As a black, thirty-two year old woman, I have had many years to understand the pain of a black person, the pain they endured in the past with slavery and the pains black people continue to endure even to this day. Indeed, the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, was felt in the hearts of everyone around the globe. And quite understandably, brought to the forefront the memories of many decades of slavery and fights for racial equality, even after the end of slavery which created an avalanche of emotion bringing black people out onto the streets to once again demand justice for their fallen brothers and sisters.
For many, there is still a sense of confusion as to why black people are agitating today and why they continue to express their suffrage. Black people want to be recognized and acknowledged. They want their accomplishments to be acknowledged and to receive what is due to them for their accomplishments. Black people want to be seen as human beings, equal, not extraordinary in their cliché athletic accomplishments, in their height or the fullness of their figure or features or the richness of their history and culture but just equally recognized as any other.
I cannot remove from your eyes many things but today I will try. Here is the truth, my black brothers and sisters because that is all I can give you. You will shout Black Lives Matter but you will be told All Lives Matter. That is to remove from you any recognition or acknowledgement, to move your plight to almost insignificance. Your image will be removed from their products and these companies will claim to be racially sensitive. But then when you think about it, so is the use of an Italian Woman or a British Man. An injustice (Slavery, Dehumanization) was done to you many decades ago but the children of your abusers will say to you they owe you nothing because they themselves did nothing to you.
These things will hurt you and while I understand, it appears to be malicious, I say to you black people, it is time to grow. I understand it is not popular among black people to say these things but it is time to grow and move on. There are times in your lives you will have to learn to move on from pain without closure. This is one of those times. This is your moment of maturity as the black race. This is the moment you will express the spirit of Christ, to show forgiveness to those who do not ask for forgiveness.
In 2009, Barack Hussein Obama was elected to be the 44th President of the United States. A black man was elected to be President of the United States and in his years of service as President he made all black people proud around the world because he led one of the most powerful nations in the world, a predominantly Caucasian country with a sordid history of racism and slavery against blacks. Furthermore, he led with knowledge, kindness and wisdom. He and his family showed the world, that the colour of their skin was insignificant and cleared the path for more black people around the world to grow into positions of power because in his years President Barack Hussein Obama had built a level of confidence in us (black people).
Today, you still continue to suffer from many hardships with law enforcement, many segments of society and governance, and these pains seem to echo the pains of slavery which our forefathers endured for many decades. We agitate with Black Lives Matter to cry out for the wrongs being done to Blacks and to demand justice for the many who have suffered under an unjust system. Today, I see you matching the streets, in the middle of the Corona Virus Pandemic, a flickering remnant of the past. I can only imagine what John Lewis (1940-2020) thought when he saw his black people matching the streets once again, crying for justice and equality with radical subsets of the group looting and damaging property.
Though our pain grows from persistent racial discrimination, we should acknowledge it is now time for blacks to stop waiting on others to validate who we are and what we have accomplished. It is time for us to start being comfortable with our skin, to treat others with compassion who do not realize that our dark skin is just what it is, no different than a pink or yellow pigmented skin. And of course, it is absolutely all right, if there are people who have different skin or cultural preferences. But perhaps, it is time for us to realize it is not what others think of us but what we think of ourselves. Perhaps it is time we accept who we are, where we are from, to embrace, celebrate and be proud of it. And no, we are not from a nation of hoodlums, gang violence or drugs. This is the image the racist gave us and many of our children seem to have adopted as their own.
It is time to stop crying and asking for apologies. No one in this world owes us anything. No one needs to apologize to us but if God has put it in their hearts to do so, then those who have wronged us will, or will try everything in their power to make us feel comfortable in their presence. But regardless, we need to be all right with the preferences of others, be proud of our own history, culture and appearance. And perhaps we, as a people, can stop thinking of what has been done to us or what is owed to us and start thinking of how we can bring value to the people around us and to the communities we live in.
It is time to heal and gain the “Peace that Surpasses all Understanding” which our Lord Jesus Christ promised us.
