The uncomfortable work behind pulling back the curtain of race & white supremacy: Part 2. Your story

I've told you my story. Now let me help you do yours.

This work is hard. It’s uncomfortable. It will challenge your view of the world and your view of yourself in the world. It will challenge your view of your own morality, and the morality of the systems and communities that you’re in.

This work is long term. I doubt you ever really stop learning. It’s not a post you can retweet or write. It’s not standing up for someone in the face of oppression one time. It’s not an article or book you can read. It’s not one conversation you can have or one election you can vote in. It’s not just a donation or even a monthly donation. It’s doing all of these things over a long time, and probably more.

This work is tiring. I’m already tired. And I cannot fathom how tired people are who have been living this and grappling with it their entire lives. But it’s on us to take on that weight.

So let’s stop being “horrified”, “sad”, and “shocked”.

So let’s stop asking “when will this stop” and “praying for this to stop”.

And let’s stop asking “what can I do”.

Here is a list I’ve compiled from personal recommendations, recommendations of those in the anti-racist space, and my own searches.

“To Do” Lists to follow:

TED: How you can be an ally in the fight for racial justice

https://ideas.ted.com/how-you-can-be-an-ally-in-the-fight-for-racial-justice/

75 things white people can do for racial justice

https://medium.com/equality-includes-you/what-white-people-can-do-for-racial-justice-f2d18b0e0234

5 racist anti-racism responses "good" white women give to viral posts

https://www.katykatikate.com/the-blog/2020/5/26/5-racist-anti-racism-responses-good-white-women-give-to-viral-posts

Organizations to donate time or money to:

Showing up for racial justice

https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/

Color of Change

https://colorofchange.org/

Minnesota Freedom Fund

https://minnesotafreedomfund.org/

Black visions collective

https://www.blackvisionsmn.org/

Your local NAACP chapter

https://www.naacp.org/

Black Women’s Blueprint

https://www.blackwomensblueprint.org/

The Loveland Foundation

https://thelovelandfoundation.org/

Black Lives Matter

https://blacklivesmatter.com/

ACLU

https://www.aclu.org/

Be the Bridge

https://bethebridge.com/

Contacting your representatives:

Text RESIST to 50409 to contact your representatives by phone

https://www.nationalpriorities.org/take-action/contact-your-representative/

Resources to guide you through the work:

Me and white supremacy (a workbook)

https://www.meandwhitesupremacybook.com/

White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack

https://nationalseedproject.org/Key-SEED-Texts/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack

Teaching your children about race: A guide for parents and teachers

https://www.teachingforchange.org/teaching-about-race

Articles to read:

When feminism is white supremacy in heels

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a22717725/what-is-toxic-white-feminism/

Literally everything written by Rachel Cargle including these https://www.harpersbazaar.com/author/220412/rachel-cargle/

Why it’s so hard to talk to white people about racism

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-its-so-hard-to-talk-to-white-people-about-racism_b_7183710?fbclid=IwAR1F_OhbnqSUcnusewgN8e-jHC7GV4AsGfOgfdHW7h2SWjqLtnQ34a0LqKo

Black parents know about “the talk”, white parents- it’s your turn

https://medium.com/@ralindaspeaks/black-parents-know-about-the-talk-white-parents-its-your-turn-a6a1209e5be2

Your black colleagues may look like they’re okay- chances are they’re not

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/05/9841376/black-trauma-george-floyd-dear-white-people

You’re not going to believe what I’m going to tell you (comic)

https://theoatmeal.com/comics/believe?fbclid=IwAR2ZOG6pbQHZAeeHPuRueA1c4AYM_fFdTaE38Ih8vGFYlJ_HPTzvwx1Hpdw

Holy shit, being an ally isn’t about me: How I learned being a white liberal doesn’t make me a good ally

https://medium.com/@realtalkwocandallies/holy-shit-being-an-ally-isnt-about-me-ae2de5c47514

The sugarcoated language of white fragility

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-sugarcoated-language-of-white-fragility_b_10909350?fbclid=IwAR3FHkAnMoQAqW7uGQqoaEg7YJR_8Ru-qZM9kP6Fi3rlTpQyvyHrES-rvc0

9 phrases allies can say when called out instead of getting defensive

https://everydayfeminism.com/2017/05/allies-say-this-instead-defensive/

Cognitive reserve and racial privilege in STEM

https://meliseedwards.com/2020/05/10/cognitive-reserve-in-stem-disproportionate-labor-and-outcomes-for-students-of-color/

Redlining and mental health: connecting the dots across poverty, place, and exclusion

https://medium.com/sffed/redlining-and-mental-health-connecting-the-dots-across-poverty-place-and-exclusion-224714328add

There are huge racial disparities in how US police use force

https://www.vox.com/identities/2016/8/13/17938186/police-shootings-killings-racism-racial-disparities

Microaggressions: more than just race

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/microaggressions-in-everyday-life/201011/microaggressions-more-just-race?fbclid=IwAR0iGr9dVyWxwaOL0qMbEhY0QZ_20wRCEMQOLZlAwwZmMyQi-rcECkUGwPs

Racial reconciliation may not be what you think it is

https://www.missioalliance.org/racial-reconciliation-may-not-think/?fbclid=IwAR3t8SBFSbG-lAdw6n6bvPl9dJku7Li8MsGpYZuC3rX3deugiO1KQd-qczY

Honor native land: a guide and call to acknowledgment

https://usdac.us/nativeland?fbclid=IwAR21koM5xGgevnZHG2WDJIzbLzCUXrVRmnd_JrsKdESTWdovAk0t_hDJjC8

Podcasts to listen to (or whereever you listen to podcasts):

Code switch (NPR)

https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/

Intersectionality Matters with Kimberle Crenshaw

https://aapf.org/podcast

The stoop podcast

http://www.thestoop.org/

2 dope queens

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/dopequeens

Yo, is this racist?

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/yo-is-this-racist/id566985372

Fear of the black man: How racial bias could affect crime and labor rates (interview)

https://www.npr.org/2015/03/30/396405061/fear-of-the-black-man-how-racial-bias-could-affect-crime-labor-rates

Books to read (or wherever books are sold):

How to be an anti-racist

https://www.ibramxkendi.com/how-to-be-an-antiracist

Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race

http://renieddolodge.co.uk/books/

So you want to talk about race

http://www.ijeomaoluo.com/writing

Between the world and me

https://ta-nehisicoates.com/books/between-the-world-and-me/

We were eight years in power

https://ta-nehisicoates.com/books/we-were-eight-years-in-power/

Playing in the dark

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/117655/playing-in-the-dark-by-toni-morrison/

The hate you give

https://angiethomas.com/the-hate-u-give

The warmth of the other sons

http://isabelwilkerson.com/the-book/

Lies my teacher told me: Everything your American history textbook got wrong

https://thenewpress.com/books/lies-my-teacher-told-me

White rage: The unspoken truth of our racial divide

https://www.professorcarolanderson.org/white-rage

For white folks who teach in the hood.. and the rest of ya’ll too

https://chrisemdin.com/product/for-white-folks-who-teach-in-the-hood-and-the-rest-of-yall-too-reality-pedagogy-and-urban-education/

Hood feminism: Notes from the women that the movement forgot

https://mikkikendall.com/books-2/

Native son

https://www.harpercollins.com/9780060837563/native-son/

Homegoing

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/289838/homegoing/9780241975237.html

Their eyes were watching God

https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/their-eyes-were-watching-god/

The health gap

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-health-gap-9781408857991/

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America

https://wwnorton.com/books/The-Color-of-Law/

Dying of whiteness: How the politics of racial resentment is killing America’s heartland

https://www.dyingofwhiteness.com/

Books to read to your kids:

Can I touch your hair? Poems of race, mistakes, and friendship

https://lernerbooks.com/shop/show/14624

A is for activist

https://aisforactivist.org/childrens_books_for_the_99/a-is-for-activist/

Let’s talk about race

https://www.harpercollins.com/9780064462266/lets-talk-about-race/

Brick by brick

http://charlesrsmithjr.com/?page_id=12173

All the colors we are: The story of how we get our skin color

https://www.redleafpress.org/All-The-Colors-We-Are-20th-Anniversary-Edition-The-Story-of-How-We-Get-Our-Skin-Color-P963.aspx

The freedom we sing

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/611307/freedom-we-sing-by-amyra-leon/

The color of us

https://www.karenkatz.com/picturebooks?pgid=k1ny2fz8-8395057d-ef5d-4e51-ac16-5ddfc213c582

And more

https://www.embracerace.org/resources/26-childrens-books-to-support-conversations-on-race-racism-resistance http://www.ala.org/rt/emiert/cskbookawards/coretta-scott-king-book-awards-all-recipients-1970-present

Movies and Documentaries:

If Beale Street could talk (Hulu)

The hate you give (Hulu)

Slavery by another name: The re-enslavement of black Americans from the Civil War to World War II (PBS)

Selma (Amazon Prime)

I am not your negro (Amazon Prime)

13th (Netflix)

Dear white people (Netflix)

Other resources:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/preview?pru=AAABcoEMfps*8XJiBIWorkatZr1rIgMaxQ

If you have additional resources or recommendations, please leave them below.