When lynettesaid moved to New York from London, she was probably more blissfully unaware of the implications of living in America as a person of colour than she would have liked to admit.
On Friday 29 May, I walked down to the pier near my apartment in New York and, in view of the Brooklyn Bridge, Star Spangled Banner swaying in the wind, I thought, in depth and detail about what it means, and what it will continue to mean, to live in the United States.
As local – and mostly white – residents walked their dogs and drank al fresco cocktails in the sunshine, I watched, in the very same scene, protestors march across the East River to join thousands of others in a demonstration at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in light of the reprehensible killing of George Floyd. My snapshot of New York life, brief but telling, is a reflection of the US state of play: the apathy of some sitting alongside the rage of others.
I moved to America from London in the wake of Trump’s inauguration. In hindsight, I was probably more blissfully unaware of the implications of coming here as a person of colour than I would have liked to admit. Now, I think I couldn’t have come here as easily without being stifled by the fear of being black. As much as I love New York, I question the long-term. Having black children here, for instance, with such fraught race relations is hard to get my head around.Don’t misunderstand.
That, in fact, is a global story. One that no matter where you may be reading this, will be true. The Black Lives Matter movement is often misunderstood, often confused as a prioritisation of black life above all. That is not the case. It’s simply an onus on the acknowledgement that black people exist and that our lives, too, have value. If you’ve ever held this view, I ask you not to denounce what you simply may not understand.
Ask yourself: How do you want to be remembered in this very critical moment? How may you become accountable? What are you willing to do? And, critically, how will you take action?Lynette Nylander will be donating her fee for this piece equally between the UK and USA
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