By Dawn Blagrove, Emancipate NC Executive Director
When America collectively took to the streets in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd, you stood shoulder to shoulder with Black leaders and proclaimed that NOW you were finally awake and ready to slay the beast of state-sanctioned violence. But in actuality, you were only ready on a case-by-case basis. You only took to the streets when you were visually and intellectually satisfied that the terrorism Black people scream about at the hands of law enforcement was actual and verifiable…to you. You didn’t believe the lived experience of Black people. You failed to trust Black leadership.
Since Trump was elected for a second time in 2025, there has been a lot of hand-wringing and questioning of how this could happen. When Black leaders told you this was going to happen because we know how race works in America, you smiled and hung Black Lives Matter signs in your yard, but internally and among your friends, you lamented the need for Black people to make “everything” about race. While you vocalized that you stood in solidarity, in action, you equivocated because you simply believed that living as if racism was the root of America’s ills felt…unsophisticated. You failed to trust Black leadership.
Emboldened by the reelection of a man unashamed of his ties to white nationalism or his coveting of authoritarianism, closeted racists and bigots stepped into the light, filled with anger and a sense of revenge for ever being forced into the closet to begin with. These people do not live in bubbles. They are your husbands, wives, brothers, parents, and children. When Black leaders told you to have the difficult conversations and change the hearts and minds of the people you love, you agreed. But, silently, you empathize with your racist loved ones because “they are from a different time,” or “they won’t listen.” That permitted you not to do the work to uproot the racism that America is rooted in. You failed to trust Black leadership.
Now, with two white people brutally slaughtered at the hands of state-sanctioned terrorists, you see clearly what the loss of thousands of Black lives could not teach you. But, this America is the SAME America that has always been. Black people have been telling you for centuries that we survived in an authoritarian state. The history of Black people in America is a blueprint for surviving and fighting authoritarianism and state-sanctioned violence. The question that must be asked is…are you ready?
America needs you to go into the belly of the beast, which is your homes, churches, work places, schools, gyms, and garden clubs, and radicalize your people. Saving democracy requires you to listen and report back the harms that are coming. Being a good co-conspirator with freedom requires you to use your power and voice to disrupt racist systems, even when it’s hard. Resistance needs you to stand in your principles, not just when it is comfortable but when it is dangerous, both physically and economically.
Are you ready to believe Black lived experience? Are you ready to learn how to fight back when the powers that be try to erase you? Are you ready to follow Black leaders into the revolution we have been fighting our entire lives? If your internal answer is no, then prepare to watch the empire fall. BUT… if you are ready to follow Black leaders, to listen to our collective battle stories and learn, to admit that racism is at the heart of the decay of America, then together, we can beat back the growing beast of tyranny. We can win. But, to do that, we need white people of conscience to follow. In the words of the Black Baptist preacher, “Will there be one?”