Hey there, Joy In The City readers. How are you holding up
in the wake of the terrible news that’s rocking the country lately?
At the forefront of my mind is obviously the Trayvon Martin
crime. Yes, it is a crime (and I mean both the verdict and the act), not a
“tragedy.” “Beware of dismissive language” one of my facebook friends
cautioned, referring to the media’s use of the word “tragedy” in relation to
the case…“this only diverts our attention away from the call to action that
must be taken.” At first I thought that was maybe a bit extreme (opting to not
use the word tragedy), until I remembered how important a mindset is when it
comes to deciding action, and how the language we choose to use may seem like a
mere detail, but that it actually forms the fabric of the information that we
consume and ultimately digest.
I have been overwhelmed by the news. I have consumed
articles (opinion and otherwise) about Trayvon Martin voraciously. Every moment
of free time has some allocation of time for following the case. The verdict
depresses me. On Saturday night, I cried, and I didn’t want to get out of bed
on Sunday. Of course this is nothing compared to what Trayvon’s parents and
loved ones must feel. What must the past 18 months have been like? What will
the following days, months, years entail as they carry out daily life in a
state that has laws that did not serve them in the hour when they needed it
most? Of course this is not only a state issue. This crime has brought to the
surface the pressing need for the entire country to address its secret racism.
We who have been on the receiving end of racism know that it is no secret, but
I call it “secret” because the nation is in denial about it’s racism (i.e. use
of the phrase “post-racial America”).
On Saturday night, I had dinner with 2 white men, one of
whom is my fiancée, a French man who has lived in the states intermittently for
5 years. I had just learned the verdict and we (the 3 of us) needed to talk
about it. I knew the conversation would be valuable to them, as are all
conversations where people can openly talk about racism or classism without
being judged, but I wasn’t prepared for how valuable it would be for me.
Over the next few days, including today, I had the
experience of 3 different white women (2 of whom were perfect strangers)
unloading and talking to me about how, in their words, frustrated, sad, and
angry they feel about the injustice towards Trayvon and his family. These
conversations were initiated by them and they seemed to feel the need to
apologize, to get something off their chests. These conversations were valuable
to me as well.
All of the experiences I had in having these conversations
helped to clear my mind of the media coverage and remind me that there is a
next step to the story of Trayvon Martin (and not just the DOJ investigation).
The night that Martin was murdered was the end of his time on this earth, but
maybe it was also the beginning of positive change on a social level to address
the insidious racism in which our laws and daily interactions are steeped.
My obsessive information consumption over the details of
this case had stirred up a sort of blind rage in me, a fury that had bound my
mind and spirit in a way. Don’t get me wrong. I obviously believe that being
informed is necessary. Information strengthens community and fosters compassion
in addition to “stoking the fires of
rage”. But sometimes we can get lost in the plethora of information and forget
that perhaps the highest purpose of information is to inform action. In other
words, what does the information you are consuming cause you to do? What action
will it move you to take?
The manner in which I was greedily reading every little news
article and opinion editorial that came out related to the case inundated me
and I was effectively lost in it. And lost is a good word because that’s
exactly what seemed to happen to my mind when I read news of the verdict. I
felt as if I had lost my mind. Nothing made sense and I was enraged. But now is
not the time for losing one’s mind. Rage is good so long as it moves one to
action that may alleviate its cause.
So I urge you, if you have become consumed with media
coversation to the point of forgetting that there are next steps to be taken,
take a moment to evaluate what change that you would like to come about as a
result of the Trayvon Martin crime. Open the door to conversation, sign
petitions, attend rallies, pray (if you do), send positive energy (if that’s
your thing) and, most importantly, work in whatever way you can towards being the change you wish to see. Yes, there is work to be done on a political
level, but it always starts on the personal level.
I hope these words remind you of any area of your life that
could use some positive action. Take care of your mind, first and foremost. Let
nothing weigh you down, blind you, or isolate you. You are the one we are
missing.
