Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man

by Emmanuel Acho

Talk It, Walk It

Start with the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, maybe the most famous interracial relationship of all time.

Black, White & Us,

Closure,

(mashupamericans.com),

(adoptuskids.org).

But integrate the white and black keys together, and that is when the piano makes a joyful noise.

“we”

“Why aren’t the people obeying direct orders from police? Why are they resisting arrest? Any light you could shed on this would be greatly appreciated.”

The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. —DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

We must come to see that human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals who are willing to be co-workers with God. And without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the primitive forces of social stagnation. So we must help time and realize that the time is always ripe to do right. —DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

Man, let me just go home and write something. Everybody has a different way of fighting, and my pen is my sword.

It took me learning about the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance

About police violence, about systemic inequality, about the American dream that isn’t yet real for everyone.

The scenes of looting and destruction that so often light up the news and certain political rhetoric … they’re only one end of the spectrum of black responses to the anger and frustration we’ve felt.

Black people all know a change needs to come, and are all figuring out how to fight for it.

“protest”

“riot,”

Let’s Rewind

protest,

riot,

rebel...

mass...

protest

riot,

rebe...

mas...

civil disobedience—

In plain speak, this meant people’s consciences inspiring them to protest, but with manners.

riot,

uncivil disturbance.

but the race-related riots that took place before the mid-twentieth century were usually white mobs attacking black people.

When it was all said and done, somewhere between sixty and ninety black people were dead.

Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Historians estimate that, when all was said and done, as many as three hundred people had been killed.

riot,

rebellion—

A rebellion, on the other hand, implies that the actions are a response to injustice.

Watts in 1965

Detroit in 1967

Throughout all this history, white privilege has ruled how these conflicts were described.

a race riot.

riot,

When race conflicts have been instigated by white people, law enforcement has often responded on a spectrum from doing little to almost nothing, to deputizing other white people to participate, to being participants themselves.

The Washington Post

“law and order”—

Black Lives Matter (BLM) began back in 2013 when black organizers Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi created a black-centered political movement in response to a Florida jury acquitting George Zimmerman of murdering unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin.

The New York Times estimates that between fifteen and twenty-six million people demonstrated over George Floyd’s death in the United States alone, making it the largest demonstration in the history of the country.

And I saw that all the noise was actually working.

Or rather, the Sisters of Liberty: women who had an agenda.