Black Lives Matter Interview with The Teen Pop
I wanted to share an interview that I did with The Teen Pop that went live today! I still have lots to unlearn and relearn, but definitely want to share my perspective. There is an obvious divide in our country and a disagreement on the BLM movement, but I felt it important to share why I’m fighting for our Black community, doing the antiracism work and that it comes down to being human rights issue. Here’s an excerpt of the Q&A from the interview, read the full interview here. If you’re looking for ways to educate yourself or get involved, I suggest visiting blacklivesmatters.carrd.co - the page links to petitions, actions you can take, resources and more!
Could you begin by telling us about your relationship with Black Lives Matter?
My relationship with the Black Lives Matter movement only just began right around the last weekend of May, about a week after George Floyd’s death. Throughout the entire week, I was buried in work but saw the social media coverage regarding Floyd’s death and police brutality. I hadn’t watched the video footage of George Floyd’s murder, so I didn’t know the full story. When I started seeing voices that I knew speak out on social media against injustices against Black people, as well as diving into the resources and organizations people were sharing – it opened my eyes and mind as to why this was not just going to be another overlooked Black death at the hands of our law enforcement. What was disheartening is only a couple months before that, Breonna Taylor had been shot dead by police in her own home, and a month before that, the Ahmaud Arbery shooting had taken place; and even those incidences were not enough of a catalyst to push us into this global movement for racial justice and equality. There have been countless other Black deaths and hate crimes committed against our Black community, and Floyd’s death was ultimately the last straw – when we said enough is enough. Truth is, Black people have never been truly “free” here in America due to having social, economic and environmental disadvantages and discrimination, and overall less opportunities and access to resources in comparison to their Caucasian counterparts. As an individual with a social media presence, I feel an obligation and responsibility to continue to actively work towards dismantling the institutional racism that is so deeply ingrained in our legal, educational and healthcare systems. This movement has brought to light the blatant racism and white supremacist views that many people in our nation possess. This is all still fresh and a learning process for me, as I have had to take time to reflect deep down on my own biases and privilege.
So, Amanda what is BLM to you and how do you see it?
I see it as an awakening and something that has been a long time coming. There have always been activists for the Black community and those working to fight racial inequalities and injustices; but with George Floyd’s death, it seemed to be the tipping point for the U.S.A. In my self-reflection, This is a movement and not a moment, this is not just some trend or hashtag – this movement will transcend through all aspects of our society – our very way of thinking, eating, breathing, working, way of life itself, and push us towards reform and change for equality. The masses are angry and fed up for the injustices that Black people have had to endure for so long, and they are compelled to take the steps necessary to remove people from positions of power that are driven by racist motives, prejudices and or close-mindedness that hinder the quality of life for the American people, specifically our minority groups; and instead elect more fitting individuals that have our best interest at hand so we can all truly be free and be able to equally prosper. Everyone has implicit biases to come to grips with and be aware of because of how deeply rooted those biases and prejudices have been in our upbringing. I still can’t believe how “white-washed” my education was – I didn’t truly learn an accurate view of our history, and much of our Black history was sugar-coated or omitted to fit the “White Man’s narrative”. We were taught that “discovering” new lands and colonizing were acceptable; although today I don’t see physical colonization in America, it is what our very nation’s soul is made up of and the ideals that our country was built upon. Colonizing manifests itself in other ways on how people treat each other and how we are governed; the mindset of having the superior white man coming in to civilize a group of people (or “kick people out”) and be in control and dominant through our government, community interactions, at work and in education, is still very prevalent today and associated with embodying the “American Patriotic Spirit”, with people preaching to “Make America Great Again”, “Go Back to Where You Came From”, “Speak English, you’re in America” or “If You Don’t Like America, leave”, and yet they are living on stolen land – and we are tired of this mindset and toxic narrative.
How important is Black Lives Matter today in the world and especially in focus to Asia?
As this is an issue involving racial discrimination that seems to be deeply rooted in societies globally, the Black Lives Matter movement is very important in the world today. Although the movement we see today stemmed from events that took place in the U.S, it is a testament to how important the matter is with the protests and outrage that are occurring all over the world. I can’t speak from personal experience on the importance it holds in Asia except from seeing how this issue has resonated with those that are protesting in countries like Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan. It is powerful to see Asian communities speak up for what they believe in and also bring forth other social and human rights matters that should be addressed in their governments.