If you have been on the front lines of, or supported in any way, the recent national and global protests to protect Black lives, take a bow. Your efforts, though not appreciated by all, have had a serious impact on business as usual.
Police reform has become a movement. Confederate statues are being toppled left and right. Institutions, streets and even singing groups are divorcing themselves from names that glorified racists of yesteryear. And even M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I has voted the remove the “Stars & Bars” from its state flag.
Sure, some of these changes are symbolic, leaving a lot work to be done, but let’s not play cheap the power of symbols. When sacred symbols begin to fall, the courage needed to bring about foundational change rises in us all.
This positive energy has found other outlets, including Black folk voting in crazy numbers despite the “trickerations” of those who don’t think Black lives matter at all. Note to self: Early voting in Harris County runs through July 10.
Channeling this progressive energy is essential, because those who follow the racist dog whistles in the form of 45’s tweets coming from the White House “ain’t no ways tired.”
This positive change energy is needed also to fix whatever is broke in Harris County, which reported some absolutely unacceptable numbers regarding the dollars not being spent with Black businesses.
Moreover, let’s channel some of this energy to stay protected from the coronavirus that has refused to disappear simply because some folk thought they could ignore it away.
