Black lives matter.
George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery. Eric Garner. Sandra Bland. Freddie Gray. Philando Castile. Trayvon Martin. Tamir Rice. The list goes on—and on. We have been outraged these past weeks as we’ve watched white supremacy take its toll on human lives.
At Remarkable Life Memoirs, we’re in the business of telling people’s stories. It’s clear that America needs to start listening to Black voices, and Black stories, that have been silenced for far too long. We stand together with the victims of murder, oppression, discrimination, and marginalization purely due to the color of their skin.
As white women, we recognize our immense privilege, and acknowledge that to be shocked at these brutal murders is a privilege in itself. Our reality is not the same as the reality of Black and Brown people. So we need to do better. We’ve signed petitions; donated to our local bail fund; and immersed ourselves in books and documentaries about race, policing, and prison. Most importantly, we’ve been educating ourselves on how these recent killings represent only a fraction of the systemic racism and violence that has haunted this country for centuries.
It is not enough to be simply “not racist.” We must be actively antiracist. And that means that we have much more work to do. We pledge to follow through.
Black lives matter today and every day. Here are several resources we recommend:
—Samantha and Susan