Watch Danai Gurira and Trevor Noah Discuss Racial Injustice
Danai Gurira and Trevor Noah Discuss the Value of Having Difficult Conversations About Race
During a recent interview with Trevor Noah for The Daily Show, Black Panther star Danai Gurira opened up about the importance of having difficult conversations about race with white friends. Danai explained that racial socialisation is the best approach to take, and the only way to do it effectively is by getting support from all people to "dismantle the issue from both sides." She added that the lack of these important conversations places blame on individuals rather than on the system and distracts from the larger issue at hand.
"The key thing that I keep learning is about the collaboration, cooperation that we need to have globally. No one's safe until everyone's safe."
"I think a lot of Black folk are like, 'Work on it yourselves,' cause it's always a burden on Black people to explain and to say, 'This is what I go through. This is what I experience.' And to have to relive and rehash things so that white people can come on board and understand that there's a problem and I wanted to do an inverse situation there, where actually I was putting the questions on him and saying, 'Take this labour and let's see you guys get to work in this area.' That was sort of the shift," she said. "It's not about condemnation — that's not the point. It's not going to get us to a place that we want to go, which is to heal and to transform."
In working towards that transformation, the Walking Dead star is using her platform to draw attention to Let's Love Our Girls, an organisation she founded to draw attention to the injustices that girls and women face all over the world. Now more than ever, there's an opportunity for change and a space for these women to have their voices heard, which is why Danai makes it a priority to highlight the cause.
"Love that women and girls need, if we received that — which comes with respect, which comes with attention, which comes with equity — we would be so much further along and we would see so much less problems and injustices that women experience," Danai said. "In these present times, it feels even more pertinent that I really keep it going and that I keep very connected to what's happening and the voices that need to be heard in this moment. It's a moment we're in that we are hoping is truly a transformation moment."
Danai also insisted that one of the greatest steps we can take as a society is to cooperate and listen to one another. "The key thing that I keep learning is about the collaboration, cooperation that we need to have globally. No one's safe until everyone's safe." Watch Danai's full interview with Trevor above.
