Thread by @WhatsYourLife

A little over three months ago, I started questioning what, if anything, I was actually doing about racism. The answer was, "pretty much nothing". And while I may not be doing much more now, I'm trying to get better, a little at a time.

I like to run and changed my running habits this spring to start running every day. The murder of Ahmaud Arbery made me think about my running differently. I read this article: runnersworld.com/runners-storie… and decided that I was too comfortable out here in suburbia. I needed to change

Because I can pass as white (although I identify as Latino and white), no one thinks twice when I run in my suburban neighborhood, or anywhere else for that matter. Why can I do what I love to do wherever and whenever I want but Ahmaud couldn't? That is the tip of the iceberg.

I needed to make myself feel uncomfortable while doing the thing that gives me so much comfort. I now wear a visor or hat with BLM on it whenever I run. Here's my first version. I don't like it because I don't want to attract attention. But neither do Black people when they run.

I get to take the hat off whenever I want to. Black people don't get to do that. They wear their Blackness every minute of every day and I want them to feel the same comfort that I do. My wearing a hat doesn't make their lives better, it just slightly decreases my comfort so...

I committed to donating money to BIPOC causes, one dollar for every mile I ran. Black people talk about the "Black tax", the toll that they pay literally, emotionally, physically because of their color. I committed to pay a running tax.

I want every mile I run to increase the comfort and freedom that Black people feel. I want #IRunWithMaud to mean more than just words. I am putting my money, awareness, and time behind the words. @faithevebee wrote this: runnersworld.com/runners-storie… "Run like you are at risk"

I used to listen to podcasts while running. Now I listen to things that make me think about racism and power. When I post my runs to @Strava, I title them with quotations from something that I heard during a run and share some thoughts along with information about my donations.

I decided that I needed to push myself and put those quotations and thoughts in a more public place. In whatever small way I can, I need to help normalize talk of racism and power. I need to write these things somewhere other than in a digital training log.

So I will post three months of runs, quotations, thoughts, and donations and then keep posting every day I run. I've got some catching up to do but this is what I am committing myself to doing, even though it makes me uncomfortable. Because Black people don't get to choose.

I recognize that "It’s a privilege to be able to choose how you suffer – not everyone has that choice. Some people have their pain forced upon them." (Thanks, @PooleyEmma writing here: cyclingtips.com/2020/08/an-exe…) My discomfort is a far cry from BIPOC suffering. But it's a start.

So all of this is to say that my timeline will now be full of these quotations and thoughts. I don't know that my tweets and thoughts and miles will make any difference. But I do know that the world doesn't need more inaction or ignorance. It's a start. I'm trying to grow.

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