Jun 8, 2020
2020 is turning out to be a momentous year in more ways than half a dozen! The Black Lives Matter movement took off again in a huge way after the murder of George Floyd. I felt it was something I had to discuss on the podcast. So I turned to a magnificent midlife woman, Kwavi Agbeyegbe, who was an early guest in Season 1, to talk to and teach me about it.
We need to discuss this and white people in particular need to get educated and learn. Kwavi has a unique perspective on the situation. My hope is that this episode will in some small way help that education process. If you find it helpful please share this.
We talk about:
Hoping that major change is finally in the works
Kwavi living in three different countries and how that has affected
her perceptions of racism
Experiencing racism in church in Boston
The Jim Crow laws of racial segregation in the US
Having to use separate water fountains and toilet
facilities
The slave trade and the implications of that
Learning about anti-Black racism in the US
Kwavi embracing her cultural heritage by choosing to use her middle
name
Living in Atlanta, the birthplace of Martin Luther King and civil
rights
Police brutality day to day
Coping with the situation as it is now
Learning from Black women
The need to speak up if you have a platform
Speaking to others who know so as not to make things worse in your
comments
Not discounting color by saying you are color-blind
It’s important to talk about this and cope with being
uncomfortable.
It’s too easy to say you are not racist
White privilege and staying comfortable
Using your whiteness for good
Reading and educating yourself
Not knowing your heritage when your ancestors were slaves
Needing to teach your children information to keep them safe
because they are Black
The assumption that Black kids are always doing something wrong
White flight when Blacks move into a neighborhood
White people fearing they will lose out if Black people get
more
Knowing Kwavi’s boys are perceived differently
Fearing being stopped by the police
Amy Cooper and the Central Park incident
Moving beyond just being seen as Black
The need for protest to make voices heard
The importance of educating yourself if you are White
How Black people always tend to be at the bottom of the racism
pile
The need to focus now on Black lives not all lives
The burden of dealing with these issues every day when you are
Black
Our obligation to speak up
And lots more.
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