I’ve been continuing to read many articles written lately about the deaths of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Jr. and others, and about racism in our country generally. Here are a few I’ve found particularly insightful.
- A’Driane Nieves offers a raw, personal response, interwoven with glimpses of her daily life as a mother. “I have Black and Brown boys to raise,” she writes. “I can’t give up. Their Black matters.”
- Grace Sandra reminds us that creating change needs more than just hashtag activism.
- Seth Freed Wessler at Talking Points Memo writes of the time he spent at “a virtually all-black, all-free lunch high school in northwest St. Louis, just a few miles south of Ferguson.” Some people in our country have been calling for a “national conversation” on race. he observes, but “these kids in this classroom — and others I’ve met since Michael Brown was killed — are already having it. Because the conversation is about them.” Their teacher, he notes, “wonders if the ‘conversation’ we should be having is less a dialogue about ‘race relations’ than a listening session to hear teens like the ones she teaches.” Good idea.
- Elizabeth Grattan reminds us what White Privilege is. She writes, in part, “Privilege isn’t about accusing you of being a racist. Privilege is about asking you to look at the evidence and see the difference between whiteness and blackness. Privilege is knowing one has advantage.” (Thanks to my friend Annalisa for the tip!)
- Franchesca Ramsey offers a video on “5 Tips for Being an Ally,” which I’ve found useful from my position as a White person. Watch it below. (H/t Bitch Magazine.)
Reading (or watching videos) alone won’t create change, but it can help broaden our perspectives and prepare us to do so. What have you read/written/watched lately that has helped you better understand racism today? Please leave a comment!