"What are white people willing to give up in a system that benefits and privileges them?"
-Desmond Cole, activist, journalist and author
I usually write my I Like/Love aka Thankful Thursday at the end of the month, and link up with LeeAnna and other like-minded peeps at Not Afraid of Color. This week is not going to be one of those. When I first started this blog, I used to muse regularly about life stuff, and I don't do that very much anymore, except for within my gratitude posts. We had a discussion amongst our group as to what/how to handle this week in view of all the unrest, shock, and horror going on wrt the murder of yet another person of colour, this time, George Floyd, by one police officer, aided by three others. Some of us are choosing to write our thoughts about it; others are choosing to write an uplifting post in these deeply troubling times.
As a white woman, I have no idea, truly, what people of colour face, have faced, every single day of their lives. I do not consider myself a racist, yet if I am totally honest, which I tend to be, I have some inherent preconceived notions that I didn't really realize were in me, until I noticed them.
It is possible to change our thoughts, but to do so we first have to pay attention to them.
Bernie Clark, The Complet Guide to Yin Yoga p. 271
I often say that when I'm teaching yoga. I invite you over the next day or two, for the rest of your life, hopefully, to pay attention to your thoughts. As Bernie says, changing our thoughts is not easy. But it
is possible.
Here are some of my thoughts, with some things to watch/read.