The Conviction of Her Spirit

Darnella did not seek this trauma,
but like so many of our ancestors
she was thrust into a situation
forever altering her understanding of humanity
and man's grave capacity to embrace evil
and disregard the dignity of another.

That she had the wherewithal
to suspend herself in time and place
for eight minutes and forty-six seconds
to capture George's final struggle with death
by a callous and cold-hearted aphyxiation,
speaks to the conviction of her spirit.

It is through such selfless acts
that lived experience cannot be denied
and we choose to bend the moral arc
of the universe closer towards justice
all because of one person's courage
in the face of profound injustice.

Comments

New Site

To read the latest on Leslye's Labyrinth, visit http://bit.ly/leslyeslabyrinth

When You Say, "I'm Not Racist"

When you say, "I'm not racist," you deny the complexity of a system built on the racist ideas born of white supremacy. When you say, "I don't see color," you do not understand that making judgements based on color is the problem, not seeing color. When you say, "I was taught to treat everyone the same," you deny the limitations of your being kind when the system denies my dignity. When you say, "But, I'm a Christian," you deny the whitening of Jesus' body and the distortion of his Gospel for economic gain through the genocide of indigenous people, the enslavement of Africans, and other atrocities against people of color. When you say, "My child is Black," you conflate your love for one person with a love for all. When you say, "My family never enslaved people" you deny how the injustices of slavery were transformed to perpetuate your illusion of white supremacy. Wh...

Your Heart Outweighs Your Heritage

I have always thought it racist and unpatriotic to celebrate the confederacy for any reason. Over the past decade, those who choose to do so allege it to be a celebration of their heritage, but not hate. The confederacy cannot be separated from the enslavement of Africans, my ancestors, and its continuing legacy in direct conflict with all that is holy. While my family tree includes a confederate general, even he said the battle flag should be put away and there should be no monuments after the war. Of course the confederacy did not establish the slave trade and chattel slavery, but it seceded from the nation and risked the lives of its men to protect it. The word "heritage" is such a complex one especially when you realize the absence of muted voices speaking of a history more expansive than that promoted by the dominant group. While millions of people share the heritage of being from my home state, Alabama, we embrace different and often conflicting perspectives on what tha...

Leslye's Labyrinth

Search This Blog