What can you no longer accept?

I think about this question a lot. What am I no longer willing to sit by and watch happen? What is totally unacceptable for me at this point in my life?

We are born into a specific set of social identities and that they predispose us to unequal roles from day one

We learn to accept these roles and are taught they are normal through our interactions with parents, teachers, colleagues, peers and other folks that love us.

We learn that power and privilege are organized according to race, class, and gender.

What we consider to be ” normal” is just as much a social construct as what we determine to be “different”

This socialization tells us what is beautiful, what is good, what is evil, what is healthy, what is educated, and even what determines a family

This socialization tells us things like only white people swim or  folks that belong to another religious group are weird or wrong or dangerous.

We are inundated by these unquestioned messages throughout our life. These messages shape what we believe about ourselves and what we believe about each other.

Our culture and institutions have been built to reinforce our divisions and justify our biases and prejudices.

We don’t have to accept this anymore. We can change the things that we no longer can accept.

What does it really mean to make change?

If we do this know that there is a price to be paid when we buck the system or status quo. You might be deemed a trouble maker, considered “mouthy”  or told you are too much. You might get a reputation for not being a team player, or someone that can not follow the rules or hard to manage.

People who go against the grain are considered to be a problem that needs to be fixed or handled. You might be held up as an example.

We are rarely taught how to speak up and interrupt systems that are oppressive and unless you have learned these skills this process may make you feel insecure about standing up and being heard.

But everyday people do it…. they show up , they speak up and they help to break chains of oppression.

What can you no longer accept?
Racism?
Classism?
Heterosexism?
Ablesim?
Sexism?
Religious Oppression?
Disparities in the Justice System?
Disparities in Education?

What do you know that you can not unknow anymore?

Name it. Claim it. Own it. 

Whatever it is that you can no longer accept, I ask that every day you take one step towards liberation.One tiny thing that helps work on that issue. On step towards freeing yourself and freeing others.

Change happens with intention…..one step at a a time.

Let’s go get free y’all