I love the Nive Nulls. The usually keep it pretty light, so I was really happy when Austin decided to address the recent events in McKinney, Texas. He got really personal.

I love that he did several things in this video:

• He acknowledged his privilege as a white person.
• He was able to be reflective about how he might have been less empathetic in the past.
• He expressed outrage about the 15 year-old-girl who was manhandled, handcuffed, and pinned down by the animal of a police officer. “I kept thinking about my daughter.” Yes; Austin. YAAASSSS.
• He encourages others to stop inserting their own feelings into situations and tells them to really listen without being defensive.
• He acknowledges that racism still exists.
• He prays the hearts will be softened and changed.

This is especially instructive for the non-black men (white men in particular) who follow this blog and are married or romantically involved with black women. You have to be willing to acknowledge that these atrocities are happening, and the much of it has less to do with keeping the peace, and more about instilling terror. Our black girls and women are especially vulnerable to slipping through the cracks, because we are largely unacknowledged and unprotected, often seen as much less important than the plight of black men. So…we need you. We need you to see it like Austin saw it. That could be your daughter that policeman slammed to the ground. That could be your daughter cursed at, frightened out of her mind and crying for her mother. That could be your daughter who was handcuffed and pinned to the ground by a cop who thought he had a starring role in Black Hawk Down because he saw a bunch of middle class, nerdy looking black kids just wanting to celebrate the summer with a pool party.

White men, protect your daughters. Stand up for your girlfriends and wives. Be the men we need you to be.