Black Lives Matter: A Call to Allies

2020 has been a hell of a year so far. Against the backdrop of a pandemic has come an actual nationwide uprising for real equity. So in honor of the work that's been done, and the work that's left to do, we're giving you a Juneteenth gift: a three part series of resources to help yourself and others be better activists and advocates for racial justice. Part 1 is a post dedicated to organizations doing great work and resources to help you contribute. Part 2 focuses on BIPOC artisans and businesses. This is Part 3: resources for allies, to help them confront white supremacy both internally and externally. After all, you can't dismantle something you're afraid to face head-on.

First Step of Being an Ally: Do the Work

For those who are allies (whether you're new to the fight or you've marched around the block before), the focus should be on educating yourself, examining your biases, and using your privilege to protect and amplify BIPOC voices and bodies. There is always more to learn and more to do. Start with Victoria Alexander, MEd's Anti-Racist Resource Guide. A comprehensive intro document containing a host of information, including primers on structural v individual racism, guides for how to find protests, antiracist resources for adults and children, and organizations and fundraisers to support.

The white supremacy iceberg (source: @theconsciouskid)

Remember that true allyship is a process, one that involves a lot of difficult work to disassemble both internalized and external, structural white supremacy. To help you on that journey, take a look at the Scaffolded Anti-Racist Resources, a framework for education and self-examination at each stage of your journey from Contact to Autonomy.

Also familiarize yourself with the concept of antiracism. If you need a better understanding of your starting place, take Harvard's implicit bias test.

Never Stop Having the Hard Conversations

You've seen the protest sings: White Silence Means More Violence. They're not just talking about systemic injustices like police brutality. They're also talking about staying silent when someone makes a racist joke or uses a slur. Color of Change and Showing Up for Racial Justice have teamed up to create Bold Conversations, a toolkit designed to help white people have difficult conversations with other white people in a constructive and thoughtful way.

Listen to BIPOC Voices

One of the most insidious things about white supremacy is the accompanying lack of awareness that the white lived experience isn't actually universal. It's your responsibility as an ally to constantly check in with yourself and make sure you're not relying too much on your own reflexive framework. Even if you, as a white person, logically know that the experiences are disparate, there's real power in hearing BIPOC voices tell their own story. If you are in a position to be an active and thoughtful listener when someone shares their own story, of their own volition, that's wonderful. If you're not in that position (and many people aren't, if only because of COVID), then do the next best thing: watch and read. Immerse yourself in someone else's voice and lived experience.

What to Watch

I Am Not Your Negro - Based on an unfinished book by James Baldwin, this powerful documentary draws parallels between the turbulence of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement and the Black Lives Matter movement in 2016 (when the film was released). 

13th - A thoughtful analysis of how the modern prison industrial complex is really just a continuation of slavery.

When They See Us - A 4-part miniseries about the Central Park 5, five young Black and Latinx men who were falsely accused and convicted of raping and murdering a white woman in Central Park. This series shines a harsh light on corruption in the justice system and racial biases in the court of public opinion.

Just Mercy - Based on the book by the same name (read that, too!), it's the true story of one of Bryan Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative's earliest cases. It details the fight to save a young Black man on death row in Alabama from being executed for a murder he didn't commit.

Dear White People - Based on a movie of the same name, this hilarious show calls out the performative nature of liberal, white allyship at an elite university (and by extension, everywhere else).

What to Read

Books

There are literally thousands of books that explore the Black experience and racism in the US, here are a few suggestions to get you started:

• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X Kendi
• Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks
• The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
• The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
• Black Boy by Richard Wright
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Online

In addition to our suggestions in Part 1 of this series, here are some great online resources for further reading on allyship and BIPOC experiences.

• Blavity - Describes itself as an online community for Black creativity and news, and they're as good as their word. Unlike many online magazines, Blavity doesn't rely solely on a masthead for content creation - they give readers the chance to tell their own story.
• Remezcla - Though the focus of this series has been on Black lives, as an ally it's important to remember that racism impacts all people of color. Remezcla is a fantastic site, dedicated to sharing the millennial Latinx voice.
• 75 Things White People Can Do For Racial Justice - The title here is fairly self-explanatory, but this Medium post is a detailed primer for allies.
• When Feminism Is White Supremacy in Heels - Quick reminder for all white feminists out there: none of this means anything if your platform remains exclusionary. The goal of feminism should be, to quote a very wise friend, 'real intersectionality or bust.'
• No Place for Self-Pity, No Room for Fear - Toni Morrison's reminder that strong voices are even more important in troubled times. Though she wrote her words for artists, the truth is, they apply to us all.

Note from Tex & Coda: This series is intended to be updated (relatively) regularly. Please feel free to send suggested additions or just check back periodically to find new resources.