V's thoughts

State of the World

Y'all, on my personal Instagram I haven't been silent about the issues of racial injustice in America. But it's time for me to speak about it here.

I am no expert on the subject and always turn to people with more expertise. Most of you are young and given the violent act of white supremacy and home grown terrorism that happened in Atlanta (along with other countless acts of violence against minorities in this country) I can't not speak about it here anymore. Only the youth of this country can save it.

I know this is a writing platform. Hell, 99% of my books don't even touch on covid because we don't need any more of that in books than we get in real life.

But despite my real life efforts to support BLM, antiracism groups, checking my own privilege and calling out friends and family for their own unrecognized racism, I need to address it here too.

Here are some of the resources I've used to educate myself:

"How to be an Antiracist" by Ibram X. Kendi

"White Fragility" by Robin Diangelo

"So You Want to Talk about Race" by Ijeoma Oluo

"The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

"The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan

"One Person, No Vote" by Carol Anderson

"We too sing America" by Deep Iyer

"Carry: A memoir of survival on stolen land" by Toni Jensen

"Know my Name" by Chanel Miller

Honestly, the list of books I could add to this is endless.

If you can give- donate to BLM and groups that support Asian victims like go fund me: support the cause against Asian violence.

If you can't donate look for petitions to sign- call your state senators and local politicians and ask what they're doing to support minority groups.

Educate yourself.

Support local small business run by black, Asian and latinX people.

My husband is an immigrant to this country. He's white and speaks perfect English, so he's not a target for the white supremacists. But every time someone strikes up a conversation with us and asks where he's from- I have a moment of panic, will this person accept him, will we get hate spewed in our faces once they realize he's not American?

The other day I was driving down the highway and i watched a black man get pulled over. I was terrified for him. All I could think about is am I going to see this man on the evening news as the next victim of police violence?

This fear is only a small, inconsequential fraction of what my friends who aren't white feel everyday. I know that. And I cannot imagine what it's like living with that fear every day for your own safety.

Know that I stand with you, and that I'm trying my damndest to be an ally.

I love each and every one of you- I don't care about your gender identity, race, ethnicity, where you were born, your sexuality,

All I ask in return is that you love other people the same, work on your own growth and don't be afraid to have the hard, uncomfortable conversations with yourself and those you care about.