So, uh, even though it’s been a short week, I kinda feel like this has been one of the longest weeks ever. You?
My little family has been processing some personal stuff (which I’ll be able to share soon), but wow, has our world and this country been processing some stuff too. Trust, my therapist has been working overtime with me lately. Sheesh.
I’m not going to do a whole bunch of writing in this email centering myself and my feelings and experiences about what’s going on. I’ve been doing too much work on my own for the last several years for that. (In case you haven’t yet, it’s not about your feelings and experiences, or especially about your shock and outrage, as a white person. And I know the majority of people reading this are white folks.)
What I am going to do is share a few things you can check out – resources, articles, new folks to follow. Ultimately, for a lot of us, there’s deeply personal work to do before we even get to the outward action piece. That’s OK. And honestly? Just taking the time to click on each of the links below is a worthwhile and necessary place to start. (Seriously, please do that. Even if it makes you defensive, scared, or itchy. Maybe especially if that’s how you feel.)
But, there’s also much work we can do that makes even more of a difference, more than posting shit on social media and leaving it at that. It probably takes the same amount of time to write an email to your local legislator, mayor, or police chief as it does to craft that big long Facebook post.
75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice
Anti-racism resources for white people
Dr. Tee Williams + Foundations of Social Justice course
GOOGLE (Listen, people forget. You don’t always have to ask someone for something, especially when it involves further unpaid labor from them. If you can Google how to bake bread without yeast, you can Google what can I do about racial injustice.)
The Unbearable Grief of Black Mothers
My White Friend Asked Me on Facebook to Explain White Privilege. I Decided to Be Honest.
DOJ scaling back program to reform police departments (Yes, this is old news. Consider the consequences today.)
I’m currently finishing up How to be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi, talking to some of my white friends about what’s going on, processing with my therapist, and listening to and learning from the BIPOC voices around me – without burdening them further to teach me anything at all. (That’s why I’m doing this sharing. Part of my responsibility and privilege is to call others in.) My next steps? Continuing my ongoing education, seeking out local organizations to support, getting a little (OK, A LOT) uncomfortable with the contacting legislator stuff.
You don’t have to do anything with any of this. But if that’s where you’re at, I only hope you’ll think about why and how that is. We’ve been reflecting and talking a lot lately about caring for others in the face of COVID-19, and I have to wonder how that’s so different than caring for others no matter what. I don’t have answers. All I know is that I’ll keep asking questions, of myself, and of you and others.
It matters. What matters to you?
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