by Christy Snow

I thought my eyes were opened, I thought I was an activist for my black friends and family but in light of recent events, I have taken a hard look at how little I was doing to be part of the solution to the injustices done to people of color. As a lesbian fighting for equality for the majority of my life, I do not hide my passion for people to be treated with dignity and respect and to be afforded the same opportunities regardless of who they are and who they love. Unfortunately, I had not educated myself nearly enough on the extreme and numerous ways that people of color are marginalized, and discriminated against that flows abundantly out of a system of racism that our history classes never taught. I had to learn on my own about Black Wall Street, the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Tuskegee Experiment, The Red Summer of 1919, Three-Fifth Compromise, Anti-literacy Laws, how segregation started in Charlotte, how our very own Black Wall Street was disbanded. I am still learning because there was so much that I was not taught and that we as white people would rather not see because it feels terrible to be descendants of such an appalling history.

I protest because I am tired of people explaining away the killing of black people. I am tired of hearing how my black friends have to teach their kids to expect to be targets for injustice because of the color of their skin. I am tired of waking up to hear that a black man was shot while jogging, that a black woman was shot in her own home, and exhausted and broken-hearted after watching George Floyd die at the hands of police while people begged all of the officers to do something. But what I realize is that I have nothing to feel weary about compared to my black brothers and sisters. I began protesting because I was tired, I continue protesting because they are tired, they are exhausted fighting this fight for justice alone. I protest to implore every person from every walk of life to stand with our black community in saying all lives are NOT mattering until Black Lives do, to stand in our city and our country and say NO MORE whitewashed history, no more monuments that ask us to respect our racist history, no more militarized police that tear gas our citizens simply for exercising their first amendment rights and NO MORE justifying injustice. I protest because it is time for a new world in which everyone is afforded the same rights and opportunities to life, liberty, and happiness. These injustices and inequalities have to change and the time is NOW!

Rev. Christy Snow is an activist, speaker, singer, and founder of Solution Coaching, and Carolina Center for Spiritual Awakening and the co-founder of Awaken Within Retreats. Her writing, teaching, speaking, and singing all share the common thread of living as love in action and being the change we wish to see.

For more information, visit ChristySnow.com and AwakeningCarolina.org or call 704-516-7113.