I am not a POC, I am a black woman.
My mother was a black woman.
Her mother was a black woman
I AM A BLACK WOMAN!
Ok GG! We get it you are not a POC, you are black. Why is that important? Is that your question? Let’s talk about it ok?
First, POC is an acronym for people of color, as in everybody except white people.
The reason me being black is important to me is because I have been reminded of this fact every day for the last 53 years.
It’s important when I jog down your street
It’s important when I walk in your store
It’s important when I apply for a loan
It’s important when I move into your neighborhood
It’s important when you kill me, because well why didn’t she use her signal light?
It’s important when I hand you money to purchase my items and you put my change on the counter (before Covid-19 was an issue. Black is not a disease)
It’s important when I am next in line to pay for my pedicure and you reach over me to help the white lady behind me (true story)
It’s important when I sit next to you on a plane
It’s important when I wear a hoodie
It’s important when I’m with one of your friends. “Oh let me be nice, ________ knows her”
It’s important when I ask you to follow the law and leash your dog.
It’s important when I walk into a yarn store, because “do they knit?” 🙄
So no I am not a POC or BIPOC because most times they come home alive. I am Black PERIOD.
Stand in the Gap
Sending you love, listening to you, caring about you.
And have always admired you, from all those years ago when you sent me the orange yarn.
Margaret aka Peggy
Thank you for being here 😘
I see you , I hear you, and I respect you. Your knitting posts bring me joy, and this post is helping me open my eyes to see more clearly what you face as a black woman in this world and even in a YARN STORE which should be a safe, welcoming, beautiful place for everyone, not just for people who look white like I do. I’m sorry Thank you.
Thank you for reading
Thank you. Sending love knits and purls, GG.
Lol I’ll take Knits and Purls any day
Good post! I think the Term POC is regrettable because it sounds similar to small pox, chicken pox. Please don’t misunderstand me! The first few times I heard the term I was confused. It’s just a term that makes me cringe when I think of possible connotations. It’s important for us to be aware of the discrimination but I regret something else wasn’t chosen as a term.
Nevertheless I hear YOU!!
Thank you for reading
Thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom. As a white person who has been both directly and indirectly taught “colour blindness”, I have in the last few years been learning how harmful this is to Black people. I still have lots to learn, but I am here, and committed to standing in the gap.
I appreciate
Got it and I stand with you, a black woman!!
🙌🏾
Yes. I see and understand all of this.
✊🏾
Thank you, Gaye. I learned something today.
Thank you for reading
I grew up and taught my children that race, disabilities, sexual preferences should not stand in the way of being someone’s friend. You have opened my eyes to start understanding that is not enough. I am learning that being a black person in this world you are facing so much more. I will continue to learn. The more I learn the more I understand I can make a difference in how I respond.
Thank you
Thank you for reading
YES.
🙌🏾
I sit here in tears after reading your post. I’m ashamed of being a silent white woman because I didn’t want to offend or didn’t know what to say and so I’ve done nothing. I wrongly thought that this is an issue in the US, not Canada but lately my eyes have been forced wide open and my heart is breaking for the horrors and atrocities that are being brought to light. I am going to educate myself and I am going to change and I am going to use my voice and actions. I have so many questions and in my feeble attempts to make a difference I fear I will do the wrong thing or say the wrong thing and unintentionally offend and I don’t want to appear patronizing but I really truly want to be different. Thank you for being who you are and for the things you are sharing. Thank you for helping to open up my eyes and my world.
Ty!
Thank you! I AM A BLACK WOMAN TOO!
🙌🏾
GG, thank you for standing in the gap for so many of us who can’t. Let us all stand in the gap so that we all will live the lives as God planned. Love you GG
Thank you for reading
We love you and bless you, Gaye, for being who you are: a beautiful, strong black woman with a heart and a voice. You help knit us together in solidarity. As the wall starts to crumble, we stand shoulder to shoulder with you in the gap.
Thank you!!
Hi GG. I’ve only just found your blog and online presence through my friend Helen. She recommended Lolabean to me and posted about the valet tray with Birdie Parker. I watched the recent instagram live with you and Adella and haven’t laughed so hard in a long time…especially about the number 3! Thank you for your emotional labor and education. I strive to do the best I can to stand in the gap and support my Black brothers and sister the best I can…but more importantly however you need me to. Sending love from ATX!
Thank you and welcome
Please know that at Yarnatopia we welcome the welcoming. We don’t ask you to check your beliefs, your color, or anything else at the door so long as you do the same for everyone else. It seems to work so far. We laugh, knit, crochet, and rarely, we cry together when someone is hurting. So, if you are ever even close to Oklahoma City, please come see us! We would love to meet you and give you a Yarnatopia welcome. We would offer to keep the light on for you, but we aren’t as rich as Motel 6! 😂
🤣😂 thank you
Thank you for this post. When I joined the knitting/fiber community a year ago I wondered why BIPOC was so widely used. Seemed to me (yes a white woman) that the term lumped a lot of people with some similar but mostly different issues together. BTW for your followers who are trying to learn more about white privilege I am listening to the podcast Scene on Radio, Season 2 “Seeing White”. It is a great way to understand based on history, science (and more) how the US was built as a white country with systemic racial biases and injustices that clearly continue to this day.
Thank you so much for reading and commenting. I appreciate you
Thank you for your beautiful. Insightful post. I can’t understand the hate in this world. And to experience such hate and disrespect in a knitting store is horrible. This should be a place where we all are one, enjoying our love of yarn related things and getting to know one another.
Thank you for reading
Your words give me both joy and intensity – to feel and understand your honesty. Thank you so much for this.
Thank you for reading
I’m glad I read this. Thank you for taking the time and energy to write it.
Thank you for reading
I kept thinking about this. I came back to say that I’ve wondered how those labels? descriptions? felt to the people they are directed to. In my too-white existence there was no one it seemed ok to ask. Maybe it is fine for some and not for others. At any rate, people get to choose their identifier. I feel like I now have a basis for asking an individual. Thank you again.
👍🏾
Thank you! I started seeing the acronym BIPOC in use a couple years ago, especially the knitting world. I thought it lumped together populations that had differing issues. At the same time, I also thought at least the majority-white knitting community was finally giving acknowledgement to crafters who were not white. I so appreciate your willingness to share your thoughts, your experience, and your willingness to educate.
Thank you 🤗 for reading
I just don’t have words…only tears of sadness. All I can say here is a resounding YES, BLACK LIVES MATTER! I have been so angry and hurt that another Black man died at the hands of police…that the Black community still experiences racism at all.
Thank you for your honesty, your heart, and yes, your tears. Just thank you. ❤️
Thank you 🤗 for reading