Racism Didn’t Stop

Remember how helpless I felt last week? How overwhelmed I was by my feelings? Well, racism didn’t stop since then and I am holding myself accountable.

This week’s social media motto was ‘I am muted’. Many people on social media decided to mute themselves from posting personal content to make room for all the educational content that is now flooding the web about racism. In light of my latest blog post, I would like to offer you some educational resources instead of posting personal content and share what I have been doing since last Sunday to educate myself.

Racism Didn’t Stop With You Recognizing It

If you haven’t read last week’s article, please do. Last week I was horrified by my own cluelessness about racism. Recent events had me feel like shit and revealed to me that what I was feeling is only a fraction of what people of color must feel nearly every single day of their lives. So, I have started to educate myself.

I started with the podcast that I shared with you last week.

Afterward, I was looking through all the educational content which is offered online right now. Compiling a list of resources I want to work through going forward, including documentaries, podcasts, books.

I then moved on to find an organization to support. Even though racism is also still a problem in Europe, I decided to support a US-based organization first. Our house is not on fire right now, the US is. It was important to me to find an organization that acts on a national level rather than supporting one specific city. If we want systemic change, we should aim to decide on the highest level possible, making it impossible for lower-level institutions to ignore what they need to do.

What Do I Want to Support?!

Many organizations currently ask for the complete abolition of the police. I too would love to live in a world that could do without executive force. Unfortunately, I think we are so far from reaching that point, that abolishing the police (or other executive branches) right away would not work. Therefore, starting to implement policies that put an end to the violent mentality in police work while divesting from executive branches to reinvest towards social departments is more important to me. If we want to change what is happening, we need to change the narrative, and the narrative changes with what we teach and how we treat all minorities or disadvantaged groups.

After finding my own position and priorities I needed to find an organization that is fitting for me. Not many offer actual policy change suggestions on a national level in the US. But I found Campaign Zero. They resonated the most with me, so I donated. Going forward I will be looking out for other organizations that fit my beliefs and continue donating.

Racism Didn’t Stop With You Donating

Having donated felt good. It felt like I was actually contributing without being able to join a protest where I live. And contributing takes away from feeling helpless. Having donated didn’t cut it for me. But as I said, we can’t change the narrative without changing what we teach. Not wanting to burden others to educate me, I need to teach myself.

So, then I went on to buy books about racism to make sure I will change my narrative in the long run and realize how I have unintentionally been racist in the past. Actually, I have already found occasions where I did say racist things. Like asking someone where they are from and moving on to asking where their ancestors were from when they told me they are from the same country I am from. Or saying that I don’t see color.

Racism Will Stop With Continuous Work

I am currently waiting for my books to arrive, and I will update you along the way with what I am learning by reading.  For now, I am leaving you with books, documentaries, and podcast which you can tap into. (But please browse the web for more resource lists on your own!)

Books:

Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Dr. Brittney Cooper
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
White Privilege: Jank or Injustice? Little Language Lexicon of How Racist Whitey Purloined Privileges & Unearned Benefits! by S.G. Brown
Seeing White: An Introduction to White Privilege and Race by Jean Halley, Amy Eshleman and Ramya Mahadevan Vijaya
White Migrations: Gender, Whiteness and Privilege in Transnational Migration by Catrin Lundström
How To Be an Anti-Racist by Dr. Kendi
Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad

Documentaries/Movies/Series:

13th (Ava DuVernay)
American Son (Kenny Leon)
Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975
Blindspotting (Carlos López Estrada)
Clemency (Chinonye Chukwu)
Dear White People (Justin Simien)
Eyes On The Prize
Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler)
I Am Not Your Negro (James Baldwin doc)
If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins)
Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton)
King In The Wilderness 
See You Yesterday (Stefon Bristol)
Selma (Ava DuVernay)
The Hate U Give (George Tillman Jr.)
The Wellness of We
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am
Traces of the Trade
When They See Us (Ava DuVernay)

Podcasts:

1619 (New York Times)
About Race
Code Switch (NPR)
Intersectionality Matters! hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw
Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast
Pod For The Cause (from The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights)
Pod Save the People (Crooked Media)
Seeing White

Photo provided by Maria Oswalt on Unsplash