Black Lives Has Joined The Chat

Persistent failure to fully grasp what is going on in the world. 

#2020... 

It's totally turned the world upside our heads. 

Internally I was going through my own struggles. 

Then #COVID19. 

#Lockdown - with it's crippling effect. 

#EconomicCollapse that ensued.

Now. #Racism reared its ugly head to join the conversation. 

As someone who's lived in #Atlanta I recognized racism but I didn't know what it was. Because I came from Africa where all of us are predominantly black, I didn't immediately identify what it was. Kept telling my sister, "These folks, they treat me different." And she made me think it was in my head. Knowing that Atlanta is in the South where racism has deep roots, if I had researched my history I would have understood the hand I was being dealt. But then, you always imagine that it's cause you're not exposed to the Western World and all its trimmings. That being your first sojourn outside Africa, you're just not used to how certain people, people that are not Africans, behave. 

It strangely felt somewhat like an externalization. I would go to bars and restaurants that catered to only white folk and my friends would ask me, why did I go there? It's not a black club/restaurant. I didn't know there were unspoken restrictions as to places you could go. My Nigerian self thought every business was open to every paying customer. But these businesses had their niche and I guess I wasn't one of them. You would literally be the only black patronising customer. They would insist on checking your ID and holding onto your credit card just so they ensure you don't run out on them. Even #tattoo parlors and artists would prefer not to tattoo a black person but I would ignore them. You could tell from their tone. They would recommend another black tattoo artist for you as if, that's the only person who could understand how to tattoo black skin. 

I simply chose to blank out this adult ignorance. Felt that as long as I had my good friends Mastercard, Visa and Amex - I was good. They should get over themselves. Coming from #Africa that's all that really matters - Money, Wealth, Power. That's why we worship money and Power - people in authority. But in the Western World, it's the color of your skin. In Africa, we deal with classicism and the ever existent tribalism (such as was chronicled in my post My BH Story) but in #America/Western world they deal with racism. 

Isn't that something? The societal disparities we all nurse in our tiny world.

Needless to say that I stand with everyone fighting for what seemed like it existed in my head. Now I feel seen. It explains somewhat why I came back to the Motherland - even though I don't quite understand it. 

In the end, we own this place. We need to remember this and claim this as loudly as possible.  

#Alllove #AnitaWrites #blacklivesmatter #blackpower #weshallovercome