black lives matter.
{public post}
hello my loves. dear friends.
greetings from hastings, new zealand. i have been meaning to write for a few days; i’ve been moving house for the past 48 hours.
these are dark times. america is in pain. deep, deep pain. i hope and pray that these pains are growing pains.
racism is a deep wound in america that has never stopped bleeding, and now it is gushing.
i know there is so much work that we – especially white people – have ahead of us to cauterize, to mend, to heal this wound. and as an artist, i am trying really hard to listen, to understand what to do. i’m trying to figure out how i can do things better.
i’m horrified by the murder of george floyd. and breonna taylor. and ahmaud arbery. and and and. and the countless other victims of police violence, and racist violence – of all kinds – in my country. horrified at the way our government is treating black people; at the way our government is dealing with the unrest; at donald trump’s lack of humanity and compassion. at the fact that black lives in america continue not to matter.
i am committed – and my whole team is committed – to helping. i am committed to learning how i – as a white person and musician – can help dismantle racism and the systems built upon it.
i feel that if you’re here on my patreon, chances are you are here to support this cause, and you will help me as we work towards some answers.
in addition to finding good charities to donate to this month (we will), i’m going to slow down my output and spend more time listening as well as elevating the voices of black artists.
starting with the comments here, especially if you have something productive you want to share.
it is easy to be confused. progress will not be a straight line.
god knows i haven’t gotten everything right in the course of my life and my career; not even close.
and sometimes it is good to just slow down and listen, and that is what is needed right now.
………
i’ve been having conversations with everyone on my team all week.
our whole team is committed to doing the work that needs to be done, which includes being active and standing up for our beliefs as well as being introspective and challenging ourselves to be better.
nobody here is afraid to have the hard conversations, and to do the hard and necessary work.
i feel incredibly grateful that my team cares deeply about black lives and doing what’s right.
…….
there is a lot of information circulating all over the internet right now;
i’d like to share these two links:
1.
this post – called “what white people can do for racial justice” – was written in 2017 but is continuously updated.
https://medium.com/equality-includes-you/what-white-people-can-do-for-racial-justice-f2d18b0e0234
……
2.
this is a living google doc called “RECLAIM THE BLOCK” that has a list of donation links:
please look through and, if you’re able, make even a symbolic donation to one or more of these causes. i’m working on finding a good place to send patreon money this month, and i’d also love to take ideas for good causes below in the comments, especially if you work for a local cause that needs our help.
…….
the conversation can continue here in the comments, and there is also a dedicated area of the community forum for discussing all of this; you will see that threads specifically about black lives matter have been posted by people in the community.
the conversation must be ongoing. this is a good place we can start and continue more conversations (and i do feel it’s important to start and hold conversations right now in places that are not facebook):
https://forum.theshadowbox.net/c/anarchy/15
………..
i am here, i am listening, and i am learning.
if you are out there physically protesting: team afp is proud of you.
stay safe.
and if you’re hurting in any way, for any reason, know that i love you.
………..
to be continued.
xx
amanda
