Who All Gon’ Be There?

There is a reason Black people ask “who all gon’ be there?” Our emotional, physical, and psychological safety is never guaranteed; however, there is a shared cultural understanding that if we gon’ be there, it increases our chance for care and protection. Black bodies are not safe in a white world, and there is limited evidence that would disprove this point. 

I feel safe in my body, yet I do not feel safe around groups of white people, and why should I? Historically and globally, whiteness has created conditions for violence, dominance, and control to be the standard. Where these three principles are present, there is no room for curiosity, understanding, and acceptance, which are requirements for safety. In all seriousness, do white people even feel safe around each other? 

On a spiritual and philosophical level, I really wonder if white bodies have ever met true peace? I work hard not to operate in absolutes or generalizations. Yet, I do not see a path that leads to white people ever feeling at home within themselves unless they decide to remove credence from concepts of whiteness. Whiteness creates a sense of homelessness for the soul. It separates and removes ideas of collectivism and replaces them with individualism, a mental shift that essentially determines that I am more important than "we". As a Black woman, I have no concept of individualism because our survival as a group is predicated on honoring and defending the we. 

The story of Nolan Wells, the teenager in Mississippi whose Black body was recovered after he was reported missing from a day trip with a group of what appeared to be all-white peers, rattles my core. The loss of Nolan is sobering. As I write this, we do not know the circumstances that resulted in his death, but we know, if you know what I mean. Nolan's story is not new, nor will it be the last. Nolan, in the moment, represents a question that many ask and struggle to accept its truth. How do we balance hope with reality?

I want to believe that we can move freely and be safe in a world where whiteness dominates our lives. However, I know there is no truth in this belief. We are not safe, and somehow we can not stop this fact from keeping us from living. Although we are not safe, we deserve safety, and until the demand is met, we must continue to provide for each other. We keep ourselves safe. This statement does not negate the fact that Black people have and do cause harm to each other. Yet and still I like my odds betting on black every single time. 

Rest In Power, Nolan and every single Black body this white world took too soon.