abichi

I am not black, and so I want to know how to be an ally. I’m sure many other non-black people would like to as well. This is more about how to talk and present yourself as an ally, ways to help is at the Black Lives Matter page.

Discussion

When talking about what’s happening

STOP using “Everything going on”, “Current Events, “The country’s situation”, and other things that shift the focus from systemic oppression and the crises of anti-blackness and police violence.

Why

What should be used has been coined by leaders of the Black community to be specific in diagnosing and addressing the issues.

“Violence against the Black community is a specific issue, it has a unique history, and it requires precise solutions” (Greene).

To discuss this violence with the above language is to act as if it is cyclical in our news, and that it will disappear soon.

These terms make white and non-black POC more comfortable, but remember, our black peers aren’t so lucky as to be more comfortable in this situation. To actually change what’s happening, the issues need to be explicitly discussed.

Instead use terms like:

• Anti-Black Racism
• Racist Police Violence and Police Brutality
• Misogynoir and Black Womxn Erasure
• Transphobia against Black Trans Folx
• Other Intersectionalities of Anti-Blackness and related systems of oppression
• Lynchings
• Racist Public Health Inequities

This first discussion piece is from @KAHLIL.GREENE on Instagram, Yale’s 1st Black Student Body President. More from him at the link