“For those of you who are tire of hearing about racism, imagine how much more tired we are constantly experiencing it.”-Barbara Smith, an American lesbian feminist and socialist who has played a significant role in building and sustaining Black Feminism in the United States.

Extension of a beautiful dialogue on facebook about this picture:

Friend: I’ve never been tired of it; I am weary, however, of seeing resurgences and denials of it, in which I believe I am joining you?

Me: resurgence and denial by whom?

Friend: resurgences in society/the media, and the denial by anyone who tries to say we don’t need to keep talking about it and working it out.

Me: Agreed. I appreciate your support all of the time! Thank you. Your comment reminds me of a conversation I had last week with a friend and white ally. She mentioned her personal experience of calling people out on racism when she encounters it, yet realized the limitations of that action alone. She said that people often get angry with her and deny it, but that she feels compelled to do so despite the fact. We talked about how racism is deeply rooted in structures of power beyond simply calling people on their shit. It’s no secret that racism is structural and needs its ass kicked in that fashion. She also made a great point suggesting to white allies not worrying so much about being ‘good allies’ or coming to terms with white privilege, but in its place looking around to see all of the ways racism is a burden on our society and how they can directly do something to change those things. And that in order to fight to win against racism we must work collectively to change racist ideologies and practices deeply rooted in the fabric of the US. For example mass incarceration, school closings, drone warfare, deportation, and predatory lenders-allies can directly get involved to work to change these systems.

Read more about the quote here: http://www.theroot.com/articles/history/2013/09/best_black_history_quotes_barbara_smith_on_racism.html?wpisrc=root_more_news