As of the time of writing this, Black History Month will be over in ~27 hours.

Maybe you've been celebrating it every day with a daily fact calendar and spending a little extra at that one Black owned business. Maybe you're sad to see the month come to a close, but happy it's inspired you to redouble your antiracist efforts.

Or maybe, absolutely nothing is going to change for you as of the 1st.

You may think I'm about to get on some moral high horse and lambast you for not paying out reparations to every Black person you know. But no, I'm not.

Of course, if you aren't Black (and ESPECIALLY if you're white) you should have. But I get it. Shit sucks right now. Money's probably tight for you. You or someone you know is probably in some mess and needs all the support they can get. And even if everything is just peachy in your life, it doesn't feel like it. You feel powerless, or useless, or overstimulated, or this looming dread over everything and every moment.

And that's okay.

The things you feel are valid. That disquiet in the air is manufactured. The degradation of everything at once is by design. These things aren't random chance; they are being done to us. There are people who are doing them to us purposely.

And they aren't going to stop because you're overwhelmed or your tired or you don't know how to respond. In fact, they're just going to keep pushing harder. Pity and appeals to morality will not stop them. Appearing respectable or obedient will not stop them. They understand no language other than power.

So I ask you to use what little bit of power you have.

Tomorrow there is a general strike planned. The target is the economy itself. If you have no other power, you at the very least have the tiniest little mote in the form of your money.

Do not buy ANYTHING. Do not eat out. Do not get gas. Any purchase you can hold off on for a day, do it.

This isn't going to change much in the short term. But it is a reminder from us as a collective that we have power. It will not be the last, especially not if the foundation is strong.

Besides that, there are other things you have to give. You have talents. You have time. You have a voice or a platform. Tomorrow is a beautiful day to offer these things to the Black people in your life. Or find some Black people to include in your life, and offer these things to.

If Black History Month is the only time you feel like being charitable to Black people, you missed the point. If you get all of your Black history during the month of February, you missed the point. If you feel hurt or called out by reading this, good. Let that energy drive you to be better.

And most of this stuff is applicable to the Black folks reading too. We can do a little more than put on hotep hats and talk about the new Kendrick. Our ancestors got through some shit, and we will too. But only if we learn from their examples, good and bad. Only if we do this together. All of us, from your uncle with a law degree to your cousin who dropped out.

We have to save us.

So if you want to do something that matters, tomorrow's about the easiest showing solidarity gets.

Do nothing. Buy nothing. Do not comply.