#BlackLivesMatter

Hello poppets,

How are we doing?

Wow 2020 right? Goodness me. Though todays topic isn’t something thats just effected 2020. In fact, it’s something thats been going on for far too long.

Following the tragic news surrounding the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers the world is in uproar and rightly so.

I have been posting various links through my social media but in the midsts of doing so and going to forward a link detailing ‘How to speak to your family about racism’ I realised that it may not be the best thing to post to my audience.

I posted shortly before muting my account about my experience with my main abusers racism. I have a lot of topics that I don’t like talking about when it comes to my main abuser and her behaviour towards others and this is one of them. It’s one of those things that to be honest I try and pretend wasn’t a part of her.

Through my journey I found out that she had actually experienced racism herself due to my Grandad being from the Caribbean and in that i’m not sure if that was the reason she behaved as she did.

I have some horrendous stories of things she did and said and I lost countless friends during my childhood due to the racist slurs she would use to their parents. I never agreed with it and almost just stayed silent but as I got older I started expressing to her that it wasn’t okay, even if that just meant shaking my head. Despite that angry hateful front something about her would change. That confidence in her words would diminish and though she would try to continue, her fight slowly faded. Did it make her reflect on times she had experienced? honestly who would know but my words and not agreeing with her did something.

It left me thinking about how important it is to raise these issues with our family members and those close to us but also that a lot of us cant have those conversations and that it may be dangerous for us to do so. I have had a lot of people reach out to me telling me how guilty they’re feeling and that they don’t feel they could have those important conversations without themselves being harmed in the process. I truly understand that and me shaking my head and muttering only a few words was for good reason.

I think it’s important to recognise that thats not something anybody wants anyone to experience and that we don’t need any more harm being done to innocent humans. Rather, I think it’s important to change that narrative inside us and for our future generations. Though I don’t want anyone to feel guilty per say I think its really important and powerful that people are feeling that and wanting to change the narrative of others.

Right now the most important thing we can do is educate ourselves and those around us that we are comfortable educating. Having those important conversations with friends and standing up and saying “thats not okay” when we hear those racial slurs.

There is so many wonderful resources out there to educate ourselves and learn from. Wether that be through social media, books or even Netflix!

Below is a selection of social media accounts to follow, books to read and petitions to sign.

These accounts are actively trying to educate people and share valuable links and donation pages.

Black Lives Matter – @Blklivesmatter

Nova Reid – @Novareidoffical

Munroe Bergdorf – @Munroebergdorf

Stephanie Yeboah – @StephanieYeboah

Chrissy Rutherford – @Chrissyford

Donté Colley – @Dontecolley

Reclaim The Block – @reclaimtheblock

Florence Given – @Florencegiven

Rachel Elizabeth Cargle – @Rachel.cargle

The Conscious Kid – @theconsciouskid (Great account for teaching children about racism)

Justice for George Floyd

ActionNetwork Petition to Defund the police

Black Lives Matter petition to defund the police

Two petitions you can sign to help black communities dealing with coronavirus and demanding racial data.

Me and White Supremacy: How to Recognise Your Privilege, Combat Racism and Change the World by Layla F. Saad.

White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo.

I Am Not Your Baby Mother by Candice Braithwaite

So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

Race Matters by Cornel West

When They See Us – Netflix

I Am Not Your Negro – Amazon

Dear White People – Netflix

What happens when I try to talk race with white people – YouTube

Artist – Sterling K Applebaum –
Obviously I start this with the creator of my character sketches you see littered around my posts!
https://sterlingapplebaum1.wixsite.com/sterlingkart or @sterlingkart on Instagram

Authentic mid century reproduction fakelite & true vintage jewellery – Bow&Crossbones – www.bowandcrossbones.com @bowandcrossbones on Instagram

Artist – Nikkolas Smith – www.nikkolas.com/ @Nikkolas_Smith on Instagram

Graphic Designer – Stormy Nesbit – www.stormynesbit.com @_stormae on Instagram