Hi sweet friends. I wanted to share a post on what Marlowe eats— but with everything going on in the US right now, I thought it might be a good idea to first touch on the issue of racism a bit. Because well, I have these thoughts that swirl in my head often—and go far deeper than the issues just being focused on right now. But now is maybe the best time to address them? Well, any day before this would have been a great day too… but better late than never.
I have mixed emotions on the protests right now. On one hand, it’s always a good idea to stand up for what is wrong– and racism is undeniably wrong and should be stood up against. On the other hand, I don’t know enough about the involvement Soros has in this protesting process and violence spreading. And I don’t know if I’ll ever fully know. So my thoughts thus far are simple: violence and crime are bad (on all fronts). And truly standing up for justice and living a life your preach: good. There are a million other layers, but that’s the super-simplified round up about what’s been taking place over the last week or two.
Did I come on here to just share that?
Of course not.
I wanted to come on here and say that racism goes much, much deeper than people of color experiencing police brutality, poorer medical / health care than whites, and your random small-minded racist encounter on the street. These things are of course terrible and should not be lightly dismissed, but I’ll assume that no one here reading this is lending a hand to those issues. But unfortunately, much of us, whether we know it or not (or like it or not) is lending a hand to systemic racism every day.
I’ve touched on this often, but our purchases matter. Everything from the clothing we buy, the food we eat, the furniture we’re sitting on, the toys we supply our kids, and more…. every purchase we make places a vote for the kind of world we want to live in.
The fact is you’re not going to see a lot of white children or white people in general, working dangerous factory “jobs” or growing up on modern-day slave farming plantations. You’re just not. But for thousands (if not more) people of color, this is the norm. They’re born and trapped into a system. And they and their future families will continue in this cycle for as long as we support these companies and practices.
We have to hold ourselves accountable each and every day for each and every purchase that we make and the practice that each purchase supports. Does it become exhausting to tediously figure out which company is the best to support? Absolutely– it’s a mess in my head trying to navigate the modern corrupt world. And is it a privilege to even be able to debate a purchase? Of course, it is. And I know it. And that’s why it matters. I’m not perfect, but I like to think that I do my best each day to try to break a broken system (that was intentionally created to exist the way it does btw) and consciously exist in a world that lends to reshaping the world we all deserve to live in.
How many black children were involved in the process of creating one Hersey chocolate bar? How many children were robbed of the experience of going to school to grow processed sugar to fill up junky sodas and garbage “foods”? How many children will grow up with health conditions leaving their families in debt due to the toxic chemicals sprayed on or near the location they live in? How many children were injured in the factory that made the new shirt that went on sale this week?
I hate to be the one to say it, and I know a lot of people won’t like this statement but: how many people posted a black square on Instagram because they felt like they had to? Like if they didn’t speak up they would be put down? Or they posted a black square because they’re friends, family, or the people they follow were doing it? Or how many people genuinely thought they were helping by posting a black square on Instagram, but their daily actions don’t actually support real action to change our current broken and racist system?
Again, I’m not saying people shouldn’t speak up about injustice. People absolutely, 100% should. This is part of how change happens. But much more needs to be done to truly fight the injustice taking place in the world. But nothing will truly change on a global scale unless we each take accountability each and every day for our very own actions. Even the actions that no one else will see make a difference. These small actions, unpublished and unshared, are often the ones that matter most. If we don’t like how unjust the world is to people of color, then we must truly change what we view as important in our society and how we live our own daily lives… even down to each mindful minute and action.
Even if you’re reading this then I’ll assume you have some level of privilege in the world. And that you too can create change, if you want to. Our food system is broken, our health care system is broken, our consumeristic capitalist system is broken. Dive deeper, learn more, and shift. These things, these unjust systems can only change by changing ourselves.
Heal yourself, heal the world.
I love you guys. Truly. Let’s all be compassionate to the fullest capacity in all the ways.
Ps. I know I haven’t touched much on my own personal experience over the last few months. It hasn’t been intentional. I can’t imagine the mess the U.S. is right now. I’m grateful each day to be here, away from the madness. And I think it’s really special to be in a place where each day I will walk by at least one black man freely, without a problem, carrying a machete in hand. It feels good.
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