Ep# 092: I'm White + I Have Something to Say...
The world feels heavy right now, but I think that’s how things always feel before change comes.
The reality is, there are groups of people who have felt this heaviness everyday for their entire lives. Their family has felt it for generations.
Some of us are really just waking up to the reality now because it’s in the news, it’s in our faces and affecting us every day. But this isn’t a new reality.
This is such an important conversation to have. Far too often in the past I have found myself unsure of how to address this. I didn’t know my place. As a white woman, is this my plight? Is it appropriate for me to speak up? What do I say?
And then I remembered what I was taught and how I was raised…
There’s a seat at our table.
When there’s an injustice, you shine a light on it.
When your brothers and sisters are being wronged, you stand for what’s right.
You protect and you serve and you love the underdog.
I used to think that colorblindness was the goal, but I know now that’s just ignorance to what’s actually happening every day, and ignorance is a choice as an adult.
So how do we move forward in a way that is 1) respectful to the people that are experiencing the pain, 2) helpful to the people who need to be served, and 3) acknowledges the ways that we can do better?
Start by acknowledging your own fears and narratives.
Follow activists who can shed light on what’s really happening and what’s been happening:
Speak up AND show up.
Too many people are making this about them and how sad they are. Or they are sharing a black square or a solidarity message and then patting themselves on the back like they righted a wrong.
This runs generations deep.
This will take time.
But inaction isn’t right.
Show up by donating to worthy causes if you can, like the NAACP, Freedom Fund, George Floyd Memorial, Campaign Zero
Give your time
Call your local lawmakers and sign the petitions! It truly makes a difference.
Talk to those who have experienced racism and oppression
Sit through their stories of truth and hardship and pain and just listen.
Educate yourself
The only person responsible for teaching you about race and privilege and oppression is you. Some of the top resources are:
Study history -- history is repeating itself
As an adult, you have a choice as to who you are, and It might take work to get to the person that you feel called to be. We have an opportunity to see lifelong change in this country. We have an opportunity to learn, to grow, to understand, to not make it about us and to make it about the pursuit of what is truly right.