How can one support those discriminated against in Fresno? Simply, take action now

At 13, I remember reading Elie Wiesel’s “Night” and thinking, if I were alive then, I would have done something to stop the Germans from murdering Jewish people. I was young and naive, but I believed wholeheartedly I would’ve found the moral courage to act.

When I learned about white peoples’ attempted genocide of indigenous peoples and the wholesale theft of indigenous land, again, I said, “if I were alive then....”

Every time I was exposed to horrific human rights violations, I said, “if I were alive then...”

Indian boarding schools, if I were alive then…

Slavery and Jim Crow, if I were alive then…

Japanese internment camps, if I were alive then…

We’ve all been there. For some it was a book; for others a movie; for far too many it was an experience. It shook us so deeply that we believed we could stop the injustice, or at least we’d fight like hell.

K-12 textbooks are filled with horrendous civil and human rights violations. We’re exposed to atrocities but rarely taught how to take action. As a kid, I certainly didn’t know what I would have done, but I believed I was the kind of person who would take action.

To this day, when I see old photos, watch documentaries, read articles or listen to podcasts telling of the abhorrent history of state-sanctioned violence against Black, indigenous, Latinx, Muslim, LGBTQI+ or any marginalized people, I always say, “I would have done something.”

But would I really?

The short answer is yes.

I’ve dedicated my adult life to organizing alongside my Black, brown, Southeast Asian, and Muslim sisters and brothers and white allies to advance racial equity. I taught my children to love their Blackness, to have Chicanx pride and to speak out, rise up, and work to advance racial justice. I work alongside my Fresno State students to apply our classroom learning to our communities to advance racial equity. I work with educators to help them transform classrooms into organizing spaces that foster an ethic of caring, critical thinking, creativity, leadership, and a commitment to justice.

I work with researchers to help them redesign studies from an extractive transactional model to a participatory action model — research centered on and led by people directly impacted by systemic injustices and who know good and well what needs changing and how to do it. Well-meaning outsiders must learn to listen and follow.

I’m thankful that my actions today, mirror my past thoughts, words, and core values.

Can you say the same?

What are you doing to re-imagine and transform public safety? What are you doing to re-imagine and transform schools, religious institutions, health care, and the political and economic systems that by design destroy lives, pollute the environment, and deny human rights and dignity?

▪ Are you marching in protests led by Black activists demanding justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and the literal countless Black people who have been harassed, assaulted, or murdered by the police?

▪ Do you know the names and stories of the Black and brown people in your community who’ve been assaulted or murdered by the police?

▪ Are you calling your mayor and police chief and demanding they develop astrategy to identify and terminate racist, abusive, and toxic police officers?

▪ Are you calling your non-Black friends and family members and having intentional conversations to explain what’s going on and activate them?

▪ Are you calling your clergy and asking them to take a public stance against state-sanctioned racial violence and urging them to preach about the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and all forms of state-sanctioned violence against Black lives?

▪ Are you using your platform to amplify the voices of Black activists?

▪ Are you doing all of the above? More?

Look, whatever you’re doing now is exactly what you would have done then, so please, stop saying, “if I were alive then…,” and start taking action now.

We need you. Start with the list above and when you’re done, do more. It will take all of us and all of these actions plus a whole lot more to dismantle the racist systems that allow police officers to murder Black lives and the entire criminal justice system to turn a blind eye.

Today, and every day moving forward must be the day that you live into, “if I were alive then…” But, the very crucial difference now is that you’re alive, and right now it actually means something.

Here is another way to help: Take part in the “Weekend of Giving” campaign to personally support Black youth racial justice advocates in Fresno. To donate, go to: https://bit.ly/Give4RacialJustice.