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White People: Racism is Our Responsibility and Ending it is Our Work to Do
I used to watch videos of police murdering Black people, and share them on social media, demanding that white people watch them and take action.
A few years ago, my good friend LeRon Barton convinced me watching and sharing these videos was harmful and dehumanizing,
So last year when the video 17-year-old Darnella Frazier bravely made of Derek Chauvin murdering George Floyd popped up in my Twitter feed, I did not watch it.
Days later, my heart soared listening to young Black people with megaphones lead protests in all fifty states -on tribal lands, among the Amish, with labor unions, in the Sundown Town where I grew up. A particular highlight was DC Mayor Muriel Bowser renaming 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Black Lives Matter Plaza:
I honestly believed we were witnessing white Americans FINALLY recognize the full humanity of Black people.
But as July rolled around, I could already feel the energy start to wane.
