Black Lives Matter

Of course they do. How shocking that it needs to be said, but it does.

How shocking that any could construe it as being said in opposition to all lives matter. Of course they do, but All Lives cant matter unless Black Lives Matter.

I cant stand that I encounter people who say “well, I just wish they could be peaceful protests, that they weren’t damaging property” instead of saying, “I wish police didn’t kill black people, didn’t attack peaceful protesters, and I wish all the protesters would be peaceful too.” The order matters.

I’m sorry I haven’t been as understanding of systemic racism before this. I’m sorry I haven’t been as powerful an anti-racist as I could have been before this. Where before I thought it could be enough to not personally be a racist, I recognize I need to do more. Where before I thought it could be enough to try not to see color I now see I need to help reshape systems to embrace justice, to see all colors and to work for just outcomes. I need to do better. We will do better.

I’m proud of my wife for taking action as she has, ordering this sign to help show our support, donating to Campaign Zero, committing to raising anti-racist children, buying books to help better educate them and tuning into calls to help learn what we can do.

I know we can help build toward a world where everyone recognizes that Black Lives Matter. America has much wickedness in its past. We have our dual original sins of enslavement of Africans and genocide of the Native North Americans our ancestors discovered. And from that get go we have enduring and repetitive injustices to answer for. We are not done. Far from it. I do take comfort in the words of Martin Luther King Junior “The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice.” I hope he is right. I commit to work to help make sure he is.

My family and I plan to do this by working with Campaign Zero and Humanity Forward focusing on ending police violence and establishing an unconditional basic income for all Americans. Join us!