Say Something
To my friends who are active on social media and exclusively posting pictures of your children, vacations, frivolity, that’s great — we all sometimes need a break from the negative and it’s beautiful to see these things on my feed.
But your silence on issues like police brutality, the slaying of blacks, systemic racism, and other civil rights issues is DEAFENING. It feels like the equivalent of sticking your head in the sand or living in a privileged bubble.
Shoutout to my friend Nathaniel Brown who is pushing people to speak up more. I have thought about it at length and I agree we all need to have the conversation. Even if it’s not as pleasant as a bunch of pictures of happy children.
The first step in changing a broken system is acknowledging the system is broken and speaking up about it. This can start a chain reaction because the more people speak up, the more people inspire others. And the more people get inspired and energized, the more power we have to take our ideas and implement them into lasting change. And the more we empathize with other humans who are being mistreated in the most egregious ways, the more unified and harmonious we become as people.
I have hope that we can effectuate systemic change within law enforcement agencies. But it won’t happen with silence.
PHOTO:
Photo by Taylor Simpson on Unsplash
