By Ta-Nehisi Coates — 2014
Four years ago, I opposed reparations. Here's the story of how my thinking has evolved since then.
Read on www.theatlantic.com
CLEAR ALL
As a woman of color, Rhonda Magee's ordinary fatigue is exacerbated by the additional stress of the ugly signs that old-fashioned racism is on the rise in America.
The last few weeks have made it impossible to hide from the truth that Black and white people have fundamentally different experiences with law enforcement in this country.
This past year I not only stood unapologetically in the full and complete truth of my identity but also voiced that truth, my truth, aloud to all those closest to me. Including a lot of White people.
Cultural appropriation in fashion plays a huge role in the continued dismissal of indigenous cultures as primitive, dismisses indigenous people as playthings, and perpetuates the idea that we are relics of the past.
“Race is a little bit like gravity,” john powell says: experienced by all, understood by few. He is a refreshing, redemptive thinker who counsels all kinds of people and projects on the front lines of our present racial longings.
Several queer Black Buddhist authors have showed me how spiritual practice can be a liberating force in the face of challenges as huge as racism, sexism and queerphobia.
“The greatest social movements in history were rooted in the ethic of love,” says Valarie Kaur.
“Being Black overrides everything for me. Nothing is as thunderous in my life as racism. It seems to eclipse everything. It’s the repetitiveness of it. And the fact that it comes from every corner and nook.”
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