10 - Figuring Out…Being Black in America

Welcome back to Figuring It Out Friday. This week I'm sharing my thoughts in the wake of Tyre Nichols death and the release of the body cam footage. Takeaways For White People: Challenge yourself to listen to all types of black voices, even if they represent someone you wouldn’t necessarily interact with and ESPECIALLY if they're on opposites sides of the political isle than you. Just saying you Love me is not enough. One of my friends shared a quote with my back in 2020 from Glennon Doyle's book and it was something to the effect of "how will you be able to say you showed up for this civil rights movement?" Takeaways for Black People: You don’t have to take on the responsibility of educating others on the plight of Black people especially not to the detriment of your mental health. You are your own gatekeeper. You decide what information you consume & what you conversations you engage in. You do not have to subject yourself to watching Black people be assaulted, accosted or belittled in any way. “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a state of rage almost, almost all of the time - and in one's work. And part of the rage is this: It isn't only what is happening to you. But it's what's happening all around you and all of the time in the face of the most extraordinary and criminal indifference, indifference of most white people in this country, and their ignorance. Now, since this is so, it's a great temptation to simplify the issues under the illusion that if you simplify them enough, people will recognize them. I think this illusion is very dangerous because, in fact, it isn't the way it works. A complex thing can't be made simple. You simply have to try to deal with it in all its complexity and hope to get that complexity across." - James Baldwin Love you, Ashley