I can almost guarantee that I've never had a political conversation with any of you. I vote in presidential elections... and that's about it. I try to pay attention to local ballot propositions but I get discouraged by their complexity and end up Googling what other people think. I never talk about politics because I'm afraid I won't be able to argue my position (my debate career started and ended in 7th grade) and a lot of times I don't know how I feel about an issue and don't feel comfortable taking a stand. So I've stayed quiet.
Something has changed over the past 8 months and it was a gradual process until something snapped a few weeks ago. One of my husband's favorite catchphrases is 'Silence is Compliance' from high school debate (so much so that a friend made him a t-shirt with the phrase) and somehow it has taken me until now to see that with regards to racial injustice, silence really is compliance. Based on the response to my Facebook post (asking to hear from other White people who also wanted to figure out how to speak up), I realized it makes sense to have a place to share educational resources and ways to take action more widely than individual conversations. |
Here's what I will aim to provide:
I'm trying to educate myself and I'd like to do it alongside as many other people as possible (especially other White people). It'll require being uncomfortable and taking action anyway, day after day. If you find the information useful, please share with other people (again, especially other White people) and comment with your own resources, thoughts and experiences. I want to learn from you as well.
I've never spoken up before and I'm going to make plenty of mistakes, but taking a quote from the SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice, a group dedicated to organizing White people for racial justice) list of values, let's keep each other accountable to
'Take risks, make mistakes, learn and keep going.'
- Average writing at best
- A haphazard website I made a while ago with a basic Weebly template
- A variety of educational resources and ways to take action
- An honest account of what I've been experiencing as I attempt to become a "co-conspirator for justice" (and when I inevitably make mistakes as a White person trying to join the fight for racial justice)
I'm trying to educate myself and I'd like to do it alongside as many other people as possible (especially other White people). It'll require being uncomfortable and taking action anyway, day after day. If you find the information useful, please share with other people (again, especially other White people) and comment with your own resources, thoughts and experiences. I want to learn from you as well.
I've never spoken up before and I'm going to make plenty of mistakes, but taking a quote from the SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice, a group dedicated to organizing White people for racial justice) list of values, let's keep each other accountable to
'Take risks, make mistakes, learn and keep going.'
We know that we will have to take risks. Everyday, People of Color take risks in living their lives with full dignity and right now we are in a moment where young Black people are taking risks everyday. We challenge ourselves and other White people to take risks as well, to stand up against a racist system, actions and structures everyday. We know that in that process, we will make mistakes. Our goal is to learn from those mistakes and keep showing up again and again for what is right and for racial justice.
- one of the SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice) values