By Tinny Widjaja
Austin American-Statesman
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) Social entrepreneur Tinny Widjaja lays out a step by step plan on how you can create change at a local, national and global level.
Austin
Trending now is a virus of a different kind that brings out old wounds and lays bare new ones. Normally I would react with a namaste quote but not sure why this time it impacted me differently. I do not normally get riled up this much when another black person went down, again. Maybe it is COVID-19 fatigue. Maybe it is my black Asian son who is no longer the cute toddler, and his reality is being magnified. Maybe it is the disappointment that the safe bubble I tried to put him and me in has burst. Maybe it is the sense of betrayal when all I have done up to this point is nothing but putting humanity before color. Maybe it is the guilt that I have not done enough, or maybe I just had enough.
So, I have decided this time no kumbaya and passive-aggressive quote. This turmoil is not about looting or hurting police. It is not about left/right or us/them. It is about right/wrong. It is about wrong action that leads to brutality against a human being. It is wrong action because it causes harm, it violates the rights of others and it runs contrary to how you as a human being want to be treated.
If like me, you ask the “what can I do?” question, here are my answers to you. Quoting my friend Simone Talma Flowers, executive director of Interfaith Action of Central Texas, “Fight like it’s your family affected.” Fight beyond hashtags, protest signs, and fancy buzz words. Your allyship starts with first, informing yourself of all the buzz words you have been hearing, and a good one is “white privilege.” Watch this video by Emmanuel Acho, former University of Texas and NFL football player. Get over being uncomfortable when listening to ideas different than yours, different than the normative you have been used to.
Process with the right intent. Shed all labels and listen to the real issues. If you are not “living” those issues, then read more and speak to people who do. Speak to people who agree and do not agree with you before you make up your mind. Normalize changing your opinion after listening to new information. It does not make you or the next person a hypocrite, an oppressor, a radical. It just means we are human beings who are growing.
And finally, take actions. Do one concrete thing that will contribute to the solution. Ask tough questions and demand concrete actions from your elected officials. Reforming the 18,000 police departments and the criminal justice system starts from the state and local levels. Mayors and county executives whom you elect appoint police chiefs and negotiate with police unions, while district and state attorneys ultimately charge the misconduct. Use your power as a taxpayer, member of the community and citizen of this nation to demand change now.
It is not a choice not to protest because it gives courage and mandate to speak of principles that have been ignored by those who have power to change the status quo. It is not a choice between protesting and voting; we must do both. Quoting my friend Rabbi Neil Blumofe of Congregation Agudas Achim, “When words fail, we resort to physical protest, when physical protest comes up short, we may be lost. The last resort? Defend the ballot box with all of our might.Our flag is there. Keep focused. Give cover to each other and carry the wounded to it, like practiced heroes. Get there and garrison around it, holding the line to protect its accuracy from all comers, as our lives depend on it.”
This upheaval is about doing the right thing. So do it, and do it now.
Tinny Widjaja is a social entrepreneur, community connector, dharma teacher, Chinese tea enthusiast and proud mom who lives in Bee Cave.
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