If you’re a Black person, you probably know that white people will not make any room for you when you’re walking on the sidewalk, no matter what. In the United States, white supremacy is everywhere, especially the sidewalks. Sure, we’ve focused a lot on decolonizing our minds, but what about decolonizing the pedestrian paths that help us get around our cities?
That’s why instead of bumping into the sides of buildings or being forced into fire hydrants, I’ve decided to decolonize the sidewalk by pushing every white person in my path out of my way and into the street.
I started doing this after a large group of white women who were stopped on the sidewalk wouldn’t move, even after I said “excuse me.”
Why were they standing still in the middle of the sidewalk in an insanely large group? I still don’t know. But instead of squeezing past them like I normally have to, I decided to just push them all into the street.
“Why would you do that?” one of the white women asked. But I was too busy ignoring them and carrying on with my own life to pay them any attention, which actually should have been pretty relatable to them.
This is why I now push every single white person walking in front of me into the street. I no longer even let them decide whether or not they’re going to move for me, because I will move them for me. This is activism!
Many people have told me that what I’m doing is “dangerous,” or “wrong,” but I disagree.
I understand that pushing white people into the street is not the most peaceful way to bring about change, but it is the quickest and most effective.
That’s why I no longer ask politely for white people to make room for me on the sidewalk, and now only move them by force instead. And that’s just a little something that I like to call “doing the work.”
