Facebook Publication Date: 43541.41875

A community member (name redacted) asked if we could start doing sustained work around activism regarding the criminal justice system. This was my response. Note that my answer encompasses any work we might collectively do here, not just this particular issue.

My response:

“Yes, i would like to have this conversation, but what i am concerned about is that few have shown that they have really developed the muscles to do the kind of painstaking, slogging, no immediate gratification kind of work that it would take.

Which is why we are going to be building those muscles with reliable resilience, really internalizing what commitment means, and delayed gratification.

Again, there is a lot of ‘growing up’ to do. There is nothing worse than what happens almost all the time when white people latch on to a cause–they get tired, they can’t handle the real work it will take, and they don’t feel they get enough strokes or feel good dopamine hits, and they abandon the work altogether, leaving the people whom they say they care about worse off than before.

I will not be party to that. if we are to do real on the ground work, we gotta go the distance.

‘Jane’, we can’t even get you good people to cough up 5 dollars towards *this* work, or consistently read pinned posts, or act and respond non reactively or non defensively, or lay off the hearts and likes when asked–but ya, you respect black women’s direction.

You are talking about embarking on a 50 mile hike, and most of what I have seen shows we aren’t ready for a walk around the rose garden. we gotta course correct that.”

What are your thoughts? I hope I don’t have to remind you about hearts and likes.

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