This is going to be a short one, but I needed to get this off my chest. With the protests happening and the big one that’s supposed to happen on April 5, many Black people are deciding to sit it out. Rightfully so, our people/ancestors have been the majority of protestors/fighters in this country. If it wasn’t for us, immigrants wouldn’t be able to come here. With that being said, many people are upset that we are not coming to the protest, and I have some words for those people. 

For decades and centuries, your ancestors have sat and done nothing. They watched as people were being killed in the streets. Watched people’s rights be taken away, etc. Now that things are different and it’s starting to affect you, you have no direction. You have sat in so much privilege that you haven’t learned the skills to actually get off your asses and make a true difference. We have and have always had to. We are resilient and that’s something lacking within your community. You need us because you don’t know what you’re doing. You need us because you lack the survival and resilience skills. You didn’t have to learn those things because all your ancestors knew was to kill, brutalized, and conquer. That doesn’t make you strong. That doesn’t make you resilient.

Furthermore, we are sick of putting ourselves in harm’s way, only to be traumatized and brutalized all over again. What’s going on in America is not our lesson to learn. It is not our generational trauma. It is yours. The trauma that you have not dealt with for centuries is finally starting to come ahead and you don’t know what to do. No longer is it time for you to look the other way because now it’s right on your doorstep.

I for one, have not been called to protest. I protested for other reasons before, but this one is not for me to put myself in harm’s way. I just hope that one day, you all heal from what your people have done and passed down to you. And healing is acknowledging the past and making things right for a better future for all.