Hi friends, and Happy Juneteenth! As some may have heard through my Instagram account, I am thrilled to have partnered with Riverside Farm CSA and Shannon Walter Art to organize the Cape Vincent Coalition for Change’s “Standing in Silence, Standing in Solidarity,” a vigil and gathering in solidarity with the BIPOC community on Saturday June 20 at 6 pm on the Cape Vincent Green. We hope to engage a peaceful and productive dialogue around how we may engage in anti-racism as a community. As 3 white women, we recognize our immense privilege and want to offer opportunities for dialogue in our primarily white community about how we may better “show up” for justice, equity, and diversity.
As attendees will have the opportunity to sign up for future calls to action and reading/discussion groups, I wanted to take this opportunity to share some resources with those who might not be able to attend. Let me first say that there are a wealth of resources available on anti-racism and diversity, and these are just a few that I have found particularly insightful, or that we used specifically in my past work with intergroup dialogue for diversity and equity. This is in no way an exhaustive list, so if you have a suggestion to add, email me at hedgewitchontheriver@gmail.com.
Read
- Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum
“Beverly Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, argues that straight talk about our racial identities is essential if we are serious about enabling communication across racial and ethnic divides. These topics have only become more urgent as the national conversation about race is increasingly acrimonious. This fully revised edition is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the dynamics of race in America.” - Deep Diversity: Overcoming Us Vs. Them by Shakil Choudhury
“What if our interactions with those different than us are strongly influenced by things happening below the radar of awareness, hidden even from ourselves? Deep Diversity explores this question and argues that ‘Us-versus-Them’ is an unfortunate but normal part of the human experience due to reasons of both nature and nurture—and this is especially true regarding issues of race. Deep Diversity seeks to reframe the debate regarding racism and systemic discrimination in a practical, scientific and compassionate manner, sorely needed as Us/Them feelings escalate following race-based shootings in the US as well as the politically motivated murder of soldiers in Canada or journalists in Paris.” - Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People by Mahzarin R. Banaji
“‘Blindspot’ is the authors’ metaphor for the portion of the mind that houses hidden biases. Writing with simplicity and verve, Banaji and Greenwald question the extent to which our perceptions of social groups—without our awareness or conscious control—shape our likes and dislikes and our judgments about people’s character, abilities, and potential.” - Women, Race, & Class by Angela Y. Davis
“A powerful study of the women’s liberation movement in the U.S., from abolitionist days to the present, that demonstrates how it has always been hampered by the racist and classist biases of its leaders. From the widely revered and legendary political activist and scholar Angela Davis.” - Between the World and Me and “The First White President,” both by Ta-Nehisi Coates
“Ta-Nehisi Coates is an American author and journalist who gained a wide readership during his time as national correspondent at The Atlantic, where he wrote about cultural, social, and political issues, particularly regarding African Americans and white supremacy.” - How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
“Ibram X. Kendi’s concept of antiracism reenergizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America–but even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. Instead of working with the policies and system we have in place, Kendi asks us to think about what an antiracist society might look like, and how we can play an active role in building it.”
Watch
- How microaggressions are like mosquito bites, YouTube
- Brené Brown on Empathy, YouTube
- 13th, Netflix – “In this thought-provoking documentary, scholars, activists and politicians analyze the criminalization of African Americans and the U.S. prison boom.”
- Ibram X. Kendi’s TED talk, “The difference between being ‘not racist’ and antiracist”
Listen
- Code Switch Podcast – “Hosted by journalists of color, our podcast tackles the subject of race head-on. We explore how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and everything in between. This podcast makes ALL OF US part of the conversation — because we’re all part of the story.”
- This American Life Podcast
- Cops See It Differently – Part One – “There are so many cops who look at the killing of Eric Garner or Mike Brown and say race didn’t play a factor. And there are tons of black people who say that’s insane. There’s a division between people who distrust the police — even fear them — and people who see cops as a force for good. Stories of people living on both sides of that divide, and people trying to bridge it.”
- Cops See It Differently – Part Two – “Our second hour of stories about policing and race. We hear about one city where relations between police and black residents went terribly, and another city where they seem to be improving remarkably. And one of our producers asks: Why aren’t police chiefs talking about race after incidents where unarmed black men are wrongly killed by officers?”
Question
- 9 Reflective Writing Prompts to Explore White Fragility, Spiritual Bypassing or White Privilege by Leesa Renee Hall
- Explore “Implicit Bias” with Project Implicit, Harvard