12 June 2020.

Beginning in Cal Anderson Park and descending upon Madison Park in Seattle, participants of the walk made clear their desires for the future.

My mission was to listen, learn, and to visually share some messages with you. You can view those messages below.

I’m also wrote some words about an unexpected but powerful moment that I shared with strangers if you care to read on.

As the chants of “one team, one voice, one message” began to quiet and the music began to fade, I made my way across the street from the park, onto the patio at Bamboo Thai when I had the privilege to be shocked.

A white woman exited the group at the park and appeared about two feet from our table. Like a lightning bolt, another white woman quickly closed the gap between them on the sidewalk, visibly upset. We, on the patio, soon learned that the former party had approached a crowd of gatherers, mocked them, falsely accused them of graffitiing her neighborhood, hurled racial slurs, and was now being confronted for those actions by a stranger.

The accused woman had no problem owning these accusations as fact and I was left in shock. Reflecting now, I had the privilege of being shocked. I’ve had the privilege of living my life spared from being the object of assault by those like her simply because of how I appear.

When confronted, she doubled down and threatened to call the police on the peaceful group, the handful of people on the patio fired back (in varying extremes) that this event needed NO intervention from law enforcement and if her goal was to create disorder, that behavior was unwelcome.

The intolerance to this stranger’s aggression was heartening, yet I’m left wondering if the patio collective would have been as forceful in intervention if this incident had taken place even just one month ago in 2020.

• • •

I imagine I will think of this scenario often when I think about the calls to action of this summer.

Today the crowd gathered to insist extrajudicial killings of BIPOC people end now. The indefinite work of tomorrow is to not let the smaller yet still dangerous demonstrations of abuse go unchecked.

On this long road ahead, I think dismantling racist systems will, in large part, be the work of white people checking one another. As a millennial in this unique position to view the contrast between my parents’ generation and the Tik Tok generation, I can observe the heartening abandonment of silence when atrocities against human rights occur.

I’m borrowing some words from Seattle’s Jason Beverly talking to the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog about the day’s walk who says,

“It’s very important that if you say ‘black lives matter’ that action follows. White, affluent people are absolutely in a position where they can step up. You can talk to equity boards in your company, you can ask for funds or donations, you can step up for the African American communities. There hasn’t been that response yet. Action, action, action. We need action. Step into your companies and make action. Step into your communities and take action. Have those hard conversations and stand up for your morals.”

• • •

There should be no institution, no neighborhood, no restaurant patio on earth where hate should be insulated in the shadows because we aren’t practiced in being allies. Posting can be a start but if that’s where it ends, then it’s just performative allyship. That is why streets are still full of people and that social media feeds are buzzing with resources to get educated about experiences that do not look like your own. I keep learning about new places I need to use my voice because my good intentions are just not good enough.