Aoki Lee Simmons Pens A Letter to Her Non-Black Friends: ‘I Cannot Begin To Unpack Your Silence’
Aoki Lee Simmons is one of the celebrities who has spoken out regarding the murder of George Floyd.
On Thursday (May 28), Aoki Lee Simmons, took to Instagram to pen a letter to her non-black friends.
“My non-black friends, I cannot begin to unpack your silence. I am scared of what it will tell me,” Simmons wrote. “The things you are here for and the things you are not, what do they say about you?”
“I am ashamed that this is as far as I’ll go, a toe in the water of truth. Just a shade of the other side of myself, that side buried or surfaced that is blackness beyond color,” Simmons continued.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 25: Aoki Lee Simmons attends the REVOLT X AT&T 3-Day Summit In Los Angeles – Day 1 at Magic Box on October 25, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for REVOLT)
“Beyond my hair taking longer to style, while we sit side by side in the salon. But I see you see, and I see your silence. I understand now, that you will only interact with the girl you can understand.”
“Because she’s just like you, at a good school like you, good family like you. But blackness? I guess that’s not like you,” she continued. “I don’t expect you to be a mind reader. You’ve been told explicitly in black and white and subtweet.”
“You know the brutal message I have received. If black people need you, I need you. And you know me right? Your study buddy, your dance partner, your romantic interest, the very same,” Simmons concluded.
“So don’t say you didn’t know, I’ve just told you. Be honest, and say for that side of me, you didn’t care.”
