2020 started off as year that passed all those predictions of impending doom. Nostradamus’ 2012 and Clinton’s 2016, both of which never happened. on the other hand, the economy boomed and the world started to have fewer wars started. until 2020 came in and surprised us all.
what I am going to focus on however is not the pandemic or Trump’s presidency but the rise of anti-racism. Police brutality had gone unanswered for a while and not even the global stealthy virus could stop people from getting on the streets and have their voices heard.
This is not another piece of text voicing the obvious. Rather, I am going to share a lesson I learned throughout this period. Racism has been a notion of ignorance for a while. some of us perpetuate and most of us turn a blind eye.
The recent events on the other hand brought a few things to light for me. First of all, African American’s are suffering from a completely different racism than others; much more systemic! wait a minute. The second thing I learned was it is not “African American” for anyone who has a dark complexion.
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There are those who are Jamaican, Haitians, Indians and so many other ethnicities. Even some who are descendants of African migrants do not wish to be referred to as African Americans. So, everyone let’s get that out of the way.
And for those of us who decided to remain silent, I need to remind you it is OK to go with the flow sometime and even go beyond that. Some of the events happened recently may sound extreme but there are times we all need to shout a bit louder to be heard. It is all about leveling the playing field for those who have been underprivileged for centuries and continue to be.
All in all, let us all educate ourselves more than we usually do and stay on the right side of history. I am sure that most of us are given the necessary amount of time to take care of it.
Let me know how you stand in these hot times and share what you personally learned.
