Stay Woke

Today was my first official day of my independent study on the Black Lives Matter Movement.

For today I watched the short video "5 Ways of Understandings Black Lives Matter" and the BET Documentary "Stay Woke."

The "5 Ways" video introduces the Black Lives Matter Movement as:

1. A Human Rights Movement

2. An Intersexual Movement

3. An Abolitionist Movement

4. An Artistic Movement

and A Prayer.

When I was in college and this movement started, I heard a lot of things being said about it but rarely was it ever true or good. I heard a lot of people around me saying that this movement was an anti-police movement and you have to pick a side - black lives or the police. I heard even more people around me talking about the protests in Ferguson, Baltimore, etc. and saying that it was all just an excuse to commit acts of violence and for looting. People were harassing people, breaking the law, hurting one another, starting fires, stealing things, and the whole thing was just bad news bears. A picture was painted for me:

BE AFRAID! STAY AWAY! THEY'RE VIOLENT, HATEFUL, AND THEY WANT TO HURT YOU!

The media spoon fed my almost exclusively white, Midwestern neighborhood the message they wanted us to hear: the age old message of oppression and white privilege.

Yes I just used the white privilege word and yes I will continue to speak its truth, but before you get upset and stop reading, ask yourself why you're upset? No one wants to believe that they are part of the problem. No one wants to believe that everything they have been taught is a lie. No one wants to face the ugly realities we have created here in America since the time of its birth.

Our nation was founded on the value that the white man matters and nothing else. We invaded this land and took it over for no other reason than this: Greed. What we did to the Native American's is a story for another day, but what we have done to all other walks of life that do not share our face is the story of TODAY. It is the same yesterday, today, and it does NOT have to be the story of tomorrow. That is what this movement is about.. opening up our eyes to the truth, even when it hurts. Even when it is shameful and downright embarrassing.

I am choosing to be 'woke' and stay woke, even if this reality is a lot darker and scarier than choosing to stay in my own bubble calmly repeating "ignorance is bliss" while the world blows up around me and I pretend it's just pretty fireworks.

This means, I am rejecting this dominate narrative of society and the media and I am choosing to stand in solidarity with black lives. Why is this even a big deal!? Why is this such a radical idea???

Black Lives Matter is a human rights movement because they are asking the question - "What does it mean to live in a nation where the very idea that black people are human beings is a relatively new concept in the history of the west??" The sad and honest truth is that ALL lives have NOT mattered and ALL lives CANNOT matter until BLACK lives do!

Black Lives Matter is also an intersexual movement - for males and females alike - because it was founded by three black women. How cool is that!? And not only are they women, but 2 of the 3 women represent the LGBTQ population. This is beautiful progress in the midst of a fight as old as time.

Black Lives Matter is also an abolitionist movement, NOT a reformation. We are looking to end systematic oppression on the black community and create a brighter, more humane, future.

This movement is also an artistic movement, incorporating all types of artists and showing the people that this movement is for them. THIS MOVEMENT IS FOR YOU. This is a movement of the people and the power of people is stronger than the people in power. We have to believe that.

Lastly, this movement is a prayer. A prayer of remembrance for all those who have been killed recently, and also over the years, to police violence. In remembrance of our ancestors who fought to end slavery and who marched in the Civil Rights Movement. In remembrance of all those who have died by our white oppression and misguided hatred. It is also a prayer of affirmation, focused on the positive outcome of our future.

The 'Stay Woke' documentary then elaborates on this and shows how a moment in time became a movement to shake the nation. By posting to social media about the murders they were witnessing by police and hashtagging #blacklivesmatter, people began to see the outrageous injustice happening right before our eyes - if only we choose not to turn away. The documentary talks about the media and the real problems the movement has faced. I will be the first to admit I gave into the media more than once, choosing to brush off these protests as angry and misguided black people, but really it was myself who was misguided. I was choosing to ignore the systemic problem we have with police because that is a burden too big to bare. I was choosing to say 'that's not MY problem' because here in small town Iowa it is easy to say those people don't live here and those things don't happen here. Even though I have opened my eyes to this world, my country, and my neighbors and accepting that it is my problem.. I still sometimes waver in my faith in myself on this, ONLY because I fear it is all just too big for me.. BUT I cannot live MY life knowing that the majority of my neighbors are not able to live theirs. Their lives matter to me, because they are me. I look at them and I see the same image of God that I see when I look into the mirror. How can I ignore that?

(Both of these videos can be found under the 'Books and Links' page on this blog)