By merely existing, we are resisting
by Bareerah Zafar
My dear siblings of color,
They took another one of us two months ago, left us lying on the cold ground under a tarp, trying to paint us as something we are not.
They believe everyone but us.
They misgender us. They scream “build that wall” and proudly use the n-word. They call us terrorists, then shoot up our mosques and synagogues in acts of terror. They let white supremacists onto our campuses, but they silence students of color. They call us rapists and say we are bringing crime when they are constantly perpetuating violence against us.
They call us lazy, but somehow we are stealing their jobs. They don’t acknowledge that we have to work harder than them to get to where they are, yet we can never be their equal.
When we educate them about the trauma of our people, they act surprised as if they don’t know their own damn history, then they expect us to reopen our wounds just so they can be fake-woke.
They don’t want to be a part of our healing process because they know that means giving up the power that they have held over us ever since they contaminated our land with their presence.
But we, we are strong. We raise our voices above those of our oppressors. We march through the streets even though we risk getting shot. When we are pushed further down, we fight with love and rage.
We fight with love and rage for our land and our water and our ancestors. We fight with love and rage for our history. We fight with love and rage for the victims of the prison industrial complex. We fight with love and rage for Palestine and Syria and Yemen. We fight with love and rage for Trayvon and Michael and Sandra and Stephon and Charlie.
This journey has been traumatic and, at times, hopeless. Activism is draining, and if you take a break from it, you feel as if you are letting your people down. Self-care is not something that comes easily to many of us. So I will let you in on a secret: By merely existing, you are resisting.
Our oppressors do not only want power over us, they want us to disappear. Living and being healthy and thriving while being a person of color is radical. So live and be healthy and thrive and let them know that you are not going anywhere.
Let them know that our journey is one of resilience. In a systematically racist society in which white supremacy is built into the institutions, we exist with love and rage. We are doctors and scientists and philanthropists. We are journalists and artists and businesspeople. In a society that was created for our failure, we are the successful.
To those of you who want to silence us, watch us rise.
With Love and Rage,
Bareerah Zafar
P.S. The term “love and rage” was created by student leader and activist Charlie Landeros, who was killed by Eugene police on Jan. 11. This letter is written in their memory.
Bareerah Zafar is a student at The University of Oregon and writes a monthly column for The Register-Guard.
They took another one of us two months ago, left us lying on the cold ground under a tarp, trying to paint us as something we are not.
They believe everyone but us.
They misgender us. They scream “build that wall” and proudly use the n-word. They call us terrorists, then shoot up our mosques and synagogues in acts of terror. They let white supremacists onto our campuses, but they silence students of color. They call us rapists and say we are bringing crime when they are constantly perpetuating violence against us.
They call us lazy, but somehow we are stealing their jobs. They don’t acknowledge that we have to work harder than them to get to where they are, yet we can never be their equal.
When we educate them about the trauma of our people, they act surprised as if they don’t know their own damn history, then they expect us to reopen our wounds just so they can be fake-woke.
They don’t want to be a part of our healing process because they know that means giving up the power that they have held over us ever since they contaminated our land with their presence.
But we, we are strong. We raise our voices above those of our oppressors. We march through the streets even though we risk getting shot. When we are pushed further down, we fight with love and rage.
We fight with love and rage for our land and our water and our ancestors. We fight with love and rage for our history. We fight with love and rage for the victims of the prison industrial complex. We fight with love and rage for Palestine and Syria and Yemen. We fight with love and rage for Trayvon and Michael and Sandra and Stephon and Charlie.
This journey has been traumatic and, at times, hopeless. Activism is draining, and if you take a break from it, you feel as if you are letting your people down. Self-care is not something that comes easily to many of us. So I will let you in on a secret: By merely existing, you are resisting.
Our oppressors do not only want power over us, they want us to disappear. Living and being healthy and thriving while being a person of color is radical. So live and be healthy and thrive and let them know that you are not going anywhere.
Let them know that our journey is one of resilience. In a systematically racist society in which white supremacy is built into the institutions, we exist with love and rage. We are doctors and scientists and philanthropists. We are journalists and artists and businesspeople. In a society that was created for our failure, we are the successful.
To those of you who want to silence us, watch us rise.
With Love and Rage,
Bareerah Zafar
P.S. The term “love and rage” was created by student leader and activist Charlie Landeros, who was killed by Eugene police on Jan. 11. This letter is written in their memory.
Bareerah Zafar is a student at The University of Oregon and writes a monthly column for The Register-Guard.