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Being an ally
Many white people in America are asking how they can be better allies and supporters of black and brown communities. Iesha Sekou, Lorenzo Boyd, and DeRay McKesson gave their take on what whites must do every single day.
NEW YORK - What message does it send when you hear a white person say, "How is this happening? Why does this keep happening?"
Iesha Sekou, an anti-violence activist in Harlem, told FOX 5 NY: "What it says to me is that they don't have a full understanding of how often it is happening."
"It says you haven't been paying attention to what is going on because this is not a new phenomenon," Lorenzo Boyd, a race relations expert at the University of New Haven, said.
And DeRay McKesson, the co-founder of Campaign Zero and a leading voice in the Black Lives Matter movement, answered, "It's about learning the data, it's about believing it and not needing to see somebody die on camera."
Sekou, Boyd, and McKesson gave their take on what whites must do every single day to be better allies and supporters of black and brown communities.
"When you see some sort of injustice, you need to speak up because if you're silent, that looks a lot like being complicit," said Boyd, a former law enforcement officer for 15 years.
And leverage the power of your whiteness.
"Demand that we have better policing, better policies and legislation," Sekou said. "Use your voice, your privilege, your access to people we may not have access to."
Sekou agreed that white people must use their whiteness every day because injustice and inequity happen every day—not just when there's a tragedy that happens.
"And it's, 'Oh, the poor black people, let's show up, I want to be the do-gooder white person and carry the sign, and kneel and lie down," Sekou said. "But that's too late."
White people should reach out to friends, colleagues, and neighbors who are people of color and ask them how they're doing and what you can do. And don't profess to be colorblind because that isn't being honest.
"That message is actually harmful," Boyd said. "To say you don't see color eliminates everything that people are and who they are."
Saying you don't see color is disingenuous.
"You're saying you don't even see the fullness of the culture that I bring," McKesson said. "What you should be saying is, 'I'm anti-racist.'"
And teach your children about the black experience in America so as they grow, they will stand up for justice.
"It shouldn't be a monumental act because it should just be a humane, everyday act," Sekou said. "You're doing it because you know that it's the right thing to do."