Before all lives matter, black lives need to matter. We cannot just be neutral in this fight for human rights. We cannot just be ‘not racist’, but need to be ‘anti-racist’.

But that sparks the question, how can we be anti-racist? Most of us who are not black have never experienced the fear of not being to do something as simple as going out for a job without having to worry about our lives, including me. We may be sympathetic, but we don’t have the means to be empathetic. These are basic human rights, but in today’s world, it is a privilege.

I created Bedtime Bossing to be a safe space for anyone who deals with mental health problems. And I want to make sure anyone can confide in this space, no matter the gender, skin color, ethnicity or sexuality. But more importantly, I want to talk about what all of us can do as allies to the Black community in our day to day—even things we don’t realize are important. And to do so, I’m going to bring in one of my favorite animes of all time, One Piece.

One Piece has so many important topics strewn throughout it’s story, including political corruption, the perspective of what justice is, and racism. It has a whole arc on Fish-men & Merfolk and discusses the history of discrimination they all faced from humans. I won’t go into too much detail, but long story short, there was a band of Fish-men pirates who they took in a slave human child named Koala. They saved her life and took her back to her hometown but in exchange for her life, their leader was killed. Some of his final words really resonated with me. He talked about the importance of the next generation, of children like Koala who grew up viewing and learning how everyone is equal, in eliminating the discrimination in their society.

The Life Lesson

WE are that next generation. WE are the ones who can spark a radical change. The responsibility lies with us. To spread awareness to the people close to us. To influence others. To teach kids to have the right mindset from the start. To be vigilant and watch the words that come out of our mouths. To be an ally. Because there may come a day when any one of us will need to take action. It could be as simple as voting for a beneficial change in our political leadership, to standing up for someone being thrown racist, degrading remarks, to making a split second decision that may ultimately save a life.

These are simple everyday things we all have the responsibility to do. For example, we can practice the words we use. When I was much younger, I used the word ‘gay’ synonymously with ‘lame’ or ‘stupid’. It wasn’t until a peer called me out about it that I realized the importance of choosing my words. Why did I do it in the first place? It wasn’t because I was homophobic or anything, but because other people did it. We can be so easily influenced by those around us, but that’s not always a bad thing. That means that we all have the power to influence others on what conversations we should be having and the repercussions our words and actions, or sometimes lack of action, may have on the Black community.

We can all start with ourselves. We can practice being anti-racist by identifying the ways that we and the people around us are being covertly racist. We can call out our friends, families and peers for acting or speaking in ways that, even if with good intentions, are coming off negatively. The obvious easy one is, don’t use derogatory words about black people, even if it’s just as societal slang with friends. There’s also racial profiling, stereotyping and even racist jokes. Racist jokes may have zero bad intentions behind them, but said to people who may be ignorant or naïve will give off the impression that racism is okay. And that’s not okay.

In One Piece, Koala grows up and joins the revolutionary army that aims to topple the World Government. I’m still looking forward to the chapter when Jimbe finally meets Koala again.(IYKYK) Though most of us probably won’t be joining an army to topple any governments, we can still do our part to fight for what’s right, and that starts with ourselves and our words.