Facets of Faith: exhausting cycles

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Hanl Brown

Staff reporter Faith Brocke expresses her emotions and experiences in her column, Facets of Faith.

Faith Brocke, Staff Reporter

In all honesty, the exhaustive cycles that come with tragedy in the Black community might kill me at this rate. If I had a dime for every time I’ve had the overwhelming urge to roll my eyes in the last twenty-four hours, I’d be typing this from atop a solid gold throne.

That being said, I want to steer away from directly talking about Arianna Delane and talk more about how I deal with the crushing feeling associated with things of this nature, but I can’t. I’m trapped by harsh hate crimes and systemic oppression regardless. It is not only tiring, but agitating. I’m on the precipice of my boiling point, and I’ve been inclined to do the one thing I can without going positively ballistic: write it all out.

I’m an active user of social media on multiple platforms, and I think the worst possible things you could say to me at a time where I’m dealing with the shock of a little girl getting shot on New Years Eve are ‘feel free to take some time away from social media’ or ‘if you need anything, or someone to talk to..’ and lastly ‘here’s a breathing GIF for your troubles!’

First of all, I was born Black, and I will be Black when I put the phone down. Of course I understand that non-Black people are attempting to be supportive, but in some cases, they’re anything but. And I don’t appreciate being told how I should deal with this. I’m pained by the world around me, and I can’t escape the reality of it regardless of whether or not Twitter is pulled up on my screen. 

A breathing exercise with an animated circle will not alter the past or change how that child felt before she was finally able to get into surgery and pull through. Maybe I want to laugh at something funny and continue to feel like I can live without being pushed out of a space that I am a part of.

Secondly, I can’t help but notice how people feel the need to give attention to issues only when they go viral and pay no mind to that same group of people at any other time. Black people are always suffering and struggling due to their oppression, but sure, a retweet of the Black Lives Matter Carrd every time a shooting goes viral with radio silence for every other day of the year is super helpful. 

That was blatant sarcasm, for the sake of clarity. Do better.

I’ve also mentioned repeatedly that the silencing of Black people when it comes to Black issues as well as favoring non-Black people and giving them the attention when speaking out of turn is incessant and entirely common. Let me speak. Let me be heard clearly.

And please don’t try to relate to struggles if you do not face them yourself. With all due respect, I am not ranting to a non-Black person about something that happened solely because of race as opposed to anything else. It’s also not your place to advise me on what I should do, because it will be unsolicited–-I guarantee I won’t ask for your opinion. I do not want to be calm, and I don’t want to be quiet. If I wanted weigh-ins I would make a Reddit account and have an absolute blast.

It also shouldn’t be my job to inform anyone. I choose to because I want to spread awareness, not because it’s my job to be a source of news for every black issue that arises. People need to do their own research and actively talk about these things without someone having to beg them to.

All in all, nothing will change if I speak up, and even then, chances are bleak. But I have to try. I implore you to learn more about the world around you, as well as support black people, businesses and communities around you, because they’re struggling in ways you’ll never know.