I was telling my boss’s boss how much I had seen the cops that day. He pulled out his phone and asked his LAPD buddy if the cops were on alert and he gets a “yep”.
I’m standing on a parking lot under the Hollywood sign the sky is dark, pink and purple and I can’t wait to be home reading the stream of events and pain in Ferguson. In some ways it wasn’t as hard as listening to the Trayvon’s verdict while I was seeing (white) friends in Palm Springs having fun on Twitter. But damn. That lack of justice is unbearable. Dozens of those cases. We’re worth nothing I swear white folks, it is quite more than just distracting.
Of course the decision is given the week of Thanksgiving when everyone is busy getting cozy with family. Of course it didn’t stop people to protest or the LAPD to arrest three times more people than the city that started it all.
I got a lot of coverage for my blog post on tech and diversity last week. St Louis decided to make every single black person sick to its stomach this week. Right in between a black icon is going down unveiling a dark and nightmarish side.
The day of massive protests I went balling at my favorite spot. Mexicans are playing soccer, a couple of younger black dudes with braces are hooping too. A black man with three kids and a music keyboard cross the field, go sit down and start to play some licks while a black mom is watching her son ride his bicycle. It’s peaceful it’s beautiful, it’s 25°C/82°F and I need this so hard.
Then I have my white sister on Skype, tell her about Mike Brown. She only has heard of Tamir Rice recently. I’m beat. She tells me about her “struggles” and it’s a stark contrast that makes me want to go all “bitch, you have it all and you’re scared? Just go get it!” on her. Chatting about race with people who can’t relate at all and don’t have to pretty much forever, is just a despair multiplier.
I wish I didn’t have to talk/deal about it. I wish all white people were as good as the ones I usually meet like that dude yesterday who sold me a great couch or my fantastic hosts when I landed in May and didn’t know where to go. I don’t want to fear or overthink either. I don’t want to just survive I want to thrive. I don’t want to hide I want to expand and breathe with abundant diversity surrounding me. That’s when I feel rich and that’s when you are too.