What if....?
During Black History Month we would like to draw your attention to a set of questions that we’ve been reflecting on.
These questions invite us to courageously reflect on our history, to be informed and intentional about the decisions before us today, and to embrace the idea that what we do now will impact the future we have together.
Looking back at generations past, what if:
- African civilizations never encountered European invaders and colonialism?
- Black people actually received their 40 acres and a mule?
- Slavery or Jim Crow never happened?
- Race riots in places like Tulsa, Memphis, Atlanta, and Chicago never happened?
- FDR made stronger and more explicit provisions for Black folx in the New Deal?
- The wars on crime and drugs—and the resulting rise of mass incarceration never happened?
- There was a way to revitalize our neighborhoods without gentrifying them and displacing Black people?
- The murders of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, Emmitt Till, Sandra Bland, Breonna Taylor, Felycya Harris, Mia Green, George Floyd, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, and Tyre Nichols never happened — and they were still alive?
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What if we:
- Became a democracy that leads with racial equity and racial justice?
- Closed racial income and wealth gaps?
- See poverty (particularly Black poverty) as a systemic and societal failure rather than an indictment on individuals?
- Embrace a comprehensive reparations program for Black people that redresses America’s history of racism and allows us (and the entire nation) to heal?
- Convened truth and reconciliation commissions at the national and local levels?
- Design interlocking systems of education, health, civic participation, and economy that produce racial equity and racial justice?
- Established a new paradigm for wealth-starting with Black wealth?
What if:
ALL Black lives really mattered?
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#BlackHistoryMonth #GlobalBlackCaucus #DemsAbroad #VoteFromAbroad #BlackLivesMatter #BlackVotesMatter #Reparations #WhatIf #Resistance #Past #Present #Future #MartinLutherKing, #MalcolmX #MedgarEvers #EmmittTill #SandraBland #BreonnaTaylor #FelycyaHarris #MiaGreen #GeorgeFloyd #MichaelBrown #TamirRice #TrayvonMartin #TyreNichols