As Diasporic Nigerians, we are constantly confronted with issues of systemic racism, police violence, and sexual violence both at home and abroad. This often throws us in a dilemma of not knowing what issue to address first.
I was still processing the death of George Floyd when I saw what happened to Tina and Uwa in Nigeria, and then Regis Korchinski- Paquet in Toronto. The truth is, none of us have the privilege of selecting our start point anymore because every Black death has a toll on us regardless of where it happened.
While we all react to trauma differently, one thing we definitely agree on is that justice needs to be served and this is why we cannot afford to be silent anymore. As we fight to hold non-Black folks, our leaders, and the police more accountable, we also have various roles we can play in our communities.
I recently stumbled into an instagram post talking about the different roles we all have to play in social change. Community members can also be builders, guides, storytellers, visionaries, healers, first-line responders, disruptors, experimenters, weavers, and caregivers.
At various points in my life, I have been a builder, a guide, and a visionary but I think my role in writing this article is playing the role of a weaver. My purpose for writing this article is to highlight that there’s no one way to support the fight for justice. There’s something for everyone to do and this cycle is flexible. While you shouldn’t feel bad for not being able to attend a protest, you also cannot sit back and sulk about not knowing how else you can help.
As you try to figure out where you are situated on the social change cycle, here are some Nigerian visionaries you can support. Donate to Youth in Diaspora, sign and share the petitions to fight for #justiceforUwa and #justiceforTina, and also sign this petition to raise the official age for consent in Nigeria 11- 18.
Additionally, we are unfortunately still in a health crisis so please also consider raising funds to help Nigerian children during this COVID- 19 pandemic.