To anyone else, it may have appeared as though she were merely lying on her bed but inside, her head was a TV, playing and replaying visions of what she longed to forget.
She was scared, frightened of all the things going wrong. Her gaze followed the droplets of water cascading from the confident sky, which seemed to sneer at her uncertain and erratic thoughts. Emotions battled in her mind, the anxiety of knowing that she might never experience equal rights as other people, but the feeling of happiness that the community is finally doing something to address it, anger that the people are using violence as a way to get justice, and tears from the hardships her father had suffered. Is suffering through.

Scrolling through social media, she saw the protests, the riots, people destroying the police stations, and posters of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement: a protest occurring for police brutality against black people. A distraction, this was not. It just made her emotions boil even more. On the television, the news channel was flooded with videos of how George Floyd was killed. Phones out recording, but not a single person dared to challenge the officers committing murder. She switched it off with a look of disgust, her head, a storm of thoughts, which threatened to wreck her. What should have been a feeling of being honoured and proud, was instead a deep-rooted fear that began to settle into the depths of her heart. Violence is not justice. It is not the solution. Scars from years of hurt do not just fade away from a month of trending hashtags.

Her dad, the only black person in his team, was belittled countless times. His skills, his words, and his actions disregarded. Dismissed. Not Important. An accident had occurred and the company’s reputation was slowly crumbling. Someone had to take the blame and before we knew it, my dad was fired. A letter of dismissal had come through the post and nothing else was said to him in person. Perhaps in the wider scheme of things firing her dad was a task crossed off a to-do list but it cost us our home. Our livelihood. Only years later were we finally able to have a stable financial income, enough to feed us, clothe us, and provide for our education.

Her fear manifested through thoughts of the imminent, hazy future. People will eventually go back to their old ways but when the hype begins to die down, that’s where your true intentions will be tested. Supporting the cause is not about a single period of attending protests and sharing content. Racism is taught. People will not stop being racist just because ‘it’s the right thing to do’. It’s about making a stance against colour-based discrimination, a part of your being. A part of your day to day, where you are conscious of your actions and words. Where you are willing to respectfully point out that a friend, family member, coworker is making a racist remark. Where it is no longer acceptable to remain silent and just ‘let it be’. It’s up to the non-black communities to implement that change in the end, for allowing it to have reached this point.

‘Who’s that?’ The words echoed inside her mind. The sixty-second video explained what happened to Anne Frank and how she endured living in a cramped space for so long without once complaining. Intrigued, she googled about Anne frank and read all about her story, amazed at the amount of perseverance and endurance she had. How she didn’t complain once, throughout her life of living in hiding. Although Anne Frank did not complain she did need something for her to let all her emotions out and all her thoughts and feelings. On Anne’s 13th birthday she was given a journal where she wrote everything. Jemila read all about Anne Frank, inspired by her amazing story. She read the book that was published on

her and decided, the next day she would start posting about Black Lives Matter and Holocaust Memorial Day, she would talk about her inspiration, Anne frank. After finishing her project on Anne Frank and being thoroughly inspired and amazed, she went to sleep and woke up energised and happy the next day. Whipping out her phone she quickly got dressed and filmed herself talking all about Black Lives Matter and Holocaust Memorial Day.

Over that day she filmed skits and videos, poems and dramas and the views started coming in fast, many people loved her content and it was almost like she got famous overnight. She told her story on racism, how it affected her family, and how it affected her. She talked about all the nights she fell asleep crying and all her emotions. Social Media became her diary and she decided, from that day forward she used her negative emotions positively to talk freely and influence other people to stand up for themselves and to persevere through anything. Just like how the story of Anne Frank influenced Jemila. Over a week Jemila became viral, people praising her for inspiring them. She was in the news and she would give out valuable advice over online interviews, however, the one thing Jemila would always say in an interview is a quote that she lived by,

“Despite all this, I still believe that man; deep down in his heart is good.” –Anne Frank

By RINAAZ, 12

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