We Need Action
For the last few weeks, I stopped writing because I found myself lacking energy, motivation and purpose. I realized that I could not pour from an empty cup and I needed a pause to center. I became aware that the COVID-19 situation and the period of quarantine was not something we could be prepared for. I accepted the fact that it was reasonable to feel everything I was feeling. I just needed time to process my feelings and face my fears. I needed to get closer to my spirituality. How did I know that it was my time to come back? The events of the last few days prompted me to come back.
The news about the brutal killing of George Floyd moved strong feelings inside me. Watching the video of a man being killed because of the color of his skin at the hands of someone who is supposed to protect our lives is beyond comprehension. Killing a black man from a position of power because your power makes you think that you can do it is unacceptable. It made me remember vividly that year I lived in Tampa in a strictly black neighborhood and witnessed many episodes of discrimination, inequality and racial discrimination.
As a woman, Puerto Rican and of brown skin color, I can identify with the lives of the people of color, but I can not even get close to know how it feels to live in fear, marginalized with little to no options and oppressed. It is somewhat hard for me to feel the disadvantage the people of color experience because I always had the opportunity to make choices even when I made bad choices at times. I am a minority who knows privilege, but even from my position of privilege, the killing of George Floyd awakened the sense of justice inside me.
I am not racist and I have always been an advocate for equality. However, the realization that I was becoming desensitized in front of racial discrimination because society has normalized it, hit me really hard. The realization that racial discrimination and oppression are not going to be changed if I do not take action was a wake up call. The realization that my silence could be a part of the problem was an eye opener.
Now is not the time to judge how our black community needs to protest. It is not the time to turn an ancient social problem into a political issue. It is perhaps a time of reflection directed to identify how we can help.
What can we do?
Register to vote and exercise our right in EVERY election.
Check-in with our black friends and acquaintances. Do not be afraid to reach out and talk about feelings. Listen to their stories because there is so much we do not know.
Make a habit to engage in the difficult conversations that frequently we avoid with our family members and our children. Empathy and compassion are first learned at home. Home is where all big changes need to start.
Donate to initiatives that are helping black people. Donations can be in the form of money or our time.
Be kind to everyone.
Our society needs to change and the change needs to start at a personal level. We need to be the catalyst to ignite that change. The change needs to start within us and then take it into the world.
