Every day we wake up in the mornings and look at our phones, turn on the news, or open the newspaper and are confronted with images of black men, women, and children being shot, beaten, objectified, and dispossessed. We relentlessly reblog and share stories of our own degradation thinking that we are communicating necessary information, not realizing that it is the same story over and over again. These images are not motivating us to action as they did during The Civil Rights Movement because today we believe that sharing something on social media is the action. In the face of such physical and psychological violence, it is a wonder that any of us can move through the world with any semblance of self-esteem. It is good to be a critical thinker, but we must also be aware of the impact that these images are having on our emotional well-being. This is not to say that we should stick our heads in the sand and pretend racism does not exist. It means that taking care of ourselves and others must be our first priority. As Audre Lorde said, "Caring for myself is not an act of indulgence, it is self preservation, and that is an act of political warfare."
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| William H. Johnson |
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