Showing Up and Getting Curious After That Guilty Verdict
Editor’s Note: In this special editorial for Tails of Connection, our co-founder, Christie Catan, responds to the Derek Chauvin verdict and what she feels it means for our community.
These days, you don’t have to look far to see how hard people work to keep their dogs feeling safe. I’m talking about the bandanas and leash ornaments that read “my dog needs space,” along with the passionate pleas on social media to follow leash laws. On the hiking trail, I’ve watched countless people get enraged when they’re approached by off leash dogs. Then I’ve seen how it turns into a community battle cry as people start echoing how they should be able to walk their dog without fear of being approached by an off leash dog. The underlying sentiment is always the same: Dogs deserve to feel safe. And here is the kicker: we trust our dogs to tell us when they feel safe or unsafe. We believe our dogs.
But what about people? Don’t people deserve to feel safe? Don’t people deserve to be believed? What if they are Black?
Why We Need to Show Up For the Black Members of Our Community
On April 20, Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd. On the exact same day as that conviction, a white cop murdered a 16 year old Black girl (a CHILD) named Ma’Khia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio.
I feel a massive mess of emotions right now, but as a white woman, this simply isn’t a moment where I need to share them. But it absolutely is a moment when I, and other white people, need to show up.
What I do know is that Derek Chauvin's guilty verdict on all three counts is a lot of things and it absolutely matters, but it is not justice. To be honest, I am not even sure it is full accountability given the number of other cops who were also there when Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd. Justice would be George Floyd coming home tonight. Justice would be not using guns at traffic stops. Justice would be placing counselors and social workers instead of cops in schools. Justice would be funding communities rather than the police. Justice would be healthcare for everyone. Justice would be dismantling a system that met Ma’Khia’s call for help with four bullets.
Why It’s Important to Get Curious About the Police and Safety
The most basic thing we all need in life is to feel safe. So when we hear people talking about police keeping us safe, please get curious. Keeping who safe? From what? From whom? What actually makes you feel safe? For me, it's about getting my basic needs met without feeling stress, along with having a sense of belonging. Those things don't come from the police. For George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Breonna Taylor, Philando Castile, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland and so many others, it was the police that they needed protection from.
A guilty verdict for Derek Chauvin doesn’t keep other Black people safe. It didn’t keep Ma’Khia safe.
It shouldn't take this much work for us to convict someone of murder when it happens right in front of our eyes. It shouldn't happen in the first place. A 16 year old child should be helped and loved, not shot. We (white people) need to keep learning, unlearning, and working -- myself included. I will keep doing my own work because that is one of the best ways I can love people. We keep working for justice by pushing for changes that value Black life; not just for accountability after death.
To the Black Members of Our Community: You Matter
Imagine a world where we (white people) fight as hard for Black people to feel safe stopping at traffic lights, running in neighborhoods, or sleeping in bed, as we fight for our dogs to feel safe on walks. That needs to be our world.
“The dog space” is not exempt from the realities of the world we live in. Dogs are cared for by people. And the best way to take care of dogs is to take care of people.
TOC is a community. I don’t see a way to honor the meaning of community without truly seeing people. So while I don’t have big answers or solutions (and frankly, I choose to look to and support leaders from the Black community who are doing this work like Rachel Cargle, Dr. Yaba Blay, Sonya Renee Taylor, Ijeoma Oluo, and Ibram X. Kendi and Black-led organizations like Movement for Black Lives, The Great Unlearn, and The Audre Lorde Project), I do have the ability to control how I show up in my life and for this community. To our Black friends, I see you. Your safety matters. Your joy matters. Your life matters. You matter. I am holding space for you in this moment.
