Torture (unlike abuse which is often spontaneous and unintentional, though still scarring) is pre-meditated and planned out. It is designed to methodically dismantle a person’s identity and humanity, destroying a sense of safety, and diminishing hope for community and connection. By this definition, our country deliberately legislates, legalizes, and exercises leniency for the systematic torture and terror of our black brothers and sisters.
When the very people who are expected and paid to guard and protect, are also in charge of abuse, that in itself is a form of terrorism. Law makers, government officials, judges, police officers, prison guards.
Patrisse Khan-Cullors shared that definition of torture, illuminating what has been designed and prescribed for the black people (particularly the poorest and neediest) of this country.
I will continue learning from the works by Human Rights Activists of Color. Unlearning racism is another layer of my spiritual recovery. I have recently re-read White Fragility and The New Jim Crow, and am nearly finished with my first read of When They Call You A Terrorist, by Patrisse Khan-Cullors. What are you doing to learn more about and support Anti-Racism? Or oppose it?
