In Honor of Tyre Nichols and Damar Hamlin
Black History should be an everyday celebration, for in spite of the brutality and inequity that has been visited on the enslaved people of African Descent in America . . . “And Still I Rise,” Maya Angelou.
For all black lives lost, we gloriously rejoice in each life saved. As Dr. Martin Luther said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
George Floyd and Tyre Nichols were among the many black lives lost tragically in the last few years but for me saving Damar Hamlin’s life was the best unifying good-news in recent times. In that sacred moment on the football field surrounded by his teammates and millions of spectators watching in person and on live television, it didn’t matter whether Damar Hamlin was a black man, what mattered most was the simple fact that he’s a human being and there was a spontaneous and collective urgency to save his life. As a mother of a young skinny black male in America, Tyre Nichols’s callous murder shattered my heart as did the murder of Trayvone Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray and many other black men who had been robbed of their destiny. But after processing all the hurt, not hatred, I decided to choose love and kindness and a strong belief in humanity, the collective consciousness — that prompted Damar Hamlin’s team to action, to save his life — that we are all in this together . . . not as white or black Americans but as one.
Together as Americans and as global citizens, we must continue to fight hate and all forms of discrimination and violence against humans. We must also continue to fight to protect our climate and the ecosystems that sustain us. “We the People” are responsible for every decision that impacts our livelihood and our environment, from the Global North to the Global South and across indigenous communities around the world. We must continue to educate and agitate for the change that serves and protects the interest of the collective. We are obligated to speak the truth and teach the truth that represents our collective values as human beings and we must resist the propaganda of the few who continue in their quest to divide us by religion, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, geo-demarcation, zip codes etc. We must watch out, call out and interrogate languages and constructs that are concocted to divide and diminish us, especially a racially divisive terminology such as “white or black” people.” We are all people of different origins on planet earth and we should not be reduced to a black, brown and white hue that denies our heritage, identity and values. It is evident that coding was invented to create artificial hierarchy and class stratification to “divide and derank,” as stated and deconstructed by the Pulitzer Prize winner author Isabel Wilkerson in her latest book “Caste: The Origin of our Discontents.” Wilkerson called the phenomenon of race and racism in the American context. “The American Unspoken Cast System” that borrowed from the existing practice of “rated ranking of human value” which uses an array of selective human characteristics and metrics to “devalue, divide and derank” people into artificial hierarchy and groups. Literature like Wilkerson’s shed light and helped to demystify the roots of division and injustice in America especially at this juncture and on the hot debate around CRT, and the argument about what sets of historical facts should be included in academic studies and who gets to make that decision. Again, “We the People” must continue to bear witness to the truth and ensure participation in all discourses and legislative processes that are consequential and impact our lives as individuals and communities at large. This is what gives me hope and hope is where creativity and human ingenuity dwell!
Bukola Shonuga is an independent journalist and a member of New York Foreign Press, NYFP.
