The Wall That Was Always There
The story of Portland and it's "wall of moms" is making its rounds. The pictures of non Black women locked in arms of unity surrounding and guarding protestors flood the timelines. Seemingly hot take tweets, posts, and news pieces are hitting everyone at once.
Make no mistake about it since the dawn of time the movement has been carried with no thanks, tweets, or hot takes by poor Black birthing bodies, and Black trans and non binary persons. These are the bodies that have BEEN on the line for all bodies and all rights even when it didn't serve us.
We find loud gasps, exclaims, and surprised faces at the treatment these women are facing.
Being tear gassed regardless of the degrees they hold.
Not being told their rights before being snatched.
Harmed by this country and the overly dressed faux soldiers they call police with no regard to the children they may leave behind if they go too far.
All at once these moms are finding no degree, no amount of being well spoken, kind, peaceful, compliant, and yes even their privileged whiteness are going to protect them. All that being said I'm here to tell you welcome to our America. This is no new hot take. I'm sorry you thought your whiteness would gate keep you from the hatred and harm of supremacy. The moment you chose to fight the fight of humanity and opened your mouth for Black lives, your whiteness dissipated and you became just like us.
This isn't new.
This is the reality-a bitter and hard one-of what both regular Black folks and Black justice reformers who have been in this fight have experienced. Your stark and late realization has swept the nation and captured so many hearts oh so quickly. That has easily lead to the subject no longer being the Black lives that you protect or yell for, but about the good ole nonblack "wall of moms" and their great sacrifice.
Anyone daring to call out the way this centers whiteness and illustrates the performative heart in the nature of allyship is bombarded with words like "ungrateful" or "pushing away allies", or "how do you expect more people to want to help you saying things like that". Because once again Black nonmen are expected to say thanks quietly and are not allowed to critique without being labeled the difficult "Black Karen" or the always angry, ungrateful Black non-man.
It's quite ridiculous and if you are doing this social justice work as a nonblack person and aren't ready to hear and center the feelings of those you're screaming for and validate them regardless you aren't in this for the right reasons at all.
If you have a problem anytime people call for Blackness to rightfully be put back in the center of things: YOU ARENT READY FOR THIS WORK.
Fragility and guilt will be consistent companions and it's your job to sit with it, not thrust it outward on Black voices when they rightfully center themselves, their plight, and their feelings.
If you being ready to stand for humanity demands you REQUIRE a free cookie, you aren't in it for the right reasons.
I implore you to ask what cookies the world has given to the Black bodies that have been on the wall for centuries. Those whose mouths stay open wide for the overdosing of harm as we lead this fight. When you come back with an empty jar from your search and see that even doing this fight with no regard to ourselves we have STILL ended up pressed to the bottom, you MIGHT catch a glimpse of the point.