Today's movement feels "different," but African Americans know "we have been here before," journalist says
"We have been here before so many times, more that we can remember," said Jimmie Briggs, whose Vanity Fair article, "No, I am not okay: A black journalist addresses his white friends," offers a powerful perspective on this moment in history.
The nationwide protests following George Floyd's death at the hands of police have been unprecedented in scale. Demonstrators marching in cities and towns across the United States for more than two weeks now have demanded that leaders listen to what African American communities have been crying out for years: Black Lives Matter.
Though the message is not new, Briggs believes this moment is unique.
"This does feel different, dare I say that," Briggs said in an interview on CBSN Friday. "I think out of self-preservation, black Americans, we can have hope that this is different, but at the same time, I feel like we have to leave a little bit of reservation just to get through if this isn't the moment for transformation."
Briggs said there is a "desperate hope for black people and people of color across the country" that the movement will finally bring change. He connected it back to the protests that broke out in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014 following the police shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
"I feel like Ferguson laid the roots for what we're seeing now," he said. "I think the Black Lives Matter movement allowed us to reach this place."
He pointed to the growing "global solidarity," particularly across the African diaspora and "other minority and racially disadvantaged communities," and the "allyship" seen in today's protests as factors that stand out.
"I think the participation of white people, young white people in particular, has given life to this moment," he said.
Briggs said it's their participation that has "shown white elders" that the "cause for true racial justice and dismantling of white supremacy is upon us."
However, with that increase in "allyship" comes the awkwardness of navigating uncharted territory.
In his Vanity Fair piece, Briggs wrote an open letter to "well-meaning white people" who have newly taken up the cause of trying to dismantle racist institutions. He asks them: "Where have you been?"
He calls on white people to not only confront themselves but to confront each other on the topics of racism and white privilege from which they benefit.
What he would say to white friends suddenly reaching out to show their support is that the problem is not new. White Americans of "good conscience and faith," as he wrote in his article, need to accept the "burden of work" required to educate themselves.
"As much as I want to help guide you, help educate you," Briggs said, "it is not my responsibility to argue or explain my humanity. It is not my responsibility, nor should it be my obligation to explain the system which has oppressed me, my ancestors and the people who look like me — a system that you and your ancestors created."
And as for white friends who ask "are you okay?" after news that another black person died at the , Briggs said there is no easy answer to that question.
"Sometimes I am ready for the conversation, and sometimes I need my silence and I need my space."