Five key steps to displacing your whiteness

1. Lean in. Sometimes Afrocentric knowledge hurts, and that's when you need to lean in and open up more, decentralizing whiteness is like debriding centuries old wound that is rotten to the core. You will have to work hard and quickly before sepsis sets in.

2. Old habits die hard.
Decentralizing your whiteness is not a gift to People of Color, Decentralizing your whiteness is NOT a gift to People of Color, therefore we do not owe you our labor or knowledge for free.

3. Stay the course. Do not feel berated or discouraged when those oppressed refuse to help for free. While you may not have directly participated in colonization and slavery you have been born into a world where you continually profit from its systemic inequalities. see step 2 above.

4. Double Down. Knowledge is power, so keep reading keep reflecting on how you have unwittingly contributed to the status quo, keep unlearning and then do the work QUIETLY (do not expect an ally ship cookie), donate, show up when needed and collect your friends when their privilege starts leaking (white tears are a valuable asset that signals they might want to start at step 1. above)  

5. Pass it on. If you learn something new you will be expected to clue in your other white friends and family members (this might be hard, so seek support from your community) never forget that while privilege isn't contagious it does leak and even with your new found knowledge you have not arrived at ally-ship mecca.

*ally-ship mecca is the mythical place where you end up after clocking a set amount of allyship hours, once you are there you are not only absolved of all privileges (while still benefiting from them) but you then become immune to ever being guilty of not being a super ally.

Centering: Black, Indigenous and all Peoples of Color

Creating anything that is centered on the experiences of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) isn't popular and can be problematic as white supremacy has weaved itself into every aspect of our lived and shared experiences. white supremacy demands answers, demands power and center stage, it demands not only that we hate each other but that we hate all the different shades of our heritage and all traces of our his/her story.

As for me, I wont buckle or budge. This revolution might start as a concept, but I will be there every day pounding the pavement, raising my voice in celebration of placing BIPOC in the center: For those of us who's birthright have been snuffed out from existence, for those of us who cant go home, or have no home, for those who have been disowned and disenfranchised.

I wont claim to know all the answers, or even know what all the questions are, but I will keep my money, my voice and my soul where my heart is at all times. I will keep on evolving, loving my comrades and my self. Until there is no strength left to move, no blood left to be spilled and no breath left to voice the struggles of our people.

After all ... I am Maroon.

"I believe we are still so innocent. The species are still so innocent that a person who is apt to be murdered believes that the murderer, just before he puts the final wrench on his throat, will have enough compassion to give him one sweet cup of water."
- Maya Angelou (Rest in Strength)