Black Lives Matter. Period.

It’s (past) time for change.

I’m all about keeping on + carrying along through a crisis, but it doesn’t feel right not to mention what is happening in the US right now. Black Americans are being murdered, plain and simple. George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery. Sean Reed. Tony McDade. These are just a few names on a list miles long.

Racism has been an issue in the United States since its inception– systemic, conscious, unconscious, all of it. Things are at a fever pitch now; communities are boiling over with decades of suppressed rage, of taking it on the chin in fear of losing their lives. I’m angry– but I cannot even begin to understand what a Black man or woman feels, or what he/she goes through in everyday life. The situations they navigate with surgical precision are situations I have the privilege to not even think about because I am white.

This needs to change. I’m listening, learning, and donating.

If you are looking for places to start, here is a list of anti-racism resources that will help you be a better ally. Speaking of allyship, my friend Bria Jones has 3 ways you can start right now. I have donated to the Floyd family, the Taylor family, and Color of Change, which is the nation’s largest racial justice organization. You can find a list of places that need your financial support and your voice here and here.

All lives cannot matter until Black lives matter. It will take all of us to accomplish this. It’s not enough to not be a racist, we have to be anti-racist. And staying silent is remaining complicit. 

If this post offends you, take a moment and ask yourself why. Then read this Vanity Fair article for a little background and perspective. The Black Lives Matter movement is not anti-white. It’s not political; it’s human rights.

I invite you to get comfortable being uncomfortable (this is so hard!) because it will be uncomfortable. Luvvie Ajayi gave a TED talk about this very topic in 2018 and it resonates now. Be an agent of change. Ask questions. Question yourself.

*Shoutout to Clay Banks, the photographer behind the lens of these powerful photos. See more of Clay’s work here.