Before seeing a white man murder a handcuffed black man by kneeling on his neck in public, in broad daylight, how many times did you not believe perceived outrageous claims of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color because they were unfathomable to you?
What is this weariness? It is the weight of 400 years of relentless hope while facing the willful ignorance of those who deny the historic and systemic oppression of so many. Being available for hard conversations is draining yet worth it when someone begins to understand. On the contrary, there are always those who know more than God. As for me, I have tasted the freedom that was unjustly denied to my kidnapped and enslaved ancestors. This was not exclusively experienced by my extended family. Unknown numbers of Africans from various tribes were kidnapped, chained, shackled, and transported against their will as cargo to live less than humans in enslavement on this land. What traumas does this experience induce for the human psyche, body, and soul? On what behaviors and practices did they learn to depend for survival? Spend time with those questions. Born in the post-chattel slavery era of the twentieth century, I know Jim Crow and apartheid from my lived experience. Th...
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