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Sequoia.

10 things i have learned since i met social justice

1/12/2015

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1.     Social Justice is more like a riverbed than anything else.
What hardship it must have been for the earth to carve itself
around the inevitability of people noticing a perpetuating pattern of carelessness? 
You have no choice but to move.  

2.     There is no room for ego.
There is no room for one super hero in a revolution.
There is only room for humility and humans and neither of those
I can own up to by myself.
 
3.     Social Justice starts within.
It created conflict with preconceived notions
of what being an activist meant.
I became a type of rage that wears compassion,
I marched on a relentless, merciless fatigue
and got acquainted with my tears quickly as a sign of progress.

4.     Past protest flyers and movements
scattered on top of social media grave yards
have taught me something. In reality they never left. 
They were just hushed and forced into non-profit rooms.
It never occurred to me the media only covered
systematic oppression as news.
 
5.     When you see oppression super-imposed on familiar faces
resting over coffee cups and classroom discussions, 
the fury comes through the easiest vessel. 
(That is why I have not texted you in a while.
I am not sure how to tell you that I am no longer accepting this as a fad.)

6.     Social Justice is more of a dance than anything else.
It’s a movement, it’s a rhythm that some are born with
while some, like me, had to learn how to move activism,
how to move unity, how to move conflict, how to move forward, period.

7.     I will be met with more elbows and open hands the harder I wield my tongue.
It will be confusing. The more I take up space,
the more people will tell me what they are tired of hearing
they will tell me what the best course of action should be for marginalized human beings. 
Consulting from a place of privilege and telling me to wait for freedom does not make you my friend.

8.     Mass media ain’t sh*t.
I will have to gather my own information and produce my own reality as I live it.
My opinions don’t have to flow to the currents of a media market. 
Neither do I have to succumb to Social Justice as processed goods,
She deserves more than that.

9.     Being comfortable is the ultimate injustice.
Giving myself permission to be uncomfortable is victory.
America is hurting, France is hurting, Mexico is hurting, Pakistan is hurting, Gaza is hurting,
but Nigeria too hurts (and burns) and we say nothing
I give myself permission to acknowledge all hurt and give space for humanity to mourn properly.

10.   Social Justice is growth thrown on the Mississippi
rippling out and confusing the sun to what time it is.
Now I can speak the language of oppression as
systematic sickness not unfortunate historical resentments.
No longer will I wait for a law to take me to freedom,
Justice isn’t carved by the gravel,
it’s painted by the People
That is what makes it social
and that is what makes it human.

Picture
A group of Mount Holyoke Students in Ferguson Missouri after a call to action. Left to Right: Carihanna M., Cheryl O., Dianna T., Melanie W., Gerry Carolina R., Ashira P.

Links to educate

(Please comment below if you have more links of resources I can inform and educate myself with.)  
  • Black Lives Matter 
https://www.facebook.com/BlackLivesMatter?ref=br_tf

  • Freedom U 

https://www.facebook.com/freedomuniversitygeorgia

  • Boko Haram Attacks in Nigeria

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/09/boko-haram-deadliest-massacre-baga-nigeria
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    Author

    Tayllor Johnson currently resides in New York City where she has begun her journey into Poet. Passion. Period. In between those learning moments, she sometimes has just enough time to jot a few lines... 

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