Do ALL lives truly 1matter? What about my BLACK life?

As I reflect on the events that have coined significance to the term “Black Lives Matter”, I grow frustrated at the fact that we even must make a reminder to honor and respect the lives and dignity of those that may be considered a “minority” or darker shade. This phrase would never hold such weight and depth, if there was not a massive cry and need for change in relation to the treatment that many minority groups have endured in both past and current history, especially those within the African American community. We have borne witness to senseless deaths and abuse within this culture at the hands of those who deem themselves “dominant” or “superior”. We have laid to rest many bright and promising souls that have suffered at the hands of injustice, including individuals such as George Floyd, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor, Sean Bell, Trayvon Martin, and so many more. Men and women who are simply doing their best to live amongst the reality of a system that is not in their favor, succumbing to the grips of racism, prejudice, colorblindness, and privilege. Does every human life matter? This was never the question as all lives should be honored and appreciated, hence the confusion as there seems to be an issue when this is in reference to those within the minority classes. However, because of the persistent, senseless, and blatant disregard, desensitization, dishonoring, and mishandling of the lives of black/brown human beings, there must be an emphasis…an edict…a battle cry that chants the importance of BLACK LIVES, recognizing, remembering, revering, and revolutionizing them  amongst our nation and society. Although it may seem that including ALL lives may promote inclusion and entirety, it is actually a subtle and passive aggressive attempt to again diminish and belittle the grave experiences of inhumane bias that many minorities are experiencing on a day-to-day basis.

Reading the Vox article on “All Lives Matter” pierced me in a way that was both familiar and painful. It reminded me of how exhausting it is to constantly explain why my life, why Black lives, matter. It reminded me of how often truth is repackaged into something more palatable for the privileged to digest. “All Lives Matter” might sound compassionate on the surface. However,  in reality, this is a loud, unflinching refusal to confront the specific violence, trauma, and erasure that minorities endure. The article illustrated this best , noting that‘All Lives Matter’ in response to ‘Black Lives Matter’ is essentially a dismissal...a way of diminishing the specific grievances of Black people.

As a black, Caribbean-born  woman in America, I carry this disregard deep within my mind, body, and spirit. As a holistic nurse, I’ve seen this bias in healthcare settings, where my voice as a provider is questioned and where patients of color are consistently treated as afterthoughts. I’ve felt it in conversations where colleagues grow uncomfortable the moment  we acknowledge any form of racism, prejudice, or privilege. I’ve witnessed it in moments of collective tragedy or misfortune against African American individuals where, instead of lamenting, honoring, or signifying  the “black” death, the privilege and avoidant argue questions such as,  “But what about all lives?” Again, not one person has ever said that other lives do not matter. However, let’s think of it like this:  When a house is on fire, does the fire department water the entire neighborhood to subdue the fire that is ablaze or do that respond to the one house that is engulfed in flames? This metaphor is so simple, and yet so profound as it  reveals how the statement “All Lives Matter” can become a convenient escape hatch from accountability…a means to look away from the burning building as it combusts and crumbles to the ground.

The pain rooted in “Black Lives Matter” is historical, spiritual, and generational. It is tied to events of displacement, brutality, and silence. “All Lives Matter”  strips that pain of its specificity and significance, erasing the struggles and triumph that we as minorities have faced for years on end . It conveniently tries to make our present reality universal in a world that has never treated us equally. Vox explains that this phrase is used to “derail conversations about the disproportionate risks that Black Americans face.” This is not awareness…it is dangerous denial. Dangerous when used to justify why a Black man is senselessly shot during a traffic stop on his way home from work. Hazardous when we ignore the disparities in maternal mortality for Black women. Compromising when policy is shaped by the idea that “everyone” has the same access to safety, education, and opportunity when we don’t and never had!  

As a holistic nurse, I am trained to treat the whole person—body, mind, and soul. That means I cannot look at my Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, or Biracial patients and pretend that race doesn’t matter. I see how racism has ravaged their health, strained their mental wellness, and stolen their loved ones in more ways than one. When people say, “I don’t see color” or “All Lives Matter,” they are choosing ignorance over empathy. They are refusing to see what’s right in front of their eyes, and more importantly subscribing to be a part of the issue. The phrase “Black Lives Matter” is not divisive. It  is a declaration of existence and being. It is a cry for justice in a system that has too often met us with indifference and nonchalance. To respond to that with “All Lives Matter” is to ignore the wound, dismiss the bleeding, and silence the scream. As a woman, a healer, and an advocate, I refuse to stand silently by while that happens. Because if I do, I become part of the problem. And I was born to be the solution.

This is a poem/spoken word delivered by a 14-year-old young man named Royce Mann who spoke on the truths of privilege and the dangers of “All Lives Matter”. Listen to his piece, “All Lives Matter, But..” here : https://youtu.be/NzhBdqkO4BY?feature=shared.  There is also a link to the official “Black Lives Matter” website where you continue to learn more, raise awareness, and see ways that you can take action in being apart of something much greater than yourselves! Home - Black Lives Matter