Black Lives Matter Because

Article by Fofae.co

Hey, I am Matt D’Avella writing this blog to share my thoughts on Black Lives Matter. So last week like much of the world, I decided to take to social media to share my support for Black lives. After two hours of writing and re-writing, and writing some more, trying to find the right words to share how I was feeling, I found the truth that many of us have collectively felt. It’s hard to put the last week into words for many reasons but mostly because my words don’t matter right now. This isn’t my moment to share, it’s my time to listen and to take action. So if I’m being honest, it didn’t feel like there was anything I could possibly say at this moment that would help and I realized that when we spend all this time thinking about what we’re going to say, all this time talking, it’s impossible to actually listen and so that’s what I’ve started to do over the past week. To really step back, to start to listen to so many voices that I haven’t yet heard, so many stories that I haven’t yet seen and it’s really taught me a lot about what it means to change and not just what it means to change our selves but to also change the lives of others.

One of the biggest lessons that I’ve learned about self-growth and what’s become clear over the past week is how it requires so much more than just yourself. We learn from each other.- It’s going to keep happening until something gives and it can’t keep being the people who are the victims that get blamed, we need the people who are in power to be accountable. We rely on books and videos to inspire us. It brings up the question over and over again, what do we really do? Like, how can we really stop this because it’s, it is, it’s exhausting?

Yes, there needs to be something inside of us that stirs us to action but more often than not the seeds of change begin with someone else’s voice. Us, together, collectively, are going to end this. When we fight, we win and with are gonna continue fighting. And that story of growth never ends. It’s probably the one thing that connects everyone in this community here on the Internet more than anything else. That we’re driven to learn, to grow and to improve our lives and the lives of those around us. What’s true of building habits, routines and improving your own productivity is also true for social change. We need to have an open mind. We need to recognize our mistakes and most of all, we need each other. When I took the time to actively listen, to stand with the protestors, to hear the speeches, it opened up my eyes to the hurt and pain that so many Black people in America have faced for their entire lives.

Black culture is inextricably linked to American culture. We listen to music, eat food, wear clothes, watch movies, enjoy art and now it’s time that we listen to the voices. When they say that they’re being discriminated against, when they say that they don’t feel safe in front of police, when they say that they need our help, we need to listen. Now, I’ve felt so many conflicting feelings over the past couple of weeks. I felt so much sadness. Sadness for George Floyd, his family, and the countless others who have succumbed to police brutality and I’ve also felt hopeful. When I see these protests, when I see these statues being torn down which represent centuries of oppression, you start to feel the change that’s about to come. It feels like nothing that I’ve ever experienced in my lifetime. After I made that one simple post on Instagram, I started to hear from many of you in this community. I felt the love and the appreciation for supporting a cause that’s so personal to so many of you. It’s easy to get negative about the reaction on social media. Questioning people’s intentions, wondering if they really care or if they’re just posting for attention but I learned that that doesn’t really matter. Intentions are important but they’re not nearly as important as action and so whether you’re simply making a social media post or you’re getting out and protesting or you’re listening to a podcast or you’re making a donation, all of these things help. And so no matter how big or how small of an action you take, the most important thing is that you’re helping to move things forward. And so I wanted to try to do a little bit of good in this blog and help to raise some money for two amazing charities. One, for Black Americans, and another for Aboriginal Australians and so for every dollar that you donate to these two charities, the charity is linked down below. After you donate, make sure you send a screenshot of that donation to donate@mattdavella.com that way I can keep track of everything and make sure that we’re matching all the way up to $10,000. The top five donations, the five donations that are the most generous I will give a special shout out in my video next week so that would mean a whole lot to me and I hope that gives you that nudge that you need to be super generous during these times.

Donation Link:-

Black Americans — https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_blm_homepage_2019

Aboriginal Australians — https://justice.org.au/donate/

So truthfully, this blog was difficult to make because I don’t like talking about difficult subjects because you guys know I generally like to keep things very light on internet and that’s because I like to keep things light in my own life and so when I sat down to start thinking about what I wanted to say in this blog, I was thinking about those of you in this community that read this blog every week, that have been affected by discrimination and racism and so I’m really talking to you guys. I really want you to know that I’m here for you, I’m in your corner, I’m rooting for you, I’m fighting for you, I’m gonna try to raise as much money as I possibly can for you and I’m listening. So thank you guys so much for reading and I’ll see you next time.

You can read all my blogs on Fofae.co