For Marley K: “People of color are always having to clean up our (white) messes.”

Last week, I watched a netflix special that I can’t find again, called the Assault on the Capitol. About 3/4 of the way through I heard them mention something Marley K has been saying, forever. It was the phrase “People of color are always having to clean up our (white) messes.” and it showed this picture, of African Americans cleaning up the literal mess of the white people who invaded the capitol building carrying confederate flags, threatening the safety of congress, our democracy, and leaving an entitled mess for black people to clean up.

When I read Marley K, I can’t help but notice as I go along my privileged white life, her words popping up in situations I see. More than anyone, reading her has helped me see my white privilege in the world around me, and she calls it out. It can be hard for me to see my own privilege, there’s a ton of white supremacy in the world around me trying to tell me to ignore these things. But then I’ll see something like this, the literal thing she was talking about, and I just can’t be in denial anymore.

So, my gratitude to Marley K. for her constant hard work to educate ignorant white people with truth.