(ThySistas.com) Our people are often made to believe that if we don’t fight every social issue, and civil rights matters, we are out of order. We are told that was is happening to another group will eventually happen to us. After the elections Black people decided they needed to step back and prioritize community. We were attacked by various groups during the elections, and now we’re catching fire for stepping back after various groups did not vote in the best interest of themselves nor this country. The truth is no matter how much Black people feel that others have made their beds and should lay in it, we have a hard time watching the oppression of others. It is not hard to appeal to the heart of Black people because we know oppression. We know it as a people, many of us know of it individually, and it is a trigger for many of us. Watching people be snatched off the streets looks familiar to us.
Watching people lose everything they have as they are on the run trying to survive feels too personal to us. Yet, we have to remember how we got here. It is important that we are never the priority in terms of equality and safety…we are expected to fight and bleed for the benefit of others. Because this is the reality…New Orleans Blacks will have to find a way to sit down. There are enough battles that we have to fight.
New Orleanian natives are fighting to keep our culture intact. Moreso since Hurricane Katrina, we have seen people that do not look like us move in and attack our culture directly while benefiting from it. We were put under noise ordinances, have had our cultural practices attacked, and continue to have access to resources stifled but given to others. There are POCs that could have been working with us to better the city, but they chose to align themselves with those that govern systemic oppression. They looked down on us while invading spaces that never belonged to them. Twenty years after Katrina Black New Orleanians are still fighting for the city, and many are still fighting to come home. So much is happening here and in addition we see others that we could work together with demand us to prioritize their needs and fears. This should not be expected of us. We don’t face the “it will happen to you next”, the oppression never stopped happening to us. New Orleans has always been a laid-back open city…arms open to whoever would receive her. However, Katrina and the response to our devastation changed that some. Our hospitality is still intact, but it is not the same.
Black New Orleanians must center ourselves. We know how to fight for our city, and that has to be our focus. So much is happening, and our city is hurting on every level. Yes, we see the pain of others, especially regarding immigration. However, we must remain honest about why that pain exists as it does. There has to be a call to accountability in other groups, and we cannot absolve it. The days of us taking a stand in the city centering everyone has to be paused. We are in need of too much, and no one is going to come to our aid. We must reserve the energy and resources we share for the advancement and survival of our children. New Orleans is out home, our culture…it’s who we are and we need our children to have the opportunity to partake of said culture. We can’t take to the street in defense of anyone but ourselves right now. We have already been shown when the time comes to make the decision for solidarity where it will matter the most, in a voting booth, we are all we got. This will not be easy.
Some of the POCs we see suffering are neighbors and co-workers, but some of them also made it clear that they would center themselves no matter the cost. They are now realizing things like Project 2025 were not just propaganda created by liberals to trick them. This was real, and what we see happening on the streets in many cities is real. No one listened to us, and now it’s too late to appeal to us about it. We must focus on our community. We have to sit down and let other groups organize and fight for themselves. We have our hands full with our people and the preservation of our culture.
Staff Writer; Chelle’ St James
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