Resource Links Tagged with "Advocacy"

The Injustice of This Moment Is Not an ‘Aberration’; From Mass Incarceration to Mass Deportation, Our Nation Remains in Deep Denial.

by Michelle Alexander | January 2020
We are now living in an era not of post-racialism but of unabashed racialism, a time when many white Americans feel free to speak openly of their nostalgia for an age when their cultural, political and economic dominance could be taken for granted — no apologies required. Racial bigotry, fearmongering and scapegoating are no longer subterranean in our political discourse; the dog whistles have been replaced by bullhorns. White nationalist movements are operating openly online and in many of our communities; they’re celebrating mass killings and recruiting thousands into their ranks.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2020’s] [Immigration] [Systemic Racism] [Politics] [Prison System] [Employment] [Housing] [White Supremacy] [White Culture] [Colorblindness] [Slavery] [Police Shootings] [Advocacy]]

A Conversation about Truth and Reconciliation in the US

by Ezra Klein | July 2020
What would it take for America to heal? To be the country it claims to be? This is the question that animates Bryan Stevenson’s career. Stevenson is the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, a clinical professor at the New York University School of Law, a MacArthur “genius,” and the author of the remarkable book Just Mercy — which was recently turned into a feature film where Stevenson was played by Michael B. Jordan.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2020’s] [Confederate Monuments] [Role Model] [Advocacy] [Prison System] [History] [Denial] [White Blindness] [Slavery] [Civil War] [Economics] [White Supremacy] [Systemic Racism]

A Medical Student Couldn’t Find How Symptoms Look on Darker Skin. He Decided to Publish a Book about it.

by Sydney Page | July 2020
*Paywall Alert
Malone Mukwende, a 20-year-old medical student, found himself repeatedly asking the same question: “But what will it look like on darker skin?”
He’s publishing a book to answer that question.
Since his first class at St George’s, University of London, “I noticed a lack of teaching about darker skin tones, and how certain symptoms appear differently in those who aren’t white,” said Mukwende, who recently completed his second year of study in the medical program. Whether a rash, a bruise, blue lips or other common physical reactions, “it was clear to me that certain symptoms would not present the same on my own skin,” said Mukwende, who was born in Zimbabwe and now lives in London. “I knew that this would be a problem for patients of a similar skin tone to mine, or of a darker skin tone in general.” Not only was there an absence of imagery to highlight the difference, but students were not instructed on the correct terminology to describe conditions that appear on darker skin, Mukwende said.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2020’s] [Role Model] [Advocacy] [Colorblindness] [Denial] [White Supremacy] [White Culture] [White Privilege]

7 Ways We Know Systemic Racism Is Real

by Ben & Jerry’s | Month Unknown 2020
While Barack Obama’s presidency was indeed a profound and meaningful mark of true progress, racism, of course, never really went away. The presence of a black president, hockey starOpens a new window, or movie-franchise superheroOpens a new window, however welcome and exciting, cannot reverse centuries of racial injustice. In fact, racism is built right into every level of our society in ways that might surprise you. Includes a video from Demos “We Must Talk about Race to Fix Economic Inequality.”
TAGS: [Strategies] [2020’s] [Systemic Racism] [Tips-Dos/Don’ts] [Employment] [Economics] [Prison System] [Housing] [Policing] [Advocacy] [White Privilege] [White Supremacy] [Accountability] [Politics]

There Is No Such Thing as a ‘White Ally’ — “TNSWA” Part II

by Catherine Pugh, Esq. | July 2020
Part II of TNSWA series. Racism is not mine, it’s yours, and it’s not called “help” when it’s your mess we’re cleaning. Part I is available here. I get stuck when I try to see the “White Ally” label as something bigger than a White woobie. Normally, that’s no problem, but this woobie comes at the expense of Black living. “White Ally” remains a term I neither use nor care for. Originally, I kept my own counsel here because my objections felt cranky. “White Ally” was a deft marketing plan recasting potential “haters” as heroes, but hardly a reason to engage. As it happens, I have no love for “White Privilege” either and shrugged it off from within the same genre of indifference. “White Privilege” was our ironic tongue-click when you acted like the child who commits patricide and then begs an orphan’s mercy. As with the other, it merited little attention. Then Travis and George McMichael executed Ahmaud Arbery, and everything changed. It is from this place that There Is No Such Thing as a White Ally was born. So many questions to ask ourselves.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2020’s] [Individual Change] [Accountability] [Definitions] [Systemic Racism] [White Blindness] [White Privilege] [Anti-Racism] [-ing While Black] [Police Shootings] [Policing] [White Fragility/Tears] [“All Lives Matter”] [Advocacy]

Do’s and Don’ts for Bystander Intervention

by American Friends Service Committee Staff | Date Unknown
If you witness public instances of racist, anti-Black, anti-Muslim, anti-Trans, or any other form of oppressive interpersonal violence and harassment, use these tips on how to intervene while considering the safety of everyone involved. Available to download as a PDF.
TAGS: [Collective Action] [2010’s] [Bystander Intervention] [Tips-Dos/Don’ts] [Role Model] [Individual Change] [Strategies] [Advocacy] [Quaker] [Faith-Based/Spiritual]

Addressing Racist Rhetoric in the U.S. Elections- Updated

by John Michael | December 2015
“The language of hate is often coded, but was understood by two Boston adults, who beat a homeless Hispanic man. They pointed to Donald Trump as their inspiration. The use of hate speech threatens all people of color. Citizens of this nation need to promote the “Beloved Community,” not walk down a road of racism.”
TAGS: [2010’s] [Faith-Based/Spiritual] [Advocacy] [Strategies] [Collective Action]

Meet the Young Activists of Color Who Are Leading the Charge Against Climate Disaster

by Nylah Burton | October 2019
These US-based activists know firsthand the impact racism, poverty, and colonialism have had on the planet. Not listening to “youth activists of color” we are only viewing it through “white eyes” and “we miss so much.” Vox speaks to a few of these teens to give us “a glimpse into some of the youth of color who are leading the climate movement in their communities – and who are motivated by the fierce need to protect the most vulnerable.”
TAGS: [Strategies] [2010’s] [POC Climate Action] [Role Model] [Advocacy] [Accountability] [Silencing POC]

Stop Asking People of Color to Get Arrested to Protest Climate Change

by Tatiana Garavito and Nathan Thanki | September 2019
Stop Asking People of Color to Get Arrested to Protest Climate Change Extinction Rebellion is overwhelmingly shaped by the concerns, priorities, and ideas of middle-class white people. If it doesn’t tackle white supremacy, it doesn’t serve us.
TAGS: [Strategies] [2010’s] [POC Climate Action] [Advocacy] [White Supremacy]

What Do 2020 Candidates Mean When They Say ‘Reparations’?

*Paywall Alert

by Conor Friedersdorf | June 2019
Even highly informed commentators lack a shared understanding of what the word means.  But among some influential Democratic constituencies—educated, left-of-center Brooklyn, for example—reparations is understood differently, as illustrated by a roundtable on the subject broadcast last month by a Brooklyn TV station…it clarifies the degree to which Americans discussing the subject can talk past one another or mistake how much disagreement actually exists, fueling everything from mild confusion to needless polarization.
TAGS: [Reparations] [Strategies] [2010’s] [Advocacy] [Politics]

Meet the New Generation of Black Climate Leaders

by Nexus Media | February 2019
Twenty-two experts and advocates talk about the struggle for racial justice in the face of rising temperatures. “Organizers and activists long relegated to the sidelines are gaining momentem – and political power – as they push for bold solutions to the greatest challenge of our time.”
TAGS: [2010’s] [Role Model] [Economics] [History] [Art & Culture] [Advocacy]
[Social Justice] [Environment] [Strategies]

19 Youth Climate Activists of Color Who Are Fighting to Protect the Earth

by Sherronda J. Brown | September 2019
Meet the black and brown teens fighting to protect their lands from industrial, military, and colonialist actions that have caused climate change. This list is not extensive and far from complete—there are many more BIPOC youths leading the fight against climate change and demanding that world leaders step-up and confront how colonialism continues to destroy the earth and Wear Your Voice highlights some of these teens.
TAGS: [Role Model] [2010’s] [POC Climate Action] [Advocacy] [Collective Action] [Environment]
[Strategies]

Quakerism and racism: Reclaiming Faith From the Wreckage of White Supremacy

by Greg Elliott | December 2015
With the recent rise in hate speech and hate crimes against Muslims, the ongoing white backlash against Black Lives Matter and the Movement for Black Lives, and the recent non-indictment of the border patrol agents responsible for the murder of Anastasio Hernandez-Rojas, the need for racial justice organizing has never been more urgent. As mosques are burned, as unarmed Black people are murdered by police, and as millions of undocumented migrants are detained and deported, Communities of Color and their white allies, co-conspirators, and comrades are responding with a sense of urgency that is required by these dire times.
TAGS: [Quaker] [Faith-Based/Spiritual] [2010’s] [Strategies] [Advocacy] [Collective Action]

BLM Uses Facebook’s ‘Safety Check’ To Declare That We’re In A State Of Crisis

by Zahara Hill | January 2017

“Being black in America is a national emergency,” BLM said. “Black people are being attacked and murdered while doing day-to-day activities. Black Lives Matter launched a website that allows social media users to mark themselves unsafe for being black in America. Referred to as the “Unsafety Check,” Tuesday’s initiative is part of #Reclaim&Resist, the movement’s week of action which spans from Martin Luther King Jr. Day to Inauguration Day. Facebook safety checks are typically used to ensure friends that you’re alive and well after a potentially dangerous nearby incident has occurred. But BLM created its own take on the check to symbolize the general sense of fear plaguing black Americans in the present political atmosphere.

TAGS: [Collective Action] [2010’s] [Black Lives Matter] [Accountability] [-ing While Black] [Advocacy] [Strategies]