Thoughts: Ive been wrestling with my anger toward white - TopicsExpress

Thoughts: Ive been wrestling with my anger toward white people who show up to protests in masks, and go so far to incite chaos and violence. These people typically exercise their privilege by fleeing the scene of chaos once police arrive. Weve experienced these past few weeks, all while using an enormous amount of energy protecting our organizers & activist community from attacks from white provocateurs and the police violence their provocation induces. Let me make this statement now, clearly: YOU ARE NO ALLY TO ME if the limitations of your solidarity involve you hiding your face or overriding my narrative/wishes in spaces built by my people to uplift my people. I cannot hide/disguise my blackness. I am actively fighting a system that delights in targeting me as soon as I walk out of the house. Combating that social normality, is apart of your job as an ally. All around this nation, black womyn and men have answered the call to be Radically Visible as organizers, as protesters, as activists, as just plain folk hitting these streets in the name of freedom. How dare you, then, choose to hide yourself as an anonymous body. How dare you cloak yourself in your ambiguity/whiteness, which makes me/us all the more target. These streets arent safe for me. Let me repeat: THESE STREETS ARENT SAFE FOR ME. You either recognize that this is what separates us, and truly fight for me... or you realize that you sit on the other side of the fence. I am deciding to be a visible warrior for my people. My pain, my fear, my black, will each be public houses to build myself from. There is no space to cower behind your hands. Drop the masks.