Hi everyone ❤ Where to even start writing this post. It has been radio silent here and on my Instagram almost the whole week. Instagram was exploding with content with regards to this. Every day I was thinking I should write something, post something, say something, repost important messages or post the black square. I really wanted to, but I also wanted to take time to figure out what to say. I know for a fact that this was what was going through many peoples’ minds and many were scared to say the wrong thing. No one can have missed what is going on right now in America and the Black Lives Matter protests that have been going on around the world. It’s a topic you don’t just mention in one sentence and I have been working on this post for a few days because I also want to share some pages, posts, documentaries, books, articles etc. (no there can not be enough in this case) that I found useful to educate myself further. To be honest, it’s quite embarrassing to admit how little I knew and that I in fact didn’t know how bad the situation still is today – now it’s time to listen and learn. Whether that’s realising my own imperfections and where I stand in all of this, acknowleding and calling people out when they express a racist comment, reading, watching and listening to educational information and donating if/when possible. But like some said – not everyone’s support looks the same and before you can educate others you have to understand it yourself. Even if we may never fully understand. So just because you didn’t post on Instagram doesn’t mean you didn’t start questioning your own role and how you eventually can contribute and support. Posting on the internet is scary, because when it’s there it is there and people can see it, talk about it, judge it and even when you’re trying to do the right thing it can turn out wrong. I just wanted to say this first to everyone who maybe has felt like they didn’t know what to do or maybe thought that “everyone else is posting so I don’t need to“. Let’s remember Instagram is not the only place we can participate, but Everyone. Can. Participate. Regardless.
It’s easy to not say anything, but it’s important to raise awareness. Changing our own behavior doesn’t cost us anything and it doesn’t require extra time. It requires effort, but that is also free.
How is it free then? If you have Netflix or any other similar account you can watch documentaries and the same thing goes if you use Bookbeat, Audible, Storytel or any other similar audiobook platform. You can listen to podcasts about the topic or follow a few good accounts on Instagram. Any type of learning is learning. Here’s two that I have watched and the first one is very informative and the second one heartbreaking. The third one I have started to watch, but haven’t finished yet.
On Netflix:
- Explained: The Racial Wealth Gap
- To understand the concept of White Privilege
- When They See Us
- Documentary of teenagers wrongfully convicted in Central Park
- 13th
- Documentary about criminalisation of African Americans
What do you mean it does not require extra time? Well, if you change the reruns of Friends on Netflix for something informative, you can use that hour to learn something new. If instead of music while you workout or clean listen to an informative book or podcast you can learn something new. If instead of scrolling your feed for three hours you use one of those to scroll informative posts with the hashtag #blacklivesmatter or visit those accounts the people you follow most likely repost in their stories on a daily basis. Here is a podcast I listened to today – it’s a very “easy” listen.
Podcast:
- The Diversity Gap: Building Equity from the Ground Up with Dr. Darnisa Amante-Jackson
- About challenges to truly create an equitable future.
Instagram profiles with very ’easy to understand’ posts:
@blklivesmatter
@goodgoodgoodco
@prince_ea
@caseyneistat
@karl_shakur
@salmasekela
@thatstylenomad
@themanacho
I bet many who read this haven’t thought about the extent of the problem or maybe not even given it that much thought since it’s not something we personally experience in our daily lives. Now the events over the past weeks are opening the eyes of many and hopefully changing our behaviour. Change is uncomfortable because we have to change what we’re used to. Ask yourself: What is it actually that I am used to if this change feels uncomfortable for me?
We are so openly speaking out and fighting for the animals and plants on this planet and for the planet itself, we are working to save waters and forests, so we need to do the same for the human kind living on this planet too? There should not be a difference, but unfortunately the system has developed to be something different. If you can tell your friend meat production is causing major problems, you can tell them racism needs to end too. The topic of races and color is extremely sensitive and many are scared to bring it up.
Like so many things that blow up on social media (i.e. bushfires in Australia, the Me Too- campaign etc.) the amount of posts eventually fades, but they are not just trends and it doesn’t mean that the problem has gone away. The world keeps turning and the daily life goes on, but what we we take with us to our future and how we act offline is where difference will continue. There are loads of places to find information and I’m nowhere near educated to further educate anyone yet, but I recommend you can check out everything I linked in this post.
It’s impossible to support every cause in the world and contribute to them all simultaneously, but we all can implement small things into our daily life, whether they are direct actions or through thought processes that start to form in our own minds.
I mentioned in a previous post about how I want to turn passion into business and try to provide value to help. So here goes to the first post about a worldwide topic since it’s too important not to be addressed. Please share, comment and give tips on what everyone can do in their daily lives and feel free to share anything you have found appropriate, useful and informative. Let’s all work for a better tomorrow for everyone. Be curious, keep learning and work to become the best version of yourself. Remember that a big part of the change happens behind the scenes so you don’t have to prove to anyone what you’re doing as long as you know you are working for the right change. Lots of love ❤
CAROLINA TÖRNQVIST 