February is Black History month. It is a time for learning. If you can learn more about even one individual, you’d be doing yourself a favor. When George Floyd was murdered this past year, I saw it as a “modern day lynching”. It made me want to know more about systemic racism. I read and learned a lot. I opened my head and heart to a concept I was previously quick to refute. I saw pushback by many of my fellow white Americans, they rallied behind the concept of All Lives Matter. I wrote this about it back then:

If you believe that All Lives Matter then you believe that Black Lives Matter. It’s Logic 101, an if-then statement. If you don’t believe that Black Lives Matter then you really don’t believe that All Lives Matter. It’s that simple. I think that as white Americans we confuse and refute this single concept of Black Lives Matter with many other complexities of race and society. But if you keep it simple it may change your heart. Listen to the individual stories of black Americans. In my humble understanding, that is what our fellow humans that are black want from those of us who are white. That is what I have learned this week. This time was different for me.