This Week's Opening Thought: January 1, 2024

Image description: An image of the Dateline NBC logo imposed in front of a NYC backdrop.

This year’s opening thought: Happy New Year to those of you who are lifelong learners who understand racism, oppression, hate, colonialism, white supremacy, and genocide are complicated but not complicated enough to not condemn them openly and publicly. May the next 364 days be full of blessings, opportunities, and knowledge that allow you to grow while ensuring you don't end up on an episode of Dateline or 48 Hours Mystery. As for the rest of y'all?

Your sister-in-law looks like she's not with your sibling for the right reasons.

Just sayin’.

[Image description: An image of the Dateline NBC logo imposed in front of a NYC backdrop.]

Image description: A Twitter/X screenshot of a post by the troll account Gary Peterson USA. A bearded person of pallor can be seen looking sadly at the camera during a Fox News Primetime interview. His name is Tim Pool. Tim is an ultra-conservative social media "influencer." Below Tim Pool is Fox News quoting his previous sentence during the interview. The quoted sentence is, "Black Santa made me stop believing." Above the image, Gary Peterson USA has the caption, "Heroes like Tim Pool are letting the world know about the pain caused by the woke Target decorations."

BRUH.

BRUH.

🤦

"Made you stop believing," bruh?! REALLY?! That's all it took, eh? Black Santa really got you down bad, huh?

SHEESH.

Don't tell homeboy about the many contributions Black folx have made to society and culture that have made his life more fulfilling and comfortable. Dude might end up laying in a field sobbing, butt naked, and in the fetal position.

[Image description: A Twitter/X screenshot of a post by the troll account Gary Peterson USA. A bearded person of pallor can be seen looking sadly at the camera during a Fox News Primetime interview. His name is Tim Pool. Tim is an ultra-conservative social media "influencer." Below Tim Pool is Fox News quoting his previous sentence during the interview. The quoted sentence is, "Black Santa made me stop believing." Above the image, Gary Peterson USA has the caption, "Heroes like Tim Pool are letting the world know about the pain caused by the woke Target decorations."]

This Week's Opening Thought: December 4, 2023

Image description: A man is leaning back, removing headphones from his head. He has a look of disgust and anguish on his face as he recoils. Above him are the words, "Me when a person of pallor starts telling me a story about why they're racist like it's a valid reason for being racist."

This week's opening thought for people of pallor: I don't want to sit with you as you spin a yarn about why you're justified in your racist ideology and actions.

I don't want to hear about how you, at age 57, are racist because a Black kid almost stole your wallet when you were 13.

I don't want to engage with your story of being one of the only white kids in a predominately Black, Brown, or melanated neighborhood and how you were picked on in high school when you're currently in your mid-40s.

I don't want to hear your tale about having a crush on a Latine kid when you were in the ninth grade and being dissed by him and his friends, leaving you embarrassed and humiliated unless you're still in the ninth grade for some reason at the age of 30.

What I want is for you to process your trauma through therapy (EMDR is your homey).

What I want is for you to understand that while any incident can impact and traumatize you, one interaction with a melanated person that didn't go your way is not a reasonable bar for developing and cultivating a lifetime of hatred for any particular race.

I want you to digest that I don't want to hear your supervillain origin story.

I want you to be better and do better.

And I want you to understand that damn near every melanated person you meet in life could have a supervillain origin story, but we decided to make a left instead of a right when we got to the fork in the road.

Racism is villainy. It ain't even super. It's just villainy. And it is significantly so if you're a person of pallor who regularly benefits from dominant culture and white supremacy. Stop trying to justify and seek validation for your hate.

Save the supervillain origin stories for the comic books.

You ain't fly enough to be Doctor Doom.

(Note: every example above is true. I have had those situations and many more shared with me over the years by "well-meaning" "professionals" of pallor.)

[Image description: A man is leaning back, removing headphones from his head. He has a look of disgust and anguish on his face as he recoils. Above him are the words, "Me when a person of pallor starts telling me a story about why they're racist like it's a valid reason for being racist."]

This Week's Opening Thought: November 28, 2023

This week's (late) opening thought: I've gotten so few compliments and affirmations for my work in workplaces over the past decade that it feels like a set-up when I do get them. Like, I'm not on a hunt for kudos, but it does affect a person when all you receive is negativity while watching people of pallor and folx in the sunken place are treated like "model employees" while doing immeasurable harm.

I've gotten yelled at, mistreated, disregarded, "coached," complained about, written up, and separated from employment so many times for just existing and trying my damndest every day to mitigate harm to others that when someone tells me they think I'm doing a good job? I'm waiting for the "but."

For years, my body and brain felt like they were in constant danger at work. I'm doing much better now, but real talk? I do a decent job of maintaining, but I have lapsed into that trauma state of mind way more than I'd like, depending on the day and circumstances. If it weren't for therapy, exercise, and mindfulness, I'd be a f---g mess. How do I know this?

Until a few years ago, I was two steps away from being a f---g mess. All the time.

Workplace trauma is real, y'all.

I know from experience.

On Tamir's 21st Birthday

Image description: a picture of a 12-year-old Tamir Rice. He is smiling at the camera while throwing up a peace sign. The sun from a nearby window gives his soft brown skin a glow.

TW: discussion around police-involved shootings, murder, anti-Blackness, and racism.

Tamir Rice should be 21 years old today.

Tamir should be celebrating with friends and family, with a long weekend to do so.

But Tamir is not here today.

Tamir is not here today because, at the age of 12, he was murdered by a police officer who had been deemed emotionally unstable and unfit for duty by Independence, Ohio’s police department but lied about this to get a job with the Cleveland Police Department.

Tamir is not here today because he was murdered by a Cleveland police officer who never received a background check when he applied for the Cleveland Police Force.

Tamir’s family received no justice for his murder because a jury believed the officer who murdered Tamir was justified in his actions. After all, Tamir had an airsoft pistol that looked real, and there was no way the officer could know the difference.

Meanwhile, white mass shooters on murder sprees get lengthy negotiations, gentle trips to the police station and Burger King, and so much benefit of the doubt and so many excuses for their actions that it’s blatantly apparent whose lives don't matter.

Tamir should be celebrating the benchmark of adulthood.

But Tamir isn't with us today.

[Image description: a picture of a 12-year-old Tamir Rice. He is smiling at the camera while throwing up a peace sign. The sun from a nearby window gives his soft brown skin a glow.]