Congratulations, you took me down, stomped on me, then spat me out. You tell me my relationships are lies, my friends are lies and my accomplishments as an activist were failures.
You know what? You're right. I have disappointed, betrayed and failed so many times I cannot count them all. And each and every time, I nursed my wounds, gathered myself back together, stood up and went back to work. After 50 long years of experience, I am here to say. You. Are. Wrong.
Only a white woman who has white friends only, could feel so certain of herself. Only someone who turned activist yesterday, could be so glib.
Brenna, I suspect you write from fear - fear of rejection, fear of confrontation and the fear of looking stupid, small and ignorant. By accepting defeat from the start, you hope to alleviate any hurt or discomfort promised by the journey ahead of you - as an activist.
You say you are an activist and I wonder what you think that means. What actions have you personally taken?
Have you marched for miles, in 104-degree hot summer days for the rights of strangers working in the fields along your way? Have you stayed up all night baking cookies to raise enough money to send someone else to speak on your behalf? Have you walked precincts for weeks on end, facing hundreds of strangers on their own front porches? Have you stuffed envelopes, worked phone banks, or done the heavy lifting even the smallest rally requires? Have you used your name to open doors for other people, instead of yourself? Have you ever followed, served under, or done the grunt work for anyone without white skin?
Have you personally cleaned bathrooms, set up chairs and tables, then emptied trash, cleaned floors and wiped down counters for activist meetings you attend? Have you built relationships with local businesses, politicians and media companies where you are know as a welcomed activist?
When you do your activist work, do you answer to anyone? Do you discuss, strategize and reach agreements with other people before you take action - or speak on their behalf? When you are working on anti-racism, do you attend meetings alone - or do you need a white friends to go with you? Have you ever attended services at a black church, a synagogue., a temple or a Mosque?
When you have a party, do your friends look like America, or do they look like you? Have you ever babysat children so their parents could attend activist's meetings? Have you ever given your time at the microphone to someone else, instead of speaking for them? Have you ever been the only white face in a crowd of people - in your activism work, your job, or your own home? Have you ever lived in a black or brown community?
Have you ever crossed a picket line?
Do you attend your local school board meetings? Do you attend your city council meetings? Do you participate? Do you attend your city, town or county's planning commission meetings? Have you read your city's General Plan - do you understand it, do you even know what that is? Have you walked into your local police station, introduced yourself and asked for a tour of the station? In other words, have you made yourself known?
Do you vote in every local, state and federal election? Do you serve as a taxi for residents of senior centers or nursing homes to get them to the polls? Do you register voters? Do you attend any political party functions, such as your own local Democrat, Independent or Republican clubs or state or national conventions? Do you know the names and agenda of every local, state and federal official who represents you?
Have you ever run for public office? Have you served your community as an elected official on your school board, city council, planning commission, parks and recreation, water board or other local government agency?
Do you include your children in your work as an activist? Do your children help set up meetings, empty trash cans, help old people, march beside you, watch children, clean up and build relationships of their own?
How well do you know and watch over your own county? Do you know your county's history? Have you personally traveled every neighborhood, rural enclave and backroad to see how people live in your county? Have you ridden the local bus or subway? What do you know about your county's economy, jobs, unemployment rate, incomes, and local tax dollars spent on development? Can you identify corporate welfare when you see it? Do you publicly voice your support for affordable housing? Do you research every project you support?
Do you read your children's history books? Do you fill in the gaps and correct the errors?
Brenna, please tell me; what does activism mean to you?
