“I’m rooting for everybody Black.” 
—Issa Rae, writer and actress, at the 2017 Emmys

I grew up in a historic, all-Black freedom town founded in the 1800s by, and for, free Black people. Every mayor in its history has been Black, and the town has had its own police and fire departments for as long as I can remember. My great-grandfather, Stenson Thomas, was sheriff in the 1940s and 50s. When Black neighborhoods around us were threatened by the Klan, Eatonville was never harmed. So I grew up witnessing Black people who were free to exercise our own self-determination.

My move to Los Angeles, at the age of twenty-four, popped this bubble! There’s a much different racial dynamic here, which came to head during the formation of Black Lives Matter after the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin. I hadn’t ignored this part of Black life; I had just never lived it. That’s when I began to make the problems of all Black people my problems, and thus understood the deeper need to celebrate and honor all Black people, not just the ones from my hometown.

When Issa Rae was asked who she was excited to support at the ‘17 Emmys, I’m sure the interviewer expected a long-winded answer about the best performances in that year’s television season. But the response, blunt and to the point—“I’m rooting for everybody Black”—received a nervous and surprised laugh from the woman holding the microphone.

Every year since that night, I’ve used that phrase as a shorthand to celebrate other Black individuals. It’s the joy of complementing a young Black person on their stylish outfit, and watching them walk away a little taller. It’s the three Black women hyping me up as I sing at the karaoke bar, fast friends for just a moment as we share in this joy. It’s witnessing a long-lost friend accomplish something they’ve been working on for years, and time has brought you together right now, to celebrate each other.

Anti-Blackness is deeply rooted in our American culture. Celebrating Black people and affirming their accomplishments is a wonderful way to build unity within a disenfranchised group—and doesn’t take away from anyone else’s joy.

Prayer

Spirit of Life and Love, May we find ways to uplift our kin so they may see the light they reflect onto us. Amen.