“If you can see change as an enrichment”
Yesterday was a very special, educational, and oh so important day. Under the movement #sharethemicnownl, the Instagram accounts of white women with a large reach were taken over for 24 hours by beautiful, strong, and successful black women who shared their stories, provided a lot of food for thought, and engaged in live conversations with the owners of the accounts. I am very happy and grateful that I could participate in this movement and hand over my platform to actress/singer/columnist and sociologist Yootha Wong-Loi-Sing. To be honest: I was quite nervous about these live conversations. Am I going to say something stupid? How will my followers react? Are they open to this?
All day I followed the conversations on other accounts and several times I had tears in my eyes. I too have had my blinders on for too long and not so much looked away, but also did not open my mouth to say anything. In the evening it was our turn with our live session. I have so much respect for the way Yootha spoke: her imagery ensured that, I hope, many people could understand what the core of the problem is. Lack of education is a very big point, which I sincerely hope everyone takes responsibility for by doing their own research, leading to more recognition and acknowledgment of our shared history. Dare to look at how institutional racism may still be present in your work and private environment, but also at a national level and how this is maintained. And the most important thing is: listen. I have noticed that many people immediately go on the defensive and overshadow someone else's experience with their own reality. But if you can see this mechanism and recognize that this is a ‘trigger‘, then I hope we all dare to step beyond that trigger and really listen. Be sincere and be aware of the fact that you may have a blind spot. And that can be confrontational, painful, and even emotional at times, but the only thing we can do to change this is by listening and enriching ourselves. Because this movement must not become a hype. Something must change structurally, and even though these may sometimes seem like too big issues for you as an individual to do much about: the opposite is true. Start with small steps, and if we all enrich ourselves on a micro level, then I sincerely hope we can change the whole country. And I found that one of the most beautiful pieces we discussed yesterday: some will see change as something bad, but if you can see change as an enrichment, then we can start making progress.
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