"We have no alternative but to protest. For many years we have shown an amazing patience. We have sometimes given our white brothers the feeling that we liked the way we were being treated. But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice."
For years we have shown patience, adherence, and have tolerated. We have wanted to be able to feed our families, to win at this rigged game put in place, scared what the outcome might mean for us if we raised hell. Even after the 1964 Civil Rights Act , we today are having the same fight for equality and equal rights. We still have to adhere to the eurocentric ways of living. The only way we can obtain a job is through pressing our hair and subjecting our natural features to disfiguration and damage. We have to be ten times better than the non-black individual to be recognized for anything that we may do. We cannot be caught doing the delinquent things our white peers do that net them a slap on the wrist because for us it often times can result in death. We must drive having our licenses' in an easy to reach spot in case we are subjected to a random pullover by police. We have to have talks with our young that the white individual will never have to have with their children.
I was speaking to my sister and niece via facetime and my niece was telling me about her favorite Disney movies. I told her mine was Princess and the Frog and Tangled. She got to telling me about hers , Frozen, and oh my lord did she get started on telling me all about Elsa and this long hair that she has. Then she started to get frustrated that she did not have the hair that Elsa has. My sister overhearing told her, "Chune Chune, your hair is beautiful just the way it is". Then my niece replies, " No, I want her long hair." My sister then answers, "You do have long hair, it just coils , see" she says as she takes a tightly coiled curl and extends it.
Witnessing my sister teach her young daughter self-love for her black features left me thinking of me having a son or daughter and having to reiterate time and time again of their beauty due to it not being celebrated and represented. This then led me to further thoughts. The thoughts of having to have the conversation of why they cannot do the things their white friends do, and that they cannot play outside once the streetlights come on. The same way my own father programmed me to be an kiss ass outside of the house to hopefully be seen outside of the color of my skin, it is a horror to think that i would have to do the same.
But a life lived in fear is not a life lived at all. I have come to see that teaching our young to adhere to the outside world does not in fact save them. Their life can be taken regardless of their behavior regardless of anything other than the fact that their skin is black. It is why we have to continue this fight. We cannot settle. Like you, we must organize and gather to raise our voices collectively. Patience does not net us anything. As you perfectly stated, "“Justice too long delayed is justice denied”. Your leadership, grace, and passion continues to guide us all in this war of liberation. It is because of your excellence that I sit here writing this series in the hopes of gaining clarity, exploring intellect and sharing my voice. Black Lives Matter. Black Lives WILL ALWAYS MATTER. I will not shut up until it has come to be understood and your vision of this nation has come to fruition.
Sincerely,
Kayla Mary Jane
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