Indeed, we were all facing the same virus, but we are not all having the same pandemic experience. It has become glaringly apparent that while we are all in the same storm, we are not all in the same boat. If America was out to sea and a storm set upon the ocean, many White people are on a cruise ship, and Black people are in dinghies.
Let me be clear in the Year of Corona since this seems like a difficult concept for some people to comprehend, when I say Black, I mean Black. You will NEVER have to wonder, “Does Hannah mean all people?” The answer is an unequivocal no. If I meant all people, I would have said all people. I said EXACTLY what I meant to say. I do not need any White person (or non-Black person) to come behind me attempting to correct my language.
At no time in the HISTORY OF THIS NATION, have White people ever been told no, and they do not like it. They are like two-year-olds that are having a tantrum because their parents put them in time out. It is fine as long as they are the ones setting the rules for Black people and People of Color. They are uncomfortable being told they can’t gather in groups and go where they want to go. They are upset that things have become inaccessible to them. White people can’t stand for someone to tell them what they can and cannot do.
In a stunning display of 2020 Civil Rights, gatherings of White people found themselves at the Kentucky Capitol to protest Governor Andy Beshear shutting the state down (you know so we can live) in light of the Coronavirus. While the first known case of the Coronavirus in the […]
Let me be clear as Kentucky continues to fight the Coronavirus, enforcing social distancing does not mean the policing Black bodies in spaces. Pause and absorb that sentence. And then read it again.
While I know he is a calm leader, in my mind, Governor Beshear needs an Anger Translator like Luther on Key and Peele. I am volunteering for that role. While Governor Beshear is remaining calm during his daily briefings, in my mind, he is saying, “Give me a fucking break!! What part of HEALTHY AT HOME are some of yall not understanding? Really? You wanna play fucking basketball? REALLY? In the middle of a pandemic? No one is drafting you. NO. ONE. Not one single coach. GO HOME!!
I believe that goodness and compassion are the core of who we are and who we can be. It shouldn’t have taken a pandemic for that to happen. It shouldn’t take a pandemic for us to care about our neighbors. It shouldn’t take a pandemic for us to be concerned about the least of those. It shouldn’t take a pandemic for us to reassess the economic structure of this nation and how it benefits very few at the top and tramples on the many at the bottom. It shouldn’t take a pandemic for us to be the village. It shouldn’t take a pandemic for us to care.
But sometimes things are turned upside down for us to put them right side up again.
During this time, I challenge you to take the time to see yourself and ask yourself some questions. While I have been home, these are some of the questions that starting coming to the surface for me:
Is the life I have been living the life that I genuinely want to live?
Are the people I am giving my energy, time, and love to worth it?
Why didn’t you pause and take the time to read that book, watch that show, enjoy your life?
What was so important in your life that you put your life on the back burner?
Is this relationship one that I want to spend giving my energy?
Rain is coming. With no clouds in the sky. With no forecast given.With no warning, Black people can tell you that rain is coming. Weeks ago, before the “panic buying” started in America, my daughter told me, “Mom, we need to go to the store and start buying […]
Black isn’t something you “put on.”
Black isn’t performative.Black isn’t something you gain by proximity.
Black isn’t something Black people can deputize you with.Black people sincerely need to stop saying that White people can be “honorary Black.” There is not today, nor will there ever be an “honorary Black” certificate.
