Minneapolis/Black Lives Matter

June 7, 20205 yr

Thank you for those, Jade, I've been wondering about ways I can donate and help the movement and those look perfect!

I'd like to clarify I do support the protests, I don't think it's unreasonable to be wary of the pandemic at the same time as supporting this movement.

June 7, 20205 yr

Yeah thanks Jade, quite a few petitions I hadn't seen there so that was helpful ^_^

June 7, 20205 yr

No worries. It’s disgusting that it took another murder to result in this but I’m so ready for real change.

June 7, 20205 yr

Thanks Jade.

It's totally fine not joining the protests (I myself didn't attend one yet but have been donated together with my husband to a lot of the petitions) regardless the reasons why, but I just don't think it's ok to say that protests shouldn't happen now!!!

June 7, 20205 yr

Thanks Jade, I think that's really important to donate and soft if you can, I feel the same as you as I really want to educate myself more and just try and do more where possible! I have donated to Minneapolis Bail fund but I will definetly try to donate to others when I have an opportunity to do so!

Regarding the protests, I think it's very easy to say "let's not protest in a pandemic" but when would be a good time exactly? 3-4 months or whenever lockdown is lifted whilst the topic is potentially no longer at the forefront of the media. Social media, petitions and donating is good but this is really doing a lot of good, charges got raised higher, people are finally having the conversation about racism and it needs to happen now for people to be forced to take notice. No one WANTS to do it during a pandemic, but they kind of have to to make an impact really. I get being concerned about Covid-19, people dying etc but if you and your family are taking the right precautions and protecting yourself, you needn't worry really. These people who are going to protests are taking every precaition necessary and risking their OWN lives (including me), to use the word selfish is very strong considering those protesting are fighting for their own/others rights, a little think about how your wording things wouldn't go a miss! We can all wait a couple weeks, months later to come out of lockdown if absolutely necessary if these protests have the impact they have and help to make the world a better place with society's view on racism.

June 7, 20205 yr

I'd like to clarify I do support the protests, I don't think it's unreasonable to be wary of the pandemic at the same time as supporting this movement.

Nail on head. Reading this thread it seems to me that while nearly everyone is actually on the same page (i.e sympathising with the BLM movement) there's a split in priorities when it comes to managing the virus and protesting for change. BOTH are vital imo and BOTH need to have action taken now. The protests can't be delayed because, as this year has proven many times, people have short memories (Be Kind February, dog-eat-dog at the supermarkets March, clap for NHS April/May, who gives a **** about the virus June) and it shouldn't take another life being lost for another movement like this to happen again. That said, completely disregarding the threat of the virus is dangerous and that shouldn't even have to be reminded. The government need to figure out a way to appease the public quickly before both the protests and the virus get out of hand. :wacko:

June 7, 20205 yr

Thank you for posting those links Jade - there is also the Stephen Lawrence Foundation in the UK (https://www.stephenlawrence.org.uk/).

I feel somewhat ashamed at how ignorant and what little I know or understand about Black History, in part it is to do with the UK national curriculum having very little on it but some of it is probably down to my own unconscious biases and general laziness. The only reason I got the Rosa Parks question correct in our recent family lockdown quiz for example was partly because of Doctor Who and the frequent mentions of her on this website ! I am hopeful that things WILL change as a result of this movement, reenergised by the tragic death of George Floyd - but we need to stop being so complacent about the progress we have made and have the humility to recognise and accept our own flaws, as well as to educate both ourselves and our children.

June 7, 20205 yr

Nail on head. Reading this thread it seems to me that while nearly everyone is actually on the same page (i.e sympathising with the BLM movement) there's a split in priorities when it comes to managing the virus and protesting for change. BOTH are vital imo and BOTH need to have action taken now. The protests can't be delayed because, as this year has proven many times, people have short memories (Be Kind February, dog-eat-dog at the supermarkets March, clap for NHS April/May, who gives a **** about the virus June) and it shouldn't take another life being lost for another movement like this to happen again. That said, completely disregarding the threat of the virus is dangerous and that shouldn't even have to be reminded. The government need to figure out a way to appease the public quickly before both the protests and the virus get out of hand. :wacko:

Thanks you've summed up a lot of my feelings. Perhaps I am right or wrong about the protests, I'm just meerly providing my own personal viewpoint. Mass gatherings are banned for a reason and it would be naive to know what me know about the virus that at least one person won't be affected who will in turn infect more. But you can totally sympathise with the BLM movement and be against the protests. Note- I am not against the protests at all, just when they are actually happening. And yes the counter argument to that is when is there a good time right now and the answer to that is I don't know. I'm just merily pointing out that while the heart is in the right place, people will use this to discredit BLM. And to that there is not an easy solution.

Also Jade - thank you very much for links. I too have a lot to learn about Black Lives Matter. As do many other white people. Not doubting this for one moment.

June 7, 20205 yr

Oh yes that’s an important one too Doctor B - these mentions are really appreciated as it’s hard to be able to remember everything. The Stephen Lawrence case was probably my first piece of education about racism actually, I read my mum’s newspapers and magazines at a very young age (probably too young) and the British media were still talking about it. I was taught about the 50/60s Civil Rights Movement at a GCSE level at school in Humanities (I would’ve already heard about Martin Luther King by then, but names like Rosa Parks with the Bus Boycott and Malcolm X, plus Jim Crowe laws and white supremacy groups expanded my knowledge) - but this was an optional subject that I took. I think reading ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ in English was the only compulsory teaching we ever had that was relevant to racism. Black Lives Matter has been such an eye-opener about present day racism and privilege in particular, definitely want to expand on this now.

June 7, 20205 yr

It is interesting that the education system, when it does explore racism against Black individuals, sees it as America’s problem. I was taught about the Civil Rights movement in the US in history in Year 8 as well as again at college and I also did To Kill a Mockingbird for GCSE English. I’m therefore grateful I received some education on the subject, even though I’m fully aware it was only scratching the surface. It was never put into the context of the UK and how race was treated here, which is interesting looking back. For example, it means I only first heard about the Windrush generation when there was the recent scandal and one area which I’m extremely ignorant on is Britain and its colonies.

June 7, 20205 yr

re: the question when the right time is for mass protests, if you think about the mass unemployment that came out of the pandemic, the fact that half of the black community here in the US is out of work right now (and i'm sure minority groups elsewhere have a disproportionate unemployment rate), the fact that the killings all happened in a span of weeks when the people most in danger were sitting at home with nothing to do, in a way, it came at the right time. i don't think there's a person out there right now who doesn't understand the risk, but did anyone expect people to be angry at home and do protests over zoom lmao? if there was an option to astrally project themselves to a protest i'm sure that would've happened. questions about selfishness be damned, this is in no way the same as janice protesting because she's not able to get a f***ing perm at the salon

June 7, 20205 yr

It is interesting that the education system, when it does explore racism against Black individuals, sees it as America’s problem. I was taught about the Civil Rights movement in the US in history in Year 8 as well as again at college and I also did To Kill a Mockingbird for GCSE English. I’m therefore grateful I received some education on the subject, even though I’m fully aware it was only scratching the surface. It was never put into the context of the UK and how race was treated here, which is interesting looking back. For example, it means I only first heard about the Windrush generation when there was the recent scandal and one area which I’m extremely ignorant on is Britain and its colonies.

Yes, same here - it was like they'd deliberately redacted all the UK stuff that made us look bad.

Maybe they should get James Felton to teach a module: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/4627...n-was-a-bellend

June 7, 20205 yr

^I got that for Christmas and should really get round to reading it!

Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela is a really good read if anyone is looking for reading material in Black History and his experiences in South Africa's Apartheid era, and especially his points about protests are interesting to see. I also didn't get the best education in the topic at school, we did study Martin Luther King and the Civil Right Movement and a few poems on race, but barely scratching the surface ultimately.