why black lives matter

baa baa black sheep have you any wool?
~children's nursery rhyme

In the current climate of what is being coined a racial pandemic, we are becoming more aware of the impact of racial discirimination on the lives of our black brothers and sisters.

I have noticed a lot of white people denouncing prejudice, and proclaiming the equality of all lives. While this is good, it misses an important point. This movement is not about becoming colour-bind. It is about seeing black as the colour of oppression.

We're talking about black lives now, but we could be talking about other racial minorities, or about the lives of women, children, native populations, Jews and Muslims, disabled people or the elderly. They're black too. So is anyone whose cries of distress have been ignored because we have discriminatd against them, exploited or abused them, or watched while someone else did and did nothing about it, or walked away. That is oppression. And we have all been part of it to one degree or another; because we are human.

Yes, all lives matter; all lives are equal. But not all lives have been equally oppressed.

How can I help? By seeing my own blind spot, by seeing black. I do this by turning my attention to the power I have used or misused in relationship to the sheep right beside me, and saying sorry to those I've hurt. Then continuing to stand up for those who are being hurt, and stand up to those hurting them.