Richa Gangopadhyay Instagram – ⁣ In the past couple weeks, the #BlackLivesMatter movement has opened our eyes to an incredible amount of resources that we can all use to help us support the Black community. While we are slowly starting to make progress, we still have a lot of work to do. ⁣ ⁣ As a privileged person of color living in America, it would be completely unfair to compare any of my experiences to those of the Black community, who have suffered centuries of oppression in innumerable ways. Our Black brothers and sisters are still deprived of basic human rights in 2020; they are continually shoved in unconscionable ways to be treated as inferiors. I cannot even begin to understand the fear and terror of waking up every day as a Black person in the very country that claims to be the “Land of the Free”. ⁣ ⁣ As an NRI and member of the South Asian community living in America, I feel a strong sense of duty to spread awareness, beginning with my own community. I would like to make it part of my mission to help educate our friends and families on Black history, and to unlearn long-standing anti-Black sentiment. Such sentiment has been a result of the unspoken racism within our own culture due to colorism and caste. We must also acknowledge that our immigration to the United States was possible because of the outcomes that came from the efforts of the civil rights movement. The Immigration & Nationality Act of 1965 paved the way for South Asians to embark on achieving the “American Dream” that some of us take for granted today. Today, I am proud to use my platform to be an active part of the collective South Asian community’s support to fight the racial injustice that Black Americans are facing.⁣ ⁣ 👉Please SWIPE for my two cents on how you can bring change within your own community.⁣ ⁣ Continue sharing educational resources, donating, supporting our local Black communities, turning OFF your implicit racial biases and using this time for introspective reflection on how you can be more inclusive. ⁣ ⁣ Special thanks to my childhood friend and South Asian community member, @HK_Brains for engaging me in deeper discussion regarding this topic and helping me articulate my thoughts!