Black Wall Street
| Videos shared by the “way too many” of people being harassed, abused, and killed are flooding our newsfeeds. People, of all backgrounds, flooding our streets because they have had enough, while the Police presence does the same. This is why we need GeboCall. Our society is traumatized. George Floyd called out for help, begging for his life while many people screamed, begging for mercy. Nine-year-old Judeah Reynolds joined in the begging, “He can’t breathe. That’s wrong!” But there wasn’t any mercy, and George Floyd lost his life that day. People are tired. We are hurting. The riots are distracting from the message, but the message remains, Black Lives Matter. I know there are opposing conversations that All Lives Matter, and because that is true, why is it so hard to hear that Black Lives Matter? Our society is constructed to rush, with ease, past our people’s hurts and sweep our pains and history under the proverbial rug. This festering wound has boiled to the top of our society’s skin. We’re experiencing the pus and infection that’s been underlying in our nation since it’s conception. Riots. Our country has a long history of infectious riots and the burning down of communities. Oklahoma’s Black Wall Street comes to mind as today is the anniversary of the destruction of the town. Their doctor’s office and dentists, their schools, and their banks and libraries, more than three hundred businesses, and one thousand homes destroyed. Many people lost their lives. Banks would not honor their previous deposits, and a once-bustling town became desolate. Courts tried to change the zoning so that there was no way to rebuild, but the resilient people rebuilt in only a few years. The consensus was that we wouldn’t talk about it. We would just put a bandaid on this broken leg and tell people to walk it off. It wasn’t until 2018 that Oklahoma agreed to teach this history in schools. That happened to be the year Olivia Hooker died, one of the last survivors of the riot. Through the pain, I believe something beautiful can grow from the ashes of both of these wounds to our society. That will happen by talking and relating to each other and uncovering this pain- layer by layer, getting down to the infection, clearing it, and allowing time to heal and reconstruct. With so many conversations happening, healing is taking place. There is hope here. That standing, some people who want to share their voices feel stifled right now. People need to address the trauma, but not having a safe ear to share their thoughts and feelings is creating more wounds. If you need to speak to someone anonymously and without judgment to hold a container for you to process what you are thinking and feeling, pick up the phone and make a GeboCall. This is how our society heals, speaking our truths, one conversation at a time. You have the microphone. Wishing you The Gift of healing, Tiffany Gonzalez |
