Billy Flood wants America to be the country it can be, that it wants to be. One of true freedom and equality.
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In thinking about the past year and the holiday season that just ended, I am brought back to the meaning of hope. What it is to have it when all evidence points to the contrary. I’m not going to lie, it has been hard to hold onto it lately. This season has been the dreariest for me because despite all my many blessings, (shelter, food, clothing, employment, friends, family, and reliable transportation) because I had trouble being cheery when black lives don’t matter to the government we people of color pay taxes to in order to serve and protect us.
Is it even logical to smile and bounce down the street when Tamir Rice is dead?
The answer for me is no. Then I think of all the “friends” I discovered were closet racists this year thanks to my posting. Whenever an unarmed black male was murdered by police, I would see posts about, “waiting and seeing all the facts”, um what? So the unfriend button on Facebook and block/mute buttons on Twitter became favorite haunts of mine.
What I want for 2015 is justice, peace and love. For real. Here are my list of demands for you 2015.
1. I want black youth to stop being murdered by the same white men sworn to protect them.
2. I want underserved communities of color to have the same quality schools available to them as white communities.
3. I want healthcare to stop being an issue for the richest country in the world.
4. I want to stop being scared yet angry every time I see a cop.
5. I want Mitch McConnell to remember the man he was when he first went to Washington and abandon the oligarch he has become.
6. I want artists of color to be featured like whites are. An all white movie musical in 2015 I hope sounds as racist and strange to white movie execs as it does to the rest of us. Diversity breeds creativity.
7. I want us all to be nicer. I hope I can be. These demands being met will certainly help that happen 2015!
8. I want women to be equal to men in pay, agency and respect. Let’s work on pay first though.
9. I want white people of conscience to think about white privilege and how they can dismantle it. Either work on dismantling it for real, or put your white hoods on so people of color know who to fight.
10. I demand in 2015 for black lives to finally matter.
Any you would like to add?
#whatIdemandfor2015
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Originally appeared on Billy Flood’s blog