Some inspiration for you: Beyoncé’s Surprise New Song “Black Parade” is the Revolution Anthem we need Right Now.

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I am not White. I am not Black. I am not even a Person of Color really.

Because in my country, brown is the “regular” skin color, and all “others” are colored: White, Black, very White, very Black, too White, too Black, also Reddish-Pink (send a White person to India in May, and you’ll see color!).

We ourselves come in various shades of brown, but we don’t say that, well, because that’s our “natural skin,” so we never think about it.

I’ve traveled to the United States, I have family there, and I work for a lovely American indie organization Elephant Journal, but I am not American—not by birth, nor by residence.

Then why am I so enraged by the never-ending political and social injustices in the United States? Why am I protesting for Black Lives Matter, 9,000 miles away, in a country which itself is riddled with casteism (our form of racism) and layers of generational social injustices?

“There is one race, the human race.” ~ Jane Elliott

That’s why. The fallacy that there are multiple races has created a human rights crisis in most countries in the world. And it is every human’s responsibility to be a part of the solution. That’s why.

The first step toward solving a problem is to accept it. The second is to self-educate.

See it. Know it. Learn it. Ask more. Ask how I can help. 

I hadn’t heard the word Juneteenth until last week’s furore over Trump’s proposed rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I could’ve ignored it, since “How does it affect me in any way whatsoever?” or I could educate myself. And that I did.

I read; I saw documentaries; I listened to leaders, past and present; and I watched videos of Black people singing and dancing in Juneteenth celebrations.

“Everybody, everybody should celebrate the end of slavery and the beginning of freedom for Black people and the long march toward America’s founding ideals.” ~ Dulcé Sloan

My favorite tutorial on Juneteenth is by Dulcé Sloan—no guilt, no blame, just education with a bit of fun.

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