This week on NST we are discussing #blacklivesmatter. We hope that our curious conversation would spark one in you and with those around you. While we approach this with curiosity we also want to name and declare that we stand with black liberation. As two white hosts of a podcast we seek to speak to our primarily white audience, we began our conversation with this quote….
In speaking as a white person to a primarily white audience, I am yet again centering white people and the white voice. I have not found a way around this dilemma, for as an insider I can speak to the white experience in ways that may be harder to deny. Though I am centering the white voice, I am also using my insider status to challenge racism. To not use my position this way is to uphold racism, and that is unacceptable; it is a “both/and” that I must live with. I would never suggest that mine is the only voice that should be heard, only that it is one of the many pieces needed to solve the overall puzzle.”
Robin DeAngelo
Our conversation begins where we tend to with each of us sharing a bit of our journeys particularly our dismantling of the illusion of white supremacy and our coming to awareness systemic and institutional racism crafted in the foundation of America.
We then talk a bit about the current social climate, discuss the protests, defunding the police and other meandering pieces in response to what is happening now as well as share the 7 circles of whiteness…curious?
We close the episode with some specific action items we are pledging to participate in ourselves and we invite you in:
Sign petitions! Call your local officials! Send emails to your representatives! Your voices matter and you have a say in shaping your community,
Redistribute your wealth! Below will be a list of organizations you can redistribute your wealth to (*shifting away from a donor mentality to a reparations mentality)- we are committed to price matching any donation you make up to $400- so send us your receipts!
Reach out to friends and POC: This movement is heavy and emotionally laborious, reach out to your friends of color to offer your love and support- maybe even get creative with how you want to give them some extra care like surprise donuts at their home!
Read books: Here is a short list of books we might recommend (also please buy them from a local black-owned book store NOT AMAZON) : Are Prisons Obsolete by Angela Davis, White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin….there are so many more but we wanted to name a few!
Talk to other white folks about white supremacy and whiteness! https://www.instagram.com/tv/CBCsk1GACEl/?igshid=8g22y19f2bkt
Protest, rally, and show up physically (if it is safe for you) for black lives and black liberation.
There are lots of others ways to stay involved, these are just a few. Let’s continue to be committed and curious about re-imagining a system for the people by the people.
BLACK LIVES MATTER. BLACK LIVES MATTER. BLACK LIVES MATTER.
Check out any of these organizations:
Center For Black Equity “The Center for Black Equity is the National leader in connecting members of the Black LGBTQ+ community with information and resources to educate, engage and empower their fight for equity and access.”
http://www.centerforblackequity.org
Black and Pink “Black and Pink was founded in 2005 on the principles of abolition to dismantle the criminal punishment system and to liberate LGBTQIA2S+ people/people living with HIV/AIDS who are affected by that system, through advocacy, support, and organizing.”
http://www.blackandpink.org
“The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.is America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans. LDF also defends the gains and protections won over the past 75 years of civil rights struggle and works to improve the quality and diversity of judicial and executive appointments.
http://www.naacpldf.org
NO SMALL THING 