I am sick of Black people being treated unjustly, unfairly. I am sick of structural racism. I am sick of food deserts. This is just mentioning a few of the many obstacles faced particularly by Black people simply trying to live life in the United States. When George Floyd was murdered by a white police officer over 4 years ago, I imagine the whole nation felt bad, felt sickened, and grieved.
Change can be very slow, as Black people well know. As an act of care, allyship, and an attempt to get people in power to consult with people who have been working in the field of racial justice for years, I decided to hunger strike for three days. The reason I chose a hunger strike is that Black people experience a lot of pain in their bodies, the trauma of hundreds of years of oppression. A hunger strike is kind of a visceral empathy with Black people.
The experience itself was remarkable. I ate nothing for three days, and drank water, black coffee, and black tea. I used mindfulness throughout the hunger strike. There was a lot of abdominal discomfort, weakness in the limbs, moments of joy, moments of peacefulness, moments of deep knowing. When I brought my attention away from the abdominal discomfort to the limbs, I felt relief, relaxation, and pleasantness. At times, I felt as though there were cobwebs in my muscles. When three days were complete, I had water with apple cider vinegar, vegetable broth, and a smoothie with soy milk, mango non-dairy ice cream, and a banana. It was delicious.
The three days ended, but our work, it keeps going.