march, stand up for what we believe in, and use our voices. They are nothing more than the machinery that our minds use.

We are more than the way we look but I'm afraid society has given our genetics too much power; acting as though someone's skin color or their body makes them less than or more than we are.

I'm ashamed to be white. I'm ashamed to be human. I'm heartbroken to see the destruction, the heart-ache, the pain that centuries of white people have inflicted upon people of color.

"Sorry" isn't enough. Standing idle by isn't enough. Use your privilege. Use your voice and do your research.

We are all one race. So, with that said, I see you. I hear you. I stand with you. #BlackLivesMatter