“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter. In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.” -MLK. 

It’s been a few weeks now since the tragic murder of George Floyd and the eruption of protests across the United States, Canada, and the rest of the world. At first, lost in the fervour of action and in the hopelessness of anger, disappointment, and overwhelming sadness, I posted across social media sharing resources and donating to organizations such as Black Lives Matter Vancouver and the Minnesota Freedom Fund. But then, I felt myself ache because was all this coming from an intention of performativism? I knew that I had spent hours of my life trying to argue with relatives and other community members on why Black Lives Matter and what systemic barriers exist for the Black community. Or that I diversified my intake of media and arts to always be inclusive of diverse perspectives. But why did I feel that underbelly of shame if I didn’t keep posting. In this new era of activism, I’ve been rethinking about what it means to be an ally and the article by Yomi Adegoke could not be more accurate, “We Need to Rethink Our Pics or It Didn’t Happen Approach to Activism.”

So I’ve taken some care to take a step back from posting mindlessly and sharing without much more reflection on my end. The past few weeks have been about reflection and more reflection moving forward. I recognize that even as a POC, I have immense privilege. Having the ability to cry for hours about such a tragic death while not having to experience what it’s like for my community to have to deal with that fear or anguish every day. I’m not perfect and I’m still learning. But I’ve really been trying to spend the past few weeks to revaluate my own biases and my own perspectives. I still have lots to learn. Especially as I grew up as an immigrant under the powerful myth of the model minority, I was told to stay silent and not to create disturbances. To keep my head down and not to draw attention. But that’s a privilege in itself… We often associate recognizing privilege as a detriment to our own abilities or the foundations of our institutions which were built on meritocracy. But the truth is, not actively checking our own privileges is extremely detrimental. 

I’ve found myself angry, disappointed and upset at what has happened and has continued to happen for sometime now. Not just in America and not just in Canada but around the world too. Racism and anti black sentiment is not only confined to NA. Nonetheless, I recognize my sentiments of anger and overwhelming sadness are nowhere near what the Black community has been experiencing and continues to experience. 

Not one of us is perfect. We are all on our journeys to learning. To growing. It’s hard to look at our own lives and look at where our privilege serves us to have a comfortable life or to have the ability to live in ignorance. However, this cannot be just any one person or one community’s fight. It has to be all of ours. All of us must actively do our best to engage in difficult conversations, to ask questions, to support and be an ally. Seemingly small actions add together to make a monumental difference. 

Amidst a global pandemic and the protests across the US and Canada, we can choose to look at one another with compassion, empathy, and hope. I really hope we can continue walking on this journey together to better our understanding and support because Black Lives Matter. 

*Moving forward I hope that ajourney2success.com continues to reflect the diverse voices and stories of amazing people. If you know of someone that you would like to see featured, or would like to share your own story, please do not hesitate to get in touch. I will do my best to honour my commitments to uplift the voices of the BIPOC community.

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Here are some resources that I’ve found that may help you on your journey to better understand why Black Lives Matter. If there are any that you would like to see added, please do not hesitate to comment below and share them 🙂

Books that I Would Recommend

• Between the World and Me – Ta Nehesi Coates
• Beloved, The Song of Solomon – Toni Morrison
• Just Mercy – Bryan Stevenson
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou
• Are Prisons Obsolete – Angela Davis
• The Gold Indigoes – George Elliott Clarke

Movies

• 13
• Just Mercy

Signing up for the Daily Activist Newsletter for 3 resources/ actions you can take each day to support the Black community and be an ally. It’s delivered daily to your mail box. This was inspired by a conversation I had with my friend Katy Ho who is the founder of Attire Media and the Daily Activist.

Other Resources:

Google Doc on organizations to get involved with or donate to & petitions to sign

Working Google Doc on Anti Racism Resources

A Guide to Allyship

Other Ways To Help

Donate with no money

Spreadsheet of all the mutual funds

Spreadsheet of businesses matching donations

*I am not the sole creator of any of these resources. Any and all information below is intended exclusively for personal use and educational purposes. ajourney2success.com and I do not represent or warrant that the content on the resources below are free from errors or omission. ajourney2success.com takes no responsibility for the accuracy, credibility, reliability, and correctness of any information published within the resources below, including any links or references to third-party information sources.