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Our Current Narratives and Institutions Fuel Black Disposability — Addressing Anti-blackness is the Way Out

On the heels of Ahmaud Aubrey’s and Breonna Taylors’ deaths, and right before George Floyd, Christian Cooper and an outpour of protests across our nation, I had the opportunity to moderate a conversation about racism in America with historian and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Ibram X. Kendi.

The irony does not escape me.

Kendi notes that it “is just devastating to know that on the one hand, we are being disproportionately infected and killed by the coronavirus, and that on the other hand, we’re disproportionately infected and killed by the virus of racism.”

Amid a pandemic that has claimed the lives of over 21,000 Black people, at a rate nearly two times greater than would be expected based on their share of the population, the events of the past week have exposed the many ways in which Black people are seen as a threat to white Americans, and are policed to keep us in a place of servitude and control. There is little question that the police are a tool used to keep Black power and people in check.

Read and share Anne’s full piece on Medium.

Philadelphia, PA, USA – April 30, 2015; Scenes from the rally and march attracting over a thousand in Center City Philadelphia, PA, in support of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. (photo by Bastiaan Slabbers)

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