[Context note: Written in the summer of 2020 – early months of COVID 19 and a “racial reckoning” sparked by the murder of George Floyd in the USA and the confirmation of mass graves of children at Canadian residential schools.]
Sparking, collecting, sharing.
In the “shock” of the new perspective,
we come to understand our old world view to be sorely lacking.
We rush to headlines and lists that promise
to confirm and maybe
fill in some of the intellectual and historical gaps.
Because those gaps seem so common amongst “our” friends,
We share a lot.
Ideally to help others in the way we were helped –
but sometimes in order to show that we’re the good ones.
The second is deeply unhelpful.
As folks who managed to stay ignorant
discover what they’ve been avoiding,
there’s a bunch of “OMG Racism!/OMG Colonialism” from white folks.
And if, in me – a white dude – the reaction to this “newness” is anger and disbelief and sadness,
I can’t imagine the feelings IBPOC folks.
Reflection / understanding
After the fevered sharing,
we get down to the actual reflection and digestion.
This is slow quiet work, far away from the applause and attention of social media.
This work never stops,
only changes.
So it is necessary to hold space for this while also
moving on to action.
Action / solidarity
Solidarity looks different at different times.
It is not about erasing differences and “all being the same”
***