Black Lives Matter, and Resources for Allies

Published: June 9, 2020, 4:44 a.m.

b'Greetings adventurers.This week\\u2019s episode sounds a little bit different from our usual globe trotting jackassery, but it\\u2019s very important, and I hope you\\u2019ll stick around to hear what I have to say. Our white, mostly male voices already speak from a place of privilege. Add to that the fact that someone thought it would be a good idea to give us microphones and let us speak to the world over the internet, and our voices are even louder. At this moment, there\\u2019s no better use for that volume than to add our voices to the crowds and help amplify the message that black lives matter. That\\u2019s why we\\u2019re taking a break from vacation plans and pixie dust this week-normally we deal in escapism, but fantasy loses its magic without reality. And the members of the Gold Key Adventurers Society stand with the countless people around the United States of America and around the world who are speaking up to say Enough. This is not the reality I want to live in.\\xa0\\n\\xa0\\nFor me, the last couple weeks have included some hard conversations. It\\u2019s difficult to explain to a 5 and 7 year old why so many people are upset, and angry, and hurting right now, and why black people and brown people have to be careful even taking a walk in their neighborhood, because they could be arrested, or hurt, or even killed just for having the wrong skin.\\xa0 At 5 and 7, hate is still a vague idea, a word they try out on vegetables and bed time, without knowing the full furious power of it. And after all, some of their best friends at school have black or brown skin, and there\\u2019s nobody they\\u2019d rather play kitchen or soccer with. I wish the world worked with the simple wisdom of my children, who look shocked and sad when I explain to them why a crowd of people not that far down the road from our house is yelling in the streets, and tell me how wrong and stupid it is. They tell me that black and brown are just colors, and nothing makes those people worth any less than people with \\u201cpeach\\u201d skin as my daughter says.\\xa0\\n\\xa0\\nUnfortunately, the world isn\\u2019t that simple. Children grow, and somewhere along the path, they become adults, prone to bias, and irrational fears, and sometimes hate. And so I\\u2019ve been trying to educate myself, and examining my life and my part in the state of the world. It\\u2019s one of the hardest things in the world to admit to myself, let alone our dozens of listeners, that in some way I\\u2019m part of the problem. It never dawned on me until recently the difference between not being racist, and being anti-racist, and the importance of being both. After all, from a young age we heard in school how 60 some years ago, Rosa and Martin Luther did a lot of hard work, and now we live in a world where black children and white children can go to the same school and play together and use the same drinking fountains. Somehow, white people got very lazy, and decided that the work that started with the heroes of the Civil Rights movement was enough, that we had fixed those evils and could rest easy. Clearly, that work isn\\u2019t done. And as we all buckle down to do our part, I\\u2019d like to reiterate few tips for fighting these battles that have been shared countless times recently, but bear repeating. Once more for the people in the back, as it were.\\xa0\\n\\xa0\\nFor the love of God, don\\u2019t counter the statement \\u201cBlack Lives Matter\\u201d with \\u201cbut All Lives Matter\\u201d. Nobody said they didn\\u2019t matter, or that white lives matter any less. You can take your pick of your favorite metaphor, whether it\\u2019s the burning house or the broken arm that needs more immediate attention. Yes, all lives do matter. But that\\u2019s only true if black lives matter, and right now they\\u2019re the ones that need the extra help and attention.\\xa0\\n\\xa0\\nPlease, don\\u2019t ask your Black friends to explain current events to you, or to tell you whether or not something is hurtful or helpful or racist. They\\u2019re exhausted from fighting for their lives, and it\\u2019s not their job to educate you. Do the work-there\\u2019s been countless posts all over social media with'