Can I still be a 'minority' if I'm the 'majority'?
With the release of the new 'ethnic' and 'visible minority' data from the 2016 Census a lot of Brown and Black faces were pondering over that question while they sipped on their Starbucks green tea latte as they listened to their favourite podcast on their new Google Home assistant.
(Or maybe it was while they were scarfing down a two-day old piece of pizza as they sprinted to the bus on their way to some kind of precarious employment that paid them a less-than living wage?)
Well, in a White Supremacist society – an environment designed for White people, by White people, and privileges White people – yes, it is possible, and inevitable, that all the non-White, or racialized, faces you see on public transit, are still, and will always be, 'minorities'.
This is not an exercise of 'reverse racism' – which is, for the record, the concept of 'reverse racism' is as real as Donald Trump's hair and his 'unparalleled intellect' – this is stating an uncomfortable real truth. A truth that the fastest growing demographic in this country, Indigenous people, have been fighting against for centuries.
(I also find that stat to be quite misleading, especially considering there is an on-going cultural and physical genocide of Indigenous peoples in Turtle Island).
So what can we do about?
We can fight the system. Protest. Demand change.
But I also want to speak of one small, but impactful thing we can do as the 'major-minority':
Have Black and Brown faces bring White faces to the table to share some of our culture through an art form that we all have a keen interest in.
Music.
Hip-Hop music.
And I just don't mean the Miley Cyrus twerking, Justin Timberlake cornrowing, or Iggy Azalea White-girl booty shaking, hip hop or 'urban' music.
I'm talking about the feeling we get when we listen to our favourite 90s old-school jam. That feeling of hope and satisfaction that racism and oppression don't exist, even for just those 3 minutes and 43 seconds.
That feeling when all the United Colours of Benetton at a party rap along in unison to that new Drake track. Well, in unison until the N-word comes along and White folks must go silent (no, White people, you do not have permission to say it even though Drake is 'only' half-Black and he can say it.)
And this is where AUXGOD brings everyone to the table.
Literally and figuratively.
This brainchild of Michael Rousseau, a Black man, is designed for the people – all people.
"The best part is the game creates conversation," says Rousseau.
Shoot, he's even quoted as saying you can take the game to the cottage. Can have those conversations while you sit in your Muskoka chair in your Birkenstocks.
(Let's be real -- after Get Out was released, not many Black and Brown folks are packing up and going to the cottage, so clearly this game is for everyone.)
And this is the point that White folks need to understand:
We are now the majority, we will be your bosses, we will be the CEOs of companies, but this is not about making White people the ideological minority, it's about being in a space and position that we can share our gifts, talents, creativity, and intellect. Where Rousseau's, and many other Black and Brown entrepreneurs', talent can shine.
It's 2017. Change is here.
Very Nice Thanks For Sharing
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