We the Unheard

People, including our “president,” are silent when Black people are murdered but want to make noise when Black people respond. We are tired, and we are literally crying out for help!

Dr. King said, “a riot is the language of the unheard.” Black people have gone unheard for years. It’s not until we riot that you see (not hear) us, because the riots corroborate the negative stereotypes that some people have about Black people. Then, they can feel justified in calling Black people disparaging  names like “thugs.”

I need Twitter to come through with a fact check and Dictionary.com to come through with a definition. A thug is defined as “a cruel or vicious ruffian, robber, or murderer.” Hmm, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Sounds like a thug to me. Donald, aka the president, basically threatened an entire community of people. Or as Twitter said, he is using his platform to glorify violence.

I think it’s safe to say that White people have the most privilege in this country. Dear White people, please use that privilege for good. Please leverage your power. Please use your privilege to say what we the unheard cannot get across. 

We just want to relax, exercise, enjoy time with friends. I was going to say all the things we want to do, the things that this country has taught Black people to think twice about before doing, but the list is too long. So I’ll say, we just want to breathe. We literally just want to take another breath without the color of our skin being deemed a threat. So threatening that people feel justified to kill us and claim they were afraid.

Black people, I don’t even know what to say. Like I really don’t. So for now I’ll just say, please stay safe. Sadly, the burden to do that is on us. It feels like I’ve had to say this too many times to count.

I’ll leave you all with this to think about. When talking about education, Bettina Love writes that “We want to do more than survive.” She goes on to say that we want to thrive. To me, that dream goes beyond the classroom. I cannot wait to see the day when Black people can truly thrive! But for now, if all we can do is survive, then please do that.

Let us survive today so we can thrive tomorrow,

~ Marissa

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