2020

A Short Message After a Heavy Week #BlackLivesMatter

A Short Message After a Heavy Week #BlackLivesMatter
It's been just over a week since George Floyd's death at the hands of a group of Minneapolis police officers.

The mood has been heavy in my household as our family has been deep in discussion about the systemic racism that's been witnessed on a global scale.



I've not been overly active online. Refraining from putting out content in favor of spending my time learning, listening, and understanding.

My 17-year old daughter, Chardonae , is an activist at heart and always thinking about how we can be part of the change. With passioned tears streaming down her cheek, she reminded us that we need to live the change. That she doesn't want to live in a world where people are treated so unjustly and persecuted for the color of their skin. That talking is not enough. It takes purposeful, peaceful action to live the changes we wish to see in the world.

I've never been so proud of her.

Right away, as a family, we made a commitment to learning what we can. Turning our attention to podcasts, films, books, and other media sources to learn further about the issues at hand and how we can do our part to aid in ending systemic racism. (resources linked below)

Deepening of Learning, Understanding, and Listening starts at Home


We're also listening to the Black community. We want to deepen our understanding and knowledge of both their experiences and the pain, frustration, and anger being felt.

On May 31st, to further our understanding and to be a part of the change, we participated in a peaceful protest at the Vancouver Art Gallery. I felt overwhelmed by emotions as I realized that my beloved city of Vancouver saw 3,500 people showing up on a day's notice! 3,500 people -- of all colors -- showed up to give their support while offering their voices and energy to a global movement.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CA4BeSKpRl-/

Take but a minute to scour the social platforms, search engines, forums, and online publications, and you'll see very clearly that the world is awakening.

More than that, the world is listening... and together, arm in arm, banded together we're doing something to bring about the change.

I share some of our experiences over this past week only in hopes that it provides some ideas of the types of things many of us can be doing more of.

Though we understand we may make mistakes, we are committed to being a part of the change.

For my family, inaction is not an option.


Together we make a difference.

We're #StrongerTogether.

#BlackLivesMatter




List of #BlackLivesMatter Resources to Continue Learning, Listening, Understanding and Taking Action



  • The Secret Life of Canada is a podcast that focuses on 'the beautiful and terrible' history of Canada.

  • A film called 13th , available on Netflix, is a highly-rated documentary that takes an in-depth look at the racist roots of the prison system in the United States.

  • An interesting article which asks " Where does racism exist in the healthcare industry? "

  • A document entitled, ' Anti-Racism Resources ' that contains numerous links to books, articles, podcasts, organizations, and more to help educate us all on the history of race in North America, and how we as individuals can help to eliminate hate from society.

  • How to donate to the Black Lives Matter movement

  • How to take action towards ending police violence. Learn about the #8CantWait initiative - data proves that 8 policies can decrease police killings by 72%.


Share by: