Not Enough

I avoided watching the murder of #GeorgeFloyd until Sunday, May 31. I'm tired of yet another hashtag and then nothing changes. I didn't want to watch the video because I was afraid of my own inaction. I didn't want to personally face the questions of "what happens next? with no solution in sight.

Since watching the video I have had feelings of rage and despair. I'm angry that I live in a country that doesn't honor and respect our lives or our contribution as citizens. Our gifts and talents have gone from being raped to prostitution. I'm angry as a mother, who is raising daughters to love the skin their in, just to have society squash it in a blink of an eye. I'm discouraged because I don't know how we can change a system that was created to keep us oppressed? How do we change a system that is structured to keep our families broken? How can we as a people come together when black men and women don't hold each other in the highest regard?

I began scouring the internet for answers. I want to support black owned businesses, switch to a black owned bank. However, we don't own and operate businessea for basic necessities like grocery stores. There's a total of 4 in the United States! And if we do #buyblack the chances are that the money the business owner is getting will get poured back to mainstream America or another country to be able to supply what we need. Buying black is NOT enough! While researching black owned banks I stumbled across an interview about the book, The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Wealth Gap. This interview sheds light on the manipulative strategy that the government has used to give us just enough to allow us to believe we're making progress. Don't get me wrong, in comparison to slavery and segregation we have. However, we all know the system that is in place tries to keep us inferior. The author explains, "you have to get political power to protect your assets. The idea is, if whites control all the political levers, if all you have is economic power, the white majority is naturally going to use their political power to deprive you or not protect your assets." Supporting black owned banks and gaining economic power is NOT enough!

My family organizes a Mindfulness March for children this past weekend and it was a great success. Seeing the masses of people come together to support the #blacklivesmatter movement was overwhelming. However, we have to remember that marching and protesting is not the end all be all. It is the first step of many!

I've avoided politics for years! Yes, I vote and that has been my contribution thus far. Today I realize that is also NOT enough. All of our #buyblack #supportblackbusiness and whatever other hashtag we come up with is counter productive if we don't have the powers in place. The reality is if we as a people don't become more involved in politics our children and grandchildren will still be fighting the same injustices when we're gone.