say their names
on my mind
I’ve spent the last week reading, absorbing, writing, packaging, and designing stories about the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and so many others at the hands of the police. I wade through troll comments and discussions on my own social media of what is truth, what is bias, what is racism, what about black on black crime, what about white people killed by cops, what about the good cops, what about the buildings and businesses…
I look up and I haven’t eaten lunch and my coffee is cold again. Then I fall back into the hum of these words and videos of people walking the streets, some masked and some not. A police officer whacks a baton at a crowd and shoves a protestor on the ground. Some people chant for officers to kneel with them. A giant tank rolls down the street. A reporter gets their eye gauged. A crowd is pepper sprayed. Some protestors take time to dance and sing together even through the pouring rain.
I get a Slack message and breaking news email. A new story to post and push out.
I see a comment on The Atlantic’s Instagram complaining about us not “muting” ourselves for #BlackOutTuesday, a performative social-media activist campaign that is supposed to be about focusing content around Black Lives Matter and black voices…underneath a post I shared by a black writer on becoming a parent in the age of Black Lives Matter.
Officer Derek Chauvin is arrested. Charged for third-degree, then second-degree murder and manslaughter of Floyd.
Emails sneak into my inbox with condolences and statements from company after company about racial injustice, eradicating discrimination, sad events, standing with community and unity. Reading lists, petitions, and action items are shared.
We dig into The Atlantic’s archives. After all, Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King Jr. published their ideas in the magazine at critical moments in our country’s history. Let’s take their wisdom and share it with what’s happening today to give context, framing, and show how misunderstood these leaders are by critics of the protests. “Thugs” appears in the comments. One user floods us with the names of white men who have been killed and a black cop who died.
Three more officers are charged in aiding and abetting Floyd’s death.
The New York Times publishes an op-ed by Senator Tom Cotton calls for sending in the military to American protestors. Black journalists and allies call it out, publicly, but the NYT defends then sort of apologizes. I have to log off.
Yesterday, a memorial is held for Floyd. I watch another video of his six-year-old daughter saying, “My daddy changed the world.”
Today is Friday. Breonna Taylor’s birthday is today. She would have been 27. We say her name though it’s not as loud for some reason. Her killer is still free, but an investigation is now opening.
My heart is heavy, but I am trying to feel a sense of purpose by helping to share information and stories. I want to rest but don’t really know how. It doesn’t feel like anything is ever enough. I don’t even feel like what I’m writing here is all that meaningful or profound. This is really more of a brain and heart dump. There are people on the frontlines doing so much more than me and who are so much closer to these tragedies. We’re having conversations and putting policies and ideas on the table that weren’t normally welcome. The sheer size of these protests around the world is remarkable. I just hope we come out of all of this with real, sustained change and not just another news moment.
I also want to share that I’ll be doing a guided writing session with prompts on healing, bold imagination and resistance on my Instagram Live tomorrow, 6/6 at 2 p.m. ET. You’re welcome to join, write, listen and share if that’s a space you’d like to have this weekend.
what i’m noting
✊🏽Riots are the American Way // "The philosophy of force and violence to obtain freedom has long been employed by white people and explicitly denied to black Americans."
✊🏽The Silk Ring Theory for Allyship // Helpful guide for how allies can show up for people most impacted by trauma in a respectful, effective way
✊🏽158 Resources to Understand Systemic Racism in America // A massive list of articles, videos, podcasts and websites compiled by the Smithsonian Magazine
✊🏽Template for Holding Your Employer Accountable for Racial Justice // Use this for starting a vital conversation if all you’re hearing is silence or ambiguity
✊🏽The Videos That Rocked America. The Song That Knows Our Rage // The way Wesley Morris writes about music will make you laugh, cry, and deeply appreciate humanity all in the same piece.
✊🏽99 Years Later: Black Wall Street’s Legacy of Resilience // Not enough people know about Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the 1921 massacre by a white supremacist mob that burned down this prosperous black neighborhood and killed hundreds of black residents
✊🏽Young Minnesota Somalis Assert Their Blackness and Take Center Stage In George Floyd Protests // Great article on how the next generation of Somalis “become black” in America and what it means to embrace that identity and mobilize
✊🏽The View from Somewhere // A book (and podcast) by Lewis Raven Wallace that explores and challenges the idea of “objectivity” in the newsroom. Reading this right now is a comforting while I reflect on what I and other Black, indigenous and POC journalists have to deal with right now as we try to tell our stories, speak up against harmful news decisions, and defend ourselves against accusations of bias or lack of professionalism.
That’s it for me. I appreciate all of you who have checked in on me, shared support online, and are taking steps in your own lives to make a difference, talk to your families, and learn more. If you have more resources or relevant things to share, please send them my way so I can include them in the next newsletter. Remember, you can always hit reply to this email if you want to share or just say hi.
Take care of yourselves!
— Nesima