Brands That Love Black Money... Where You At?!

via Instagram

I don't have a lot of words right now, so I'm gonna keep this brief and to the point. In fact, I don't have the desire to do much of anything right now. In the wake of the Black body count that keeps rising at the hands of the overseer "law enforcement", I'm finding it increasingly difficult to have energy. To function. To string together a coherent thought that doesn't bring me to tears.

Last night I prayed. Hard. I prayed for my fiance. My dad. My brother-in-law. My three little nephews. My uncles. Cousins. Friends. I prayed for God's protection over their lives. I prayed for their safety. I normally pray that prayer, because we live in a world rife with violence, theft, assault, robbery, kidnapping, car accidents, etc. But last night, I prayed that prayer fervently because Black men are literally being executed by police officers for simply existing.

Black people all across the country are living in a state of panic induced fear. We're afraid that our significant other, our brother, our father - will be next. Murdered in cold blood without provocation. We're in pain. We're angry. We feel helpless. There's anguish. Hurt. And the most bitter pill we're swallowing is injustice. Because we've seen this play out exactly 136 times since 2016 started. There will be no justice. There will be no conviction.

Because ultimately, Black lives don't matter...but Black dollars do.

And therein lies the rub.

This morning, as I did my #MorningMillennial social media scroll, I noticed something on Instagram. Brands like Carol's Daughter, Devacurl, Cantu, Dark & Lovely, and hell, even Shea Moisture carried on as if two Black men hadn't been murdered in cold blood by police officers in 24 hours.

They posted about products, makeup, Essence Fest recaps, and more.

And I'm tired of it.

Y'all were gung-ho to post about the 4th of July...but now it's July 7th and you're silent.

I don't know about you, but today, more than any day - I need love. I need encouragement. I need support. To have my humanity reaffirmed. To know that people are at least awake (if not woke), and are allies.

I need to know that if I spend my money with you, that you value me beyond your bottom line.

I don't know about you, but I'll be going through my social media with a fine tooth comb. Paying closer attention to who I give my visual currency to. Loving a little harder on Black-owned brands that stand with me.

I'm just one person though.

Your move.

from The Mane Objective http://ift.tt/29qK5p8