Last week I decided to take a week off from posting on my instagram to help amplify the black voices over my own. It wasn’t the time for me to speak. It was the time to listen to others speak about Black Lives Matter. During the last week I began following new people, reading what they were sharing, and making lists of books I wanted to read. I was also finding organizations I wanted to donate to and find ways to work with in the future.
Coming Back and Learning More About Black Lives Matter
Over the last week, my beliefs were stretched even further than I thought that they could possibly be. I learned that it was not good enough to be not racist. I learned that I needed to work to be actively anti-racist in my daily life. It’s actually something that most people need to work on in their daily lives.
But I Haven’t Shared Anything Yet
But I haven’t shared anything I’ve learned so far. I’ve also struggled with the idea of not sharing anything meaning that I’ve been doing this whole “muting myself” all wrong. I also wasn’t exactly sure what to do when the “self imposed” posting hiatus was up. Going back to “business as usual” just seemed ridiculous. (Also, what did that even mean anymore? I also struggled with the perception that if I just started posting “regular content” again, people would assume that I did nothing. But I think that’s something that a lot of us may struggle with and seeing this helped me.)
Sharing What I’ve Learned
I’ve been sitting with all of these thoughts ( trying to decide what of my thoughts actually matters vs what I should be amplifying of others). Here’s what I’ve decided I want to do and share moving forward.
- Products with a Cause is coming back. But I’ll primarily focus on products where the sale black communities or causes in some way. I’ve seen some amazing causes and products in the last two weeks and I would like to focus on those.
- At the bottom of each post (throughout at least the month of June, maybe longer), I will share a resources or charity that I’ve come across. There are so many resources out there about the Black Lives Matter Movement, being an anti-racist, and defunding the police, and sometimes it’s easier to read them one step at a time.
- Since we all know that I’m terrible at instagram in general, but this started there, I’ll do something there too. I’m going to share at least one book a week that has changed my views on the black experience. Some of these will be from my Diverse Books post and others will be books I’m reading now to learn more about Black Lives Matter and Being Anti-Racist. For that, I’ll keep going as long as I can.
I’ll probably fail a few times while I’m learning. But I’m going to keep learning and I hope that you’ll continue to learn more with me.
Thank you.
Today’s Resource
As many people may know, therapy can be a necessary resource for surviving in the world today, no matter who you are. However, therapy can often come with a hefty price tag and is a taboo topic in the Black community. The Loveland Foundation helps to provide therapy and support to Black women and girls nationally. Their recipients receive access to mental health care professionals around the country and the support they need to financially afford therapy. Here’s how you can give to the Loveland Therapy Fund.
