A (micro)blog about programming, photography, and what not.

June 11, 2020

Black Lives Matter

I’ve been meaning to post something online for weeks now. I’ve made excuses for myself. Excuses like “I don’t have a very big following, nothing I say will make a difference”. But that’s fucking bullshit. Every voice matters.

The last few days have made me realize that I don’t know close to enough about the struggles of minorities. Of course I am well aware of the structural racism in our world. And the shear amount of injustice in our society. I’ve known it in my brain, but not in my heart.

If I ever perpetuate this injustice in any way, please call me out.

I don’t have much to give in terms of money and I don’t live in a place where I can join a protest. But what I can do is highlight the embarrassingly small selection of people and organizations that I know of.

  • Code Cooperative, run and founded by my ex-colleague Alex Qin, is a “community of people who learn, use, and build technology to create life changing possibilities for individuals and communities impacted by incarceration”. They also run an agency, so if you need help with a software project check them out!
  • N.K. Jemisin is one of my latest favorite authors. Her trilogy The Broken Earth which kicks off with The Fifth Season is one of my favorite book series of all time.
  • MKBHD, tech YouTuber-extraordinaire, is well worth a follow if you’re into tech. Everyone who reads my blog is probably already knows of him. But for those who don’t. His recent video Reflecting on the Color of My Skin is a great start if you want to build a better understanding of what it’s like to be black.

And that’s my list. It needs to grow. A lot. I’m going to take this opportunity to seek out creators of other ethnicities and cultures than my own. Recommendations welcome.

There’s not a finite amount of success and happiness in the world. Others getting it better does not mean you get it worse. I’m a firm believer that it’s the complete opposite. The combined happiness of people is more than the sum of its parts. Everyone will be better off if we make the world more just and fair.

I hope we never go back to normal after this. We need a new normal. A normal that treats people with the kindness and respect they deserve for who they are as a person. Not the color of their skin, their gender or their sexual orientation.

All lives will not matter until black lives do.