White Women, Stop Stealing What Doesn’t Belong to You.
During a spiritual/yoga gathering I attended today, a chant was performed. It was apparently used during the Women’s March in Birmingham (and we know how the Women’s March ended up being overtaken by white women instead of being intersectional as it SHOULD have been).
It was “Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me ‘round,
Turn me ‘round, turn me ‘round.
Ain’t gonna let nobody, turn me ‘round.
I’m gonna keep on a-walkin’, keep on a-talkin’,
Marchin’ on to freedom land.”
This chant was used for a very VERY different purpose. To be freed from our spiritual or personal prisons, or something along those lines. I understood the purpose of it, and the intention behind it — we’ve all been stuck inside (literally and figuratively) for months from Covid. This was one of very few meetings of this “Earth Centered Gathering” has had since the pandemic started.
I brought up that this song is a black anthem/spiritual and used during the civil rights movement. When I marched in the circle, I SHOUTED it. I kept in my mind not MY need to be freed of anything, but what I’ve been doing these last few months — fighting for #BlackLivesMatters. Heck, yesterday, I protested with Cell A65 in front of the Hoover Mayor’s house to continue our demands to end police brutality in Hoover, Alabama. I’ve written about this before.
After our chant ended, one of the leaders thanked me for giving her the information about its origins and said to our circle of participants (all of whom were white) what I’d told her, and that it had been “repurposed”.
It still sat with me, feeling not “repurposed” but stolen. Here were a bunch of mostly white women (two men), yoga practitioners, colonizers, privileged people, complaining about how hard it’s been on them. Sure, Covid HAS BEEN HARD on everyone. It’s taken people from us. It’s been difficult to navigate our emotions and lives but there is so much more going on OUT THERE IN THE WORLD BEYOND WHITE PEOPLE AND THEIR PRIVILEGED LITTLE PROBLEMS. Even I have mine, I’m disabled, living barely above the poverty line and with chronic illness — so yeah, even the privileged need to bitch about their issues.
But, for the life of me — was there NO OTHER CHANT you could have used? Especially after I just told you, it doesn’t belong here, in this group of people with not one face of color.
Or am I just being too sensitive? I love my “Yoga friends” but have of late been finding some of the things they say really off-key and not sitting well with me. The lack of support for #BlackLivesMatter REALLY ticks me off, especially since I’ve been so involved, vocal and even gotten arrested — and many then tell me “I didn’t know!” I imagine they don’t actually look at my Facebook much. “Love the Earth and all its People!” — well…um…how about showing up for ALL OF THEM once in a while? I understand needing to protect a business by not getting arrested, nor being seen protesting if it’s going to be controversial. But c’mon now, stop ACTING like colonizers, especially when you’re called out on it.
I don’t really want complain publicly about people I care for but I’ve been talking to them, on social media and in person and it’s going nowhere. I’m writing now because my anger and frustration has overflowed those cups and maybe the Medium audience has some advice. Because I’m all out of ideas.
