This Week's Opening Thought: September 9, 2024

This week's opening thought: Being Black in the United States is grieving the unnecessary murder of your son at the hands of a violent young man of pallor who regularly made terroristic threats to the point that the FBI investigated his online behavior.

Being Black in the United States is learning that the violent young man of pallor who murdered your child was "rewarded" by his parents for being investigated by the FBI with an assault rifle, the same weapon he used to unleash a mass school shooter incident that took the life of your child and three other people.

Being Black in the United States is watching as your local news affiliate makes a social media post that makes it appear that your now-deceased son was the active shooter in the event that ultimately took him from you.

Being Black in the United States is watching that news affiliate offer an "Oops, our bad" public "apology," showing how little they care that your now-deceased son was visually slandered across social media for millions to witness.

Being Black in the United States is witnessing this public "apology" and watching as they don't even bother to mention your now-deceased son's name in their "apology" that they made sure to post online and not verbally apologize in front of the entire world and atone for their harm on their local televised newscast.

Being Black in the United States is a journey of trauma, grief, and finding hope and joy in a world that prefers you be the villain, so it never has to acknowledge how often you and your people have been victimized.

[Image descriptions: Image 1 - A tweet from news affiliate WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia. The tweet shows a picture of one of the victims of the Apalachee High School mass shooting, a young Black boy named Mason Schermerhorn, being depicted as the mass shooter and not one of the victims.

Image 2 - A screenshot of a "public apology" from WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia. The "apology" says, "In a tweet about the Apalachee H.S. shooting posted by WSB-TV, the content and photo of one of the victims was unintentionally presented on X in a way that made it appear as if the victim was the shooter. The post was removed shortly after it went live and immediately after we were alerted to the situation. We deeply regret this error and sincerely apologize to the victim's family and loved ones."]

Image description: A tweet from news affiliate WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia. The tweet shows a picture of one of the victims of the Apalachee High School mass shooting, a young Black boy named Mason Schermerhorn, being depicted as the mass shooter and not one of the victims.

Image description: A screenshot of a "public apology" from WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia. The "apology" says, "In a tweet about the Apalachee H.S. shooting posted by WSB-TV, the content and photo of one of the victims was unintentionally presented on X in a way that made it appear as if the victim was the shooter. The post was removed shortly after it went live and immediately after we were alerted to the situation. We deeply regret this error and sincerely apologize to the victim's family and loved ones."

About Sonya

Sonya Massey.

I'm not going to watch the bodycam footage. I stopped that practice many years ago. I can’t keep watching my people die, so I refuse to engage in the trauma porn of our constant suffering.

Doesn’t make the reality of it all hurt any less.

I honestly have no more words for the ever-present harming and willful disregard of Black women. I have rage, sadness, deep sorrow, but no words that verbalize how jumbled it all feels in my brain, body, and soul.

I advise every Black person, every Black woman, to not watch the footage. Please don’t do that to yourself. That said, if you’re a Black person, especially a Black woman, and you feel like you have to watch, please do everything and anything you need to do to take care of yourself in the moment and after you’ve finished viewing it. Your mental and emotional health matter.

Black women just want to live without constant threats to their lives and livelihoods.

I don’t know why this is so damn difficult for people of pallor to want to understand.

Sonya Massey.

Say her name.

This Week's Opening Thought: July 22, 2024

This week’s opening thought: If you weren’t willing to defend, stand with, and support Black and Brown women before now or were waiting on the “right opportunity to be an ally” to Black and Brown women in the United States, guess what?

The f—-g time is now.

I mean, I don’t know what the hell was wrong with you before now (what were you waiting on, a formal invitation?). Still, if these unprecedented times (side note: I am SO TIRED of “unprecedented times.”) we’re likely about to enter into during this presidential election don’t have you ready to step up and chin check every raggedy, racist, sexist, anti-Black person in your workplace, family, and neighborhood that tries to drag the Vice President, Black women, and Brown women through the mud with unfounded accusations and discredited stereotypes built on racism and white supremacy that have nothing to do with their skills, intelligence, and insights then you should keep your “thoughts” to yourself and own that you never intended to get off the bench and get in the game.

Sh--’s about to get more real and dangerous for many communities than you could ever imagine.

Yo’ ass should've been in the game, but you're still milking that “ankle injury” from practice to cover up your affinity for bench warming and participation trophies.

P.S.: This is not a conversation about the veep’s record and past. We’ve had that conversation ad naseum and we’re not going to rehash that in this space. We’ll revisit that conversation at some point. This particular conversation is about standing with and supporting Black and Brown women in real-time as the threat to their overall safety inches into dangerous territory. This includes offering your support to Kamala Harris. Yeah, I said it. I asked for it. Some of y'all are gonna want to drag me for it, but I will always stand with and support Black women, period, especially in the face of people who would prefer to go back to chattel slavery, Jim Crow, and no rights for anyone but wealthy people of pallor.

On Ryan, Diane, and Wishes

As I take a moment to reflect on the week, like I do every Friday, I think about how much I want my people to feel safe, seen, heard, and rested.

I think about Ryan Gainer and how he should still be here if law enforcement officers were taught that the intersection of race and ASD often leads to fatal action at the hands of those claiming to serve and protect. I think about how his family will never be settled. I fear for the next Black person on the spectrum who finds themselves dealing with the police.

I think about Dianne Abbott and how she should be able to speak truth to power without being silenced and diminished by people of pallor who can't fathom the reality that their niceties are neatly packaged hatred. I think about the calls for violence against her life led by a pale millionaire who will likely face no repercussions for his rhetoric.

I sit with all of this and wonder why this is part of the Black existence, this pervasive fear for our lives, livelihood, and safety. Questions pop into my head:

How does it feel to be carefree and never honestly think about your life constantly being on the line for just existing?

What would people of pallor do if they were looking at a lifetime of scrutiny and danger for doing everyday things they take for granted?

What if having a disability increased their chances of being harmed by society because of the melanin in their skin?

Would people of pallor tell the truth about their traumatic experiences at the hands of the so-called dominant class if their lives and livelihood were in danger because of the discomfort those truths caused?

I ask those questions and then check myself because I know these questions never arise for most people of pallor. I know they never put themselves in our shoes; even if they did, they'd complain about the fit.

I wish Black lives and safety weren't a novelty.

I wish we could rest with a deep, whole-body rest that allows our bodies and brains to cry, exhale, and cry some more until we feel less weary.

I wish for things I'll never see in my lifetime, but that doesn't mean I'll stop wishing.

I want my people to feel safe, seen, heard, and rested.

I know that's too much to ask for in a world fueled by white supremacy.

[Image description: Two images. The first picture is of a young Black man from California named Ryan Gainer. He can be seen smiling at the camera while standing in a parking lot. The second picture is of a Black woman named Diane Abbott. She was the first Black woman elected to the British Parliament. She is seen smiling at the camera.]

On Nat, Magical Girls, and the Intersection of Justice

Sometimes, my energy is magical girl energy.

Sometimes, my energy is Nat Turner energy.

Either way, understand that justice is always at the center of who I am.

Also understand that you do not wanna come around me with hate and bigotry and catch me on a day where the Nat Turner in me pulls out his Sailor Scout wand to dispatch you and your ugliness.

Believe that.