The World We Live In Right Now
05 Jun 2020I feel like I’ve been running on autopilot with this blog. I’ve continued to make light of death despite the horrors going on around me, partly because the creative release is an escape for me. But last week, U.S. deaths from COVID-19 topped 100,000, with a disproportionate number of deaths occurring among African-Americans. And George Floyd, only one of the latest in a string of black men and women murdered at the hands of white policemen, was killed last week and buried yesterday.
I haven’t been ignoring this in my real life, and it’s time to stop ignoring it on this blog as well. I haven’t got much of a platform, but any platform I have, I should use.
I’m not going to weigh the merits of going to a protest vs. staying home to stay safe from COVID here. I mean, definitely don’t go to a protest if you think you might have COVID. And definitely stay home as much as you can in other areas of your life. Coronavirus cases in my state are rising again since the governor loosened restrictions. On the same token, showing up in numbers too great to ignore is changing the conversation around race right now. Do whatever you feel comfortable doing when it comes to protesting. But either way, do something. Educate yourself. Share your privilege. Be there for our black brothers and sisters.
Educate yourself. Ta-Nehisi Coates is at the top of my reading list now. I’m also planning to read White Fragility. Uprooting Racism is another book that’s been highly recommended to me. If you’re a podcast junkie like me, check out 1619, Pod Save the People, and Code Switch. And if you’re particularly interested in the way the pandemic intersects with black lives, check out several of the recent Sawbones podcast episodes, which have been exploring injustices against black people throughout medical history.
Share your privilege. Donate to the NAACP legal defense fund, The Southern Poverty Law Center, Campaign Zero, The Bail Project, or Black Voters Matter. Pick out a couple things to do from this list.
No death scene today. There’s been quite enough death lately.