Anti-Racism Education & Black Lives Matter Conversation

I know a lot of well-meaning people want the checklist of what they can do to make a change now – yet this is a lifelong journey. Dr. Robin DiAngelo asks, “What about your life as a fully formed adult in 2020 allows you to not know what to do?” Sit with that.

Why don’t you know? Because…

• You didn’t educate yourself?
• You haven’t made true cross-race relations?
• You don’t talk about race?
• You don’t care enough to do something as simple as Google resources?

Here are some suggestions from Regine & myself:

Donate
If you’d like to thank Regine for her time, energy and wisdom, you can make a donation to Campaign Zero https://www.joincampaignzero.org/ or Color of Change https://colorofchange.org/, which are non-profits working toward systemic policy change around racial injustice.

Spiritual/Emotional

• You’re a woman, mother & teacher -you can raise and teach your children to be compassionate inclusive, kind and anti-racist.  
• As healer, teacher, coach and leader, you can lead your family, friends and community towards an understanding of why ignoring racism and white privilege is real and harmful.

Social

• Examine your social circle and seek to broaden it. Open your life to another perspective.
• If you are white, look at your lens of white privilege, fragility. How do you live in a bubble in your life or business? How can you invest yourself in leveling the playing field?
• If you are white or a POC, go to lunch with Black people, invite them to your house and vice-versa.
• Start or join a Black book club or some other organization.
• If you participate in some type of group already, seek to diversify it.

Career/Business

• Hire, promote, mentor, teach and subcontract young Black professionals.
• Lend your expertise to help advance the life/business/career of a Black person. Be a coach and advocate for them.

Financial

• Buy Black (look at businesses that are Black owned or supportive of Black people)
• Bank at Black banks, and invest in Black businesses and business owners.  You can support https://blackoutcoalition.org/ &  https://webuyblack.com/

Political 

• Support protests
• Engage with your local government
• Participate and ask for equity with spending of public dollars and whether their inclusive of Black business owners and residents
• Ask your City officials to sign the 8 can’t wait pledge: https://8cantwait.org/
• Put out a blacklivesmatter yard sign from a black owned business: https://www.signsofjustice.com/collections/yard-signs

 Books

My Grandmother’s Hands: Radicalized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism by Robin DiAngelo
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson
Me & White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla Saad

Films And Tv Series To Watch

Netflix

• 13th (Ava DuVernay)
• American Son (Kenny Leon)
• Dear White People (Justin Simien)
• See You Yesterday (Stefon Bristol)
• Selma (Ava DuVernay)
• When They See Us (Ava DuVernay)

Hulu

• Blindspotting (Carlos López Estrada)
  via Cinemax
• If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins)
• The Hate U Give (George Tillman Jr.)
  via Cinemax

HBO

• King In The Wilderness
• True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s FIght for Equality*

Rent

• Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975
• The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
• Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton)
  Free in the U.S. in June
• I Am Not Your Negro (James Baldwin doc)
  Also available on Kanopy via your library
• Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler)
• Clemency (Chinonye Chukwu)

Where Do We Go from Here? Oprah is doing a two day special: https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/a32800003/how-to-watch-oprah-town-hall-where-do-we-go-from-here/

This is the best explanation of the black experience in the US that I’ve heard so far called How Can We Win by Kimberly Jones:
https://youtu.be/sb9_qGOa9Go

Here is a talk on Deconstructing White with Dr. Robin DiAngelo which was an eye opener for me (Meghan):
https://youtu.be/DwIx3KQer54

This is a longer video on White Fragility with Robin DiAngelo, Erin Trent Johnson + Aaron Morrison: https://youtu.be/sb9_qGOa9Go

More resources from Dr. Robin DiAngelo

How to Connect with Regine

Regine’s website: www.blackbutterflyjourneys.com
Regine’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackbutterflyjourneys/
Regine’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackbutterflyjourneys/
Black Butterfly Journeys Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/transformationaltravelandretreats/

Now What?

I (Meghan) am committing to educating myself more starting with Oprah’s special, increasing my awareness of my white lens of privilege and biases, making amends and taking ongoing action to level the playing field. Reaching out to black friends and opening up conversations with them. Putting a blacklivesmatter sign from a Black owned business in my yard. Donating to the Color of Change and Campaign Zero. Hiring black and POC in my business. 

What about you?