All those black squares on Instagram for Blackout Tuesday yesterday were really….something.
On one hand, it was really neat to see so many people “voice” their support of the black community. On the other hand, it was too easy, wasn’t it?
Just like how after the terrorist attacks on Paris in 2015, so many people added a French flag filter to their Facebook profile pictures.
But what else did they do?
If posting a black square yesterday was the first time you broke your silence about the injustices against the black community, great. Speaking up is critically important. Now it’s time to get to work. Otherwise, it’s just performative allyship which has very little impact on the cause and mostly just makes you feel good (which, I shouldn’t have to add, is not the point).
So now—today, tomorrow, and every day after Blackout Tuesday—what will you do?
There are lots and lots of resources out there, and I was hesitant to make this yet another resource dump, but who knows? Maybe someone who needs to see it will see it here.
START HERE: bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES
This document was created by white people who put in the work to create it. Categories of resources include: Resources for white parents to raise anti-racist children; articles to read; videos to watch; books to read; organizations to follow on social media; and more. There may be some repeats in my list below. I don’t care.
In every election. The local ones matter. So much.
READ & DECOLONIZE YOUR BOOKSHELF
WATCH
22 movies and documentaries about race streaming right now
DONATE
There are a lot of great organizations with missions to dismantle racism that you can donate to. There are also a lot of great organizations with missions to do other things (like achieve health equity, provide meals to people experiencing food insecurity, or improve a community’s literacy) and do so with anti-racist policies and black, indigenous and people of color on staff and on their boards.
SHOP
- Google black-owned business in your area and support them
- 43 black-owned fashion businesses
- 34 brands making tangible contributions to the Black Lives Matter movement
- The Black Wallet
- Official Black Wall Street
- We Buy Black
LEARN
Seek out racial equity training and do it. One of the good things that has come out of new work-from-home life is that a lot local/regional organizations are offering online courses, so you can participate in one you wouldn’t otherwise have access to.
PLAN & DO
If you’re in a position of power professionally, make a plan for how you’re going to work to eliminate biases, end discrimination, and dismantle racism in your realm of power. For example, if you run a business, make a plan to adopt more inclusive and equitable hiring practices, get your staff trained on racial equity, and do business with black-owned businesses.
And if you don’t run your business or have the power to make those changes, pester the person who does.
LISTEN & AMPLIFY
Listen to the voices of people of color and amplify those voices. Make that your default.
Yes, a lot of these actions require work: reading, and research, and tough conversations. But that’s part of the point. Putting in the work is the only way to make a change. (I told you posting a black square was too easy.)
I identify as a person of color, but recognize that I experience the world as a white person because of the way I look. And while it can be strange (and eye-opening) to be “undercover,” dark-skinned people don’t have the luxury of “passing” for white when it would be safer for them to do so. But just because I am a person of color does NOT mean that I have all of this figured out, have read all of the books on this list, and am a perfect anti-racist. Anti-racism is a process after all, and I’m putting in the work, too. Join me.
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