Community Call In for Anti-Racism

Hello my loves, 

I wanted to check-in and see how you're doing. If you're inclined to share please do so in the comments section because I'm hoping we can be brave enough to have a conversation in front of everyone. The issue is public so the solution should be too. There is no shame in that.

The state of the world can be absolutely terrifying to try and reconcile right now. There are a whole spectrum of genders, races, and sexualities in this community but first,

To my Black community members;

When you feel pain, I promise to be right there feeling with you.

When you need love, I promise to show up with an open heart and hold you.

When you need support and protection, I promise to anticipate that and not wait until things are dire. 

When you need silence and an open mind, I will be here making eye contact with your soul and digesting every single word. 

I am, and therefore by extension, everyone here is, in utmost support of you, your unique, joyful, and painful experiences, and we are committed to contributing to the society you need us to create for you to thrive in peace. 

To my white community members, 

This is the time. The time for taking a pause between our emotions and our judgements to understand how those judgements were born. 

This is the time for us to take an inventory of our educational and political systems and trace the lineage of our privilege and ignorance. 

This is the time for us to listen to Black women, men, children, Queer folks, and elders.

This is the time for us to recognize the sick feeling in our stomach that clues us into our complicity in this system. The one that usually manifests in denial and guilt. This is the time for us to channel that feeling into doing. The guilt into action. The shame into commitment.

My white friends, this is the time for us to feel the fire. We have always used our collective privilege as a shield and extinguisher every time things got a bit too hot for us to handle.

Now is the time, and to be honest it has always been the time, we are very, very late.  

Here are some important resources for you to take a look at this week, and forever.

If you're a book nerd and love to read:

https://www.charisbooksandmore.com/understanding-and-dismantling-racism-booklist-white-readers

If you're more into video learning, this is a highly impactful course you can invest in:

https://www.moniquemelton.com/shop-shine-classes/s9kupb9htnfglryrnfvfpqhpa1ij0v

If you're into podcasting:

@ErickaHart & Ebony's Hoodrat to Headwrap:

https://open.spotify.com/show/0QuoMdZrq07nwX4GftLNjz?si=Q8XYj2E3QTW9EQgKD_n3bA

@LaylaFSaad's Good Ancestor Podcast:

https://open.spotify.com/show/6Atahbqw5vurttEHrjR7TR?si=ryqQV6ZnRI65UQ6Q6zD3jA

@AmandaSeale's Small Doses:

https://open.spotify.com/show/2YXZqgzD27c9ijd2stGagX?si=wVLCtLn8SbOt1gmzEx3rlg

If you learn through Instagram:

*Please do not go into these spaces to talk, please go to silently listen, compensate, and share the information you learn with your white family members, teachers, students, children, neighbours, the guy on the bus, the random dude at the gym- everyone*

@LaylaFSaad - 28 Day White Supremacy Challenge/Book/Podcast @Rachel.Cargle- Online courses and webinars @Catriceology- Endless resources and calls-to-action @AmandaSeales- Black Empowerment and historical resources @EbonyJanice- The intersection of anti-racism and hip hop @TheShelahMarie- The intersection of anti-racism and spirituality @NoWhiteSaviours- How to approach your anti-racism work without centring yourself @IAmRachelRicketts- Anti-Racism educator @AjaBarber- the intersection of anti-racism and fashion @IHartEricka- The Intersection of anti-racism, sexuality, and gender @AshleighChubbyBunny- Intersection of anti-racism, sex work, and beauty standards

To donate:

ACLU- https://action.aclu.org/give/now

Reclaim The Block- https://www.reclaimtheblock.org/

Black Visions Collective- https://www.blackvisionsmn.org/

If this has all overwhelmed you, you're not alone. The guilt and shame you feel are valid but they have no place in moving things forward. We need hope, passion, persistence, anger, compassion, empathy, and action. 

Please start here if you're stuck right now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXow7olFyIM

http://ready.web.unc.edu/section-1-foundations/module-10-2/

https://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/mcintosh.pdf

You should not need proximity to marginalization to understand and empathize. Show up and do your own work, do not exhaust your Black friends, and even if you think you're one of the good ones, keep going because its the right thing to do. 

If you have any questions please leave them in the comments section so we can actively work at this as a community. Let's have the uncomfortable conversations and move through this together. 

Love you.