There's a lot happening. The world is in the middle of a pandemic and also a pandemonium.
Racism isn't getting worse, It's just getting filmed. COVID-19 isn't getting better, it's just getting filmed in form of white people refusing to wear masks and disobeying stay at home orders. But, right now, America's mess is being exposed on a whole new level. So, while I'm able to stay inside in a house where I feel safe, there's certain things I need to say.
As someone who's generally vocal about everything, I have to start speaking louder and do more self-reflection. Because, enough is enough.
Growing up as a South Asian-American, I've dealt with racism, but I owe so many of my privileges to the activism of Black people. It is because of Black people and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's that my parents could immigrate to the US for a better life. It is because of Black people that I have grown up an American citizen with an American passport. But, it is because of anti-blackness, cultural appropriation, and the model minority myth that I cannot and will not be silent.
It is because of people in my own community who support fascist leaders like Modi and Trump who stand on the side of violent extremism that I cannot be silent. It is because of people like Lily Singh who've built their careers appropriating and profiting off of Black culture that I cannot and will not be silent. It is because, I have been told that my dark complexion isn't "worthy" of marriage and that I shouldn't spend too much time in sun or else I'll turn Black that I will not be silent. As if Black is not worthy of marriage. As if Black is not beautiful.
It is because every time a Black person in America is murdered by the state or by some white supremacist asshole that not only was a life lost in the name of racism, but also, someone who's people's forced labor built the country that I'm so privileged to be a citizen of was ruthlessly killed. And that if I, want to keep exercising the privileges that come with being an American citizen, I cannot be silent.
It is because I lived and worked in Guinea where I met some of the most incredible people I've ever known, who dream of coming to America that I will not be silent. And because, they did everything in their power to make sure that I was safe, it is my duty to fight harder to ensure their safety if they ever come to America. It is because I have a family in Guinea who fed me every night for six months and to this day treats me like their own that I will not be silent.
It is because being neutral in a situation of oppression is siding with the oppressor. It is because my silence would perpetuate the same racist/white supremacist/colonial forces that my grandmother protested during colonization in India that I will not be silent.
"No one is free until we are all free" -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Black. Lives. Matter.
Racism isn't getting worse, It's just getting filmed. COVID-19 isn't getting better, it's just getting filmed in form of white people refusing to wear masks and disobeying stay at home orders. But, right now, America's mess is being exposed on a whole new level. So, while I'm able to stay inside in a house where I feel safe, there's certain things I need to say.
As someone who's generally vocal about everything, I have to start speaking louder and do more self-reflection. Because, enough is enough.
Growing up as a South Asian-American, I've dealt with racism, but I owe so many of my privileges to the activism of Black people. It is because of Black people and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's that my parents could immigrate to the US for a better life. It is because of Black people that I have grown up an American citizen with an American passport. But, it is because of anti-blackness, cultural appropriation, and the model minority myth that I cannot and will not be silent.
It is because of people in my own community who support fascist leaders like Modi and Trump who stand on the side of violent extremism that I cannot be silent. It is because of people like Lily Singh who've built their careers appropriating and profiting off of Black culture that I cannot and will not be silent. It is because, I have been told that my dark complexion isn't "worthy" of marriage and that I shouldn't spend too much time in sun or else I'll turn Black that I will not be silent. As if Black is not worthy of marriage. As if Black is not beautiful.
It is because every time a Black person in America is murdered by the state or by some white supremacist asshole that not only was a life lost in the name of racism, but also, someone who's people's forced labor built the country that I'm so privileged to be a citizen of was ruthlessly killed. And that if I, want to keep exercising the privileges that come with being an American citizen, I cannot be silent.
It is because I lived and worked in Guinea where I met some of the most incredible people I've ever known, who dream of coming to America that I will not be silent. And because, they did everything in their power to make sure that I was safe, it is my duty to fight harder to ensure their safety if they ever come to America. It is because I have a family in Guinea who fed me every night for six months and to this day treats me like their own that I will not be silent.
It is because being neutral in a situation of oppression is siding with the oppressor. It is because my silence would perpetuate the same racist/white supremacist/colonial forces that my grandmother protested during colonization in India that I will not be silent.
"No one is free until we are all free" -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Black. Lives. Matter.
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