Have you ever watched a pot on the stove with water when it starts to heat up? You start to see the bubbles forming and popping and you know it’s just a matter of time until the water boils over if you don’t move it.
Y’ALL – the pot has been hot and bubbling for a long time especially in the United States.
And for folks who are “shocked” over the national protests taking place – well, of course, they’re happening.
Take this for perspective:
400 years of slavery – Yes, slavery lasted that long. I was also shocked by this. 1619 was when the first recorded people were brought from Africa to be slaves in the United States (that’s way before we even became a country).
40 years of Jim Crow Era Segregation – everything from not having access to the same water fountains, to restaurants, to schools to literally states not allowing Black people to move there. Yes, I’m calling you out, Oregon.
55 years of Implicit and Explicit Racism - from the 1965 Voting Rights Act to now. Take a look at wealth, educational, health disparities (see how COVID is disproportionately affecting black communities), to the HUGE lack of black executives in corporate America and elected office.
That’s a lot of INTENTIONAL structural and systemic racism.
From profiting over human beings to intentionally locking black people out of educational, political, economic opportunities, to seeing the results from these engineered systems in overt ways like the killing of black people through police brutality to a dearth of black leadership in business and politics.
Sure, variations of systemic and structural oppression also happen to many other marginalized communities, but this isn’t about us right now.
Why are people protesting?
Black people are fed up and angry. Here are two reasons to be pissed and take the streets.
The brutal killing of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor in addition to the hundreds of others.
Huge disparities (that have always existed) that are fully coming to light during the COVID pandemic impacting black communities. You are seeing black communities being infected and dying at higher rates. These again are the result of hundreds of years of barriers to access to healthcare and good employment opportunities.
What can you do?
Donate to a bail fund - https://www.communityjusticeexchange.org/nbfn-directory
Step aside, allow people from the community being impacted to demand solutions and make their needs clear. You are not here to save anyone or solve anything. You need to be a support system. Read more here.
Have hard conversations with your friends and family about the killings of black people and why they are happening. Read more here.
Check your privilege and weaponize it. What does that mean? Think about your life compared to the people who are being targeted and killed. How is your life different because of your gender, color of skin, socioeconomic status? Think about these things. Speak up in spaces you have access to. Use your power to make changes.
One of my favorite VCs, Brad Feld said it best:
“As with my efforts on eliminating sexism and gender discrimination, I realize that I need to learn and participate as an advocate, rather than show up as “hi, I’m a white guy here to solve the problem.” So, I’m starting right now to understand systemic racism in America better and try to get involved in a constructive way to help eliminate it.”
Additional Resources:
Just click on this, there are so many powerful tools: https://linktr.ee/1thatgotawayy