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We need justice. No one’s names should be memorialized in hashtags.
The identities you do not think much about, even the ones you barely notice, are always with you.
Privilege is the benefits you receive due to how close you are to the dominant culture.
Racism is personal prejudice and bias AND the systemic misuse and abuse of power by institutions.
Our biases are absorbed, we take them in, and they become a part of our belief system. But they can change.
We have been conditioned to the bias of whiteness. We can undo this. People play a big role in keeping racism going. If we do not work to recognize our prejudices, we remain a part of the problem. When we become aware of our biases and our role in racism, then we can begin to understand how we are a part of a system that is much bigger than us.
When you only read one account of history through a single lens, you do not have the whole truth.
If stories of resistance and accomplishments are purposefully left out of our history books or told from the perspective of those in the dominant culture, we have no voice. No one knows who we are and that we exist. The legacy we are left with is one that has been shaped by the oppressors.
Remember: institutions rely on people to maintain or change racism.
The legacy of enslavement has left us with racist attitudes being our everyday normal.
THE HISTORY WE CARRY WITH US IS IN OUR DNA AND THE STORIES WE WERE NEVER TOLD.
Audre Lorde, an American feminist, writer, and activist said, ”MY SILENCES HAD NOT PROTECTED ME. YOUR SILENCE WILL NOT PROTECT YOU.”
YOU CANNOT HEAR SILENCE. INACTION CANNOT BE SEEN. WE CANNOT FEEL THE MOMENTUM OF CHANGE IF NOTHING HAPPENS.
It is okay for them to be uncomfortable. Racism is not a comfortable existence for Black, Brown, and Indigenous Folx of the Global Majority. COMFORT WILL NOT END RACISM.
“BY NOT ALLOWING YOURSELF TO SEE SOMEONE’S RACE, YOU ARE NOT SEEING THEM AS A WHOLE PERSON. YOU ARE LOOKING AT THEM THROUGH A SKEWED LENS. YOU SEE THEM ONLY HOW YOU WANT TO SEE THEM. YOU ARE LOOKING AT THEM THROUGH YOUR LENS OF COMFORT. YOU ARE NOT SEEING YOUR STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES HOW THEY WANT TO AND NEED TO BE SEEN.”
Angela Davis: “In a racist society, it’s not enough to be nonracist, we must be anti-racist.”
inaction will do nothing other than maintain the old normal. Action, being anti-racist, will make change.
There are moments when you will be made to feel like the comfort of one person is the most important over the safety and needs of many.
BLACK, INDIGENOUS, AND FOLX OF THE GLOBAL MAJORITY DO NOT NEED TO BE SAVED. WE ALL NEED RACISM TO BE ERADICATED.
it is not the job of Folx of the Global Majority to educate white people on their oppression. It is the job of white people to listen, learn, and grow.
Your privilege is something you don’t often think about. It’s often invisible to you until you take a moment to gain some insight and awareness into your whole self. You don’t notice privileges because they are the parts of your identity that are considered normal (thanks to that imaginary box). We must actively work to understand our privileges across all of our various identities.
We find joy whenever we can. We dance together. We love one another; it’s how we resist.
We have all been taught by the dominant culture that making a mistake makes us lesser members of society. This is simply not true. Everyone makes mistakes and we can learn from these so we can do better.
Racism is so deep within us. It is all around us and we have to be constantly aware of it so we don’t get consumed by the smog. It is so easy to rest inside of it, especially if you benefit from the system that has been designed for you. (I’m speaking to you, white and white-passing folx.) We can’t sit still and consciously breathe in racism anymore.
