Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.
James Baldwin (1924-1987) African American activist,
and author of I Am Not Your Negro
“This quote is at the core of who I am in this moment of our history. We must face and acknowledge our history, we must acknowledge our history. The magazine 1619 is eloquent in sharing what happened in 1619 when 20 slaves were brought to this country following the evolution of that time up until now. Besides facing our history we must also face where we are at this moment in time by looking at what it means to be racist and what it means to be antiracist. If we don’t look at it, if we don’t pull back the scale from our eyes and deal with it, nothing will ever change. I know it’s very difficult, painful, and scary. And there are populations out in our United States that don’t want to look at it because it is such a painful subject. But think about black and brown people who deal with this pain every day. We wake up, we go to bed, we wake up, we go to bed with this pain. I feel the time is ripe for us to stare this reality in the face and handle it. Deal with it.”
Ronita Johnson, African American activist,
a convener/facilitator of Becoming Antiracist
and author of Coming to Forgiveness:
A Daughter’s Story Of Race, Rage And Religion
