(ThySistas.com) We are living in unprecedented times with many major world events happening. Pandemics, governmental and societal unrest, and systemic racism are at an all-time high and show no sign of slowing down. As a people, we are survivors and have made ways out of no way when called upon. Our generation is no different than our ancestors were and are. We have had to learn how to raise children, create households, and maintain them in the face of adversity. We have had to make a dollar out of the pennies that we have in our change trays. We have had to cope with social and mental abuses that have not stopped since we came to this country those many years ago.
Our daily interactions have become village building especially since we have had to quarantine ourselves to help curb COVID-19, and a fatality rate which has surpassed the number of lives lost in major world wars including the United States’ own, Civil War. We are simply repeating what our ancestors endured during pandemics such as yellow fever and Spanish flu in the early 19th and 20th centuries. Historically, African Americans have had limited access to proper medical care and have made do with natural remedies to stave off infections and sickness. We have also had to deal with health practitioners who will refuse, or simply ignore, our cries that we are in pain and need more extensive treatment. Listening to the nationally syndicated radio program, The Michael Baisden Show, it was interesting to hear our community discuss natural herbs for healing such as Jamaican soursop leaves and sea moss as possible immune boosters. There was also a call to change eating habits as listeners discussed natural healers such as Dr. Sebi and his herbal concoctions that have been used to treat illnesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and even HIV/AIDS. These talks were happening around our tables and in our living rooms just as our ancestors would have them to better protect us.
We are also forced to deal with our usual culprit of race relations as they had to. Racism has been prevalent in our communities since we landed on these shores in 1619. The only difference is our ancestors were faced head-on with it and it was inherently pervasive. Our generation has somewhat had to change the way we deal with situations such as these. We have been allowed to live under the illusion that racism does not exist as everyone is now on equal footing and has the same access to all services offered by any business, government, or private. We have always known the deck was stacked against us but it was an unspoken truth that we lived with and accepted. We have willingly paid the “black tax” with hopes that one day we won’t have to. Yet, with President Donald J. Trump in office, the rules have been changed yet again and we, like our ancestors, have adjusted and changed course.
For the past four years, Trump has spewed his hate-filled rhetoric and given credence to a segment of society that we have long deemed an outlier that has rebranded itself. Just as Bull Connor stood in front of doors denying Blacks access to basic necessities, he has allowed whispers around dinner tables to become yells of racist remarks and acts of violence. There have been stories of non-persons of color physically or verbally assaulting persons of color for simply going about their normal day and performing inane tasks. During this presidency, it became commonplace for the authorities to be needlessly called to handle or escort an African American person of the premises for simply being. It harkens back to the arrests for vagrancy that were unfounded or the tales of inappropriate interactions (see Emmett Till) that have haunted us for so long. Journalism pioneers such as Ida B. Wells documenting the social injustices have become any of us with a smartphone that has the ability to record.
We are forced to relive the trauma that being black comes with repeatedly with the press of a button. Our lynch victims are no different than our ancestors were. The only difference is we are allowed to bring someone to trial and be granted or denied justice. Though the outcome is generally unfavorable to us, as it has been for some time, we still choose to thrive. We still do as our ancestors did and make the uphill trek towards greatness. We still look forward to a day when our lives matter just as much as everyone else. We are their wildest dreams come to fruition, no matter how bleak the landscape looks. We as people chose to keep trodding and fighting the good fight because we know it’s not for us but for those who come after.
Staff Writer; Jessieca Carr
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