Part of movement
When I made the decision to pause, I didn’t have an end date in mind. I just knew that with our renewed focus on Black Lives Matter and long overdue protests against police systems across the world, I wanted to spend my energy absorbing, reflecting, and acting with community.
My decision to unpause hasn’t come lightly. For me, it doesn’t signify a decrease in attention or support for the movement. It doesn’t mean my anti-racist journey is over. Instead, I’m realizing that the protests aren’t a moment, but a movement. We can pause a moment or make it about ourselves, but movements are deliberate and sustained and political, requiring ebbs and flows of energy across all parts of our lives. I’ve written previously on not wanting to go back to normal, and that still rings true now. I eventually want all areas of my life to be a part of this movement to interrogate existing systems of anti-Black oppression (and there’s plenty in media and technology), highlight stories that exemplify better representation of exploited cultures and people, and demand progress especially when it doesn’t feel convenient. We all have a long way to go, and I hope as fellow watchers and readers, you can help hold me accountable to those goals as they show up here.
Many thanks.