For many Americans, “space” means leaving the Earth’s atmosphere and exploring the galaxy. They think of this weekend’s Space X launch. Or going where no…
For many Americans, “space” means leaving the Earth’s atmosphere and exploring the galaxy. They think of this weekend’s Space X launch. Or going where no one has gone before on “Star Trek.”
But the concept of space has a different meaning for African Americans. It’s about finding places in American society — white society — where we are free to just be. Those spaces have been shrinking in recent months. With the flames lit in Minneapolis spreading to other cities after yet another black man’s death, it felt like only an airhole was left.
I am tired. Tired of how routine violence against African Americans at the hands of white people has been and continues to be. Angry as a journalist that this has happened so often that we all know the angles that must be covered, the questions to be asked, the stories to be written. Angrier still that as an African American journalist, I must explain, again and again, how dehumanizing this all is.
And I think: Is doing this kind of job enough? Shouldn’t I be doing something to stop the racism, the violence against us?
For years, my identities as an African American and a journalist have been in sync. Growing up, I was curious (my family would say nosy). I read my hometown newspaper religiously and watched the evening news. I especially loved how journalists used facts to shine a light on the world’s injustices while also telling stories people needed to know to make decisions in their lives. As a teenager, I attended a two-week minority journalism workshop and my career choice was set.
But in recent times, the dissonance between the two parts of me has grown louder.
I woke up Tuesday morning to video of George Floyd, a handcuffed man, struggling for breath while a police officer pressed a knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air. Bystanders captured the video and can be heard increasingly pleading with the officer, Derek Chauvin, and three others to come to his aid.
