Have you heard of Tim Wise?

Have you heard of Tim Wise? I can understand if you haven't. I am sure there is a group of power brokers out there that are doing whatever they can to keep this man and his message under wraps. Why is that, you ask? Well it could be because he speaks very eloquently and passionately against the injustices Black and brown people face here in America on a daily basis. It could also be that he has facts and numbers, not just guesses and speculations to back up his claims regarding how dis-proportionally skewed the legal system in America is when it comes to Black and brown people, as opposed to white people. Or maybe it's because Tim Wise is a white guy saying these things.

When was the last time you heard a white man speak out on the injustices the people of color face here in America. For me, before it was Tim Wise, it was Morris Dees. Morris is the founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center and he single handedly took on the Klan and the Aryan Brotherhood, he ran them to ground with law suits, criticisms regarding their manhood and intelligence, and he did so relentlessly. Tim Wise, while not chasing down the ignorant groups that preach white supremacy has indeed taken up the torch from Morris.

The first time I hear Tim Wise speak, my jaw hit the floor. It was amazing to hear this man spew undeniable truths and facts about how America treats her Black and brown citizens, using many of the same words I have been using since I was in my teens. I never thought I would be hearing them come out of a body covered in lily white skin. I thought my eyes were deceiving me and found it funny that my ears weren't. I wanted to know more so I read his book Dear White America: Letter to A New Minority and realized this man was legit in what he was saying and preaching to college campuses across the country. He mentioned things in that book that I had not even realized. There were things written in that book that saddened me, disappointed me, and of course pissed me off.

I recommended that book to any and everyone I knew, I felt it was a book that every Black person should read because it was a message for the masses, not just a congregation. Black Preachers have been preaching similar messages/sermons to their congregations for years. Things like accountability, responsibility, and action within the Black community. The message is backed with a spiritual undercurrent, the problem there though is if you aren't a part of that congregation, you don't hear that message/sermon and with me being agnostic, I'm definitely not hearing that message/sermon. Tim is not delivering those types of messages in his lectures or in his books, what he is doing is letting people of color know that there is at least one white person out here that understands, that gets it.

If you've heard of him, great let's talk. If you haven't though, then allow me to make the introduction....