{"id":2503,"date":"2014-08-20T23:57:32","date_gmt":"2014-08-20T23:57:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/?p=2503"},"modified":"2015-11-11T12:20:23","modified_gmt":"2015-11-11T19:20:23","slug":"ferguson-bloggers-and-race-in-america-even-if-we-think-we-know-we-dont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/2014\/08\/20\/ferguson-bloggers-and-race-in-america-even-if-we-think-we-know-we-dont\/","title":{"rendered":"Ferguson, Bloggers and Race in America: Even if We Think We Know, We Don’t"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"protestinpeace\"<\/a>
\n\"Cindy<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the bloggers I admire most is Kelly Wickham,<\/a> who writes \u00a0Mocha Momma. I “met” her online 7 years ago because she was a reading specialist<\/a> and, as the parent of a dyslexic child, I was so grateful for the committed, loving, determined way she wrote about her work. I kind of stalked her in comments until we met at BlogHer in 2007. (Actually I also stalked her after that, too, but at least by then she knew who I was.)<\/p>\n

She writes, with honesty and rage, about race. \u00a0About family, and \u00a0love, and education and whatever else occurs to her, but also about race. \u00a0I’ve learned a lot from her, including how much I didn’t know. \u00a0As the years have passed, and more women of color have joined BlogHer and Kelly’s Facebook feed, I’ve learned from others, too. \u00a0 The BlogHer community grew and widened, and with it the gut understanding of the whole community. \u00a0On our blogs we tell the truth, and the different truths shared by the bloggers who are now a part of my life have been an immeasurable gift.<\/p>\n

Of course it is beyond wrong that, in 2014, we still have to seek diversity, to go out of our way to learn lessons we should have learned long ago, and that those most in pain still experience so much that we haven’t figured out how to learn.<\/p>\n

The trouble is that there hasn’t been nearly enough intersection between us and those experiencing \u00a0the harshest emotions that emerge in response to American racism.<\/p>\n

I remember once talking with author Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor<\/a>, who said to me “Don’t you see, we black mothers must be lionesses to protect our sons.” \u00a0I thought of her statement often as I was raising my own.<\/p>\n

I remember a colleague describing to me, when we were both pregnant, her fear of the first time someone called her not-yet-born child a “n*$%#&r” – of what she would say to him, what she would do.<\/p>\n

But despite having African-American colleagues and friends, I’m not sure I ever, until these past days, completely<\/em> heard the depth<\/em> of anger<\/a> and despair that lives within so many.<\/p>\n

It’s not that I didn’t know; most people I know care about and have seen plenty of racial injustice and have worked, in our own ways, to change it. \u00a0But that’s different from opening someone else’s door and walking in. \u00a0It’s on fire in there. \u00a0And it should be.<\/p>\n

Listen to these:<\/p>\n

Everyone can\u2019t stand up the moment something pisses the off and we\u2019re all different in how we react. Some people shut down because they don\u2019t even know where to start. Some people just need a nudge to be emboldened to speak. Some people need to know they\u2019re needed before they speak.<\/p>\n

Well if you need that nudge, here it is. If you\u2019re afraid because you don\u2019t want to say the wrong thing, push past that fear. Because right now, your silence about the continued devaluation of Black lives is wrong. Your lack of acknowledgement is not ok. If you need tips before speaking out here\u2019s 3: don\u2019t blame the person who was killed. Don\u2019t say you\u2019re color-blind. Acknowledge the racism at play.<\/p>\n

Speaking up when it matters is usually when it\u2019s also the hardest. When your voice shakes, that\u2019s when you\u2019re standing in truth. But that\u2019s usually when it is most needed. And when you do it, someone else might be encouraged to do the same. Do not be silent. \u00a0Awesomely Luvvie\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

I am outraged but I do not know what to do with my outrage that might be productive, that might move this world forward toward a place where black lives matter, and where black parents no longer need to\u00a0have \u201cthe talk\u201d with their children<\/a>\u00a0about how not to be killed by police and where anger over a lifetime of wrongs is not judged, but understood and supported.\u00a0Roxanne Gay<\/a><\/p>\n

Black bodies matter. Black bodies matter. Black bodies matter. Say it with me: Black bodies matter. This isn\u2019t a question. This isn\u2019t a euphemism. This isn\u2019t an analogy. This is a fact. Black cis and trans boys, girls, men, and women and non-binary folks, they all matter. Until that fact becomes a universal truth due to the precise liberty and justice the Constitution of this country promises, I won\u2019t stop fighting and neither should you. \u00a0Jenn M. Jackson<\/a><\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t what I could see and hear as Ferguson residents fled and were pursued into residential areas that gave me chills. It was what I couldn\u2019t see. Because behind the walls of those smoke-shrouded homes were parents comforting their frightened children. I couldn\u2019t see them, but I knew they were there. They could have been me. They could have been my children.Kymberli Barney <\/a>for Mom 2.0<\/em><\/p>\n

This is what I need, dear friend.<\/p>\n

I need to know that you are not merely worried about this most tragic of worst case scenarios befalling my son; I need to know that you are out there changing the ethos that puts it in place. That you see this as something that unites us as mothers, friends and human beings.<\/p>\n

My son needs me, as much as yours needs you. Sadly, my son needs me more. He needs someone to have his back, when it seems that the police, the men he\u2019d wave to with excitement as a little boy, see him as a being worthy only of prison or death.<\/p>\n

I need you, too, because I can\u2019t do this alone. \u00a0 \u00a0 Keesha Beckford “Dear White Moms” on BonBon Break<\/a><\/p>\n

This is where the story gets tricky. This is where our son paced up and down the stairs\u2014in his under shirt, gym shorts and crew socks\u2014telling us about the police who came to our door and handcuffed our son and pulled him outside. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/i>“Why?” It was the only question I could come up with \u2014 “why?” \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

His hands ran over his face and found each other behind his head. I knew this look too. The one of los<\/i>t words\u2014of previous trauma\u2014of discouragement.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

“I don’t know. There’s some robberies in the area? I guess? And they saw me here\u2014I don’t know. They thought it was me. They thought it was me and wouldn’t listen. They didn’t believe me that this was my house.”<\/i><\/p>\n

He shook his head and looked at me. “It didn’t even matter that I had a key, moms.” \u00a0 Elora Nicole<\/a><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For each of these there are dozens and dozens more. \u00a0No more to say.<\/p>\n

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http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2014\/aug\/20\/white-people-black-people-michael-brown-death-ferguson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the bloggers I admire most is Kelly Wickham, who writes \u00a0Mocha Momma. I “met” her online 7 years ago because she was a reading specialist and, as the parent of a dyslexic child, I was so grateful for the committed, loving, determined way she wrote about her work. I kind of stalked her … Continue reading Ferguson, Bloggers and Race in America: Even if We Think We Know, We Don’t<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,2736,27,7,9,29],"tags":[198,2777,2779,2778,1062,202,1026],"class_list":["post-2503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2","category-blogher-2","category-current-affairs","category-life","category-politics","category-women","tag-blogher","tag-ferguson","tag-kelly-wickham","tag-michael-brown","tag-missouri","tag-mocha-momma","tag-racism"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4gBq8-En","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2503"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3597,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2503\/revisions\/3597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiasamuels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}