Today we wanted to take a pause in this space. We’re living through a moment in time that is by turns powerful and horrifying. And what we have witnessed last week with the murder of #GeorgeFloyd by a white cop in a public space is seeing our nations horror writ large. This comes on the heels of the murder of #BreonnaTaylor who was shot dead in her house, and #AhmaudArbery who was murdered by white men as he jogged. But these are not isolated incidents. These are not even part of a string of events that have happened since cellphone cameras became common. This is the core of America. How we were founded. How our nation was built. What we have long believed in the deepest parts of our national soul. This IS America. A country built on the labor of enslaved people, and the rape and torture of black bodies.
What is spilling into the streets right now isn’t a few weeks or a few years of pain, it’s generations of terror perpetrated by white Americans. But what we have seen on our streets, from our peaceful protesters this week is also America. And that strength in the face of pain, that fight for justice, THAT is the best of us.
Right now, it is incumbent upon us to LISTEN. Deeply listen. Think. Question. And if you have questions, ask them of the right people (do not lay that on the doorsteps of Black folx or POC that are dealing with layers of trauma and grief right now.)
To the Black womxn and womxn of color in our audience, we see you, we stand with you, and we are here to do what we can to support you. (Contact us if there is any way we can support you, or hit us in our Instagram DM’s.)
APW as a brand has long been committed to diversity, inclusion, and representation, both in our publication and on our staff. We’re imperfect, we fuck it up, and then we get back out there and try again, knowing we are guaranteed to keep making mistakes, but it is our job to keep trying. Moving forward, we’ll be recommitting ourselves to that work, again and again. We hope that those of you not directly impacted by this trauma and grief do the same.
We will be pausing and holding space here for a moment, before we move forward. Together.
XO
Meg & The APW Team
A Note on Instagram: We’ll be participating in Alishia McCullough‘s “Amplifying Melanated Voices Challenge” on Instagram this week (June 1-7) and we’ll be taking a step back from the mic to listen to BIPOC voices and to repost and share BIPOC content and stories from June 1-7. In the meantime, we’re keeping up with Ericka Hart, M.Ed., Leesa Renée, Kendriana Speaks, Rachel Cargle, The Conscious Kid, Encouraging Dietitian, Britt Hawthorne, Naomi O’Brien, Splendid Rain Co., and Ogorchukwu on Instagram and you should follow along too.
Where to donate: George Floyd Memorial Fund, Black Lives Matter, ACLU, NAACP, The National Bail Fund Network, Reclaim the Block, Color of Change
