Like me, many white people are in the midst of a great unlearning - we're witnessing the Black Lives Matter Movement and many of us are participating in it and wanting to support it. And doing this means addressing internalised beliefs on race, biases, actions and the privilege we hold. As discussed a lot recently, racial justice and climate justice are deeply linked. You can read more about that here. In order to repair climate damage, we also need racial justice. But as many of us educate ourselves more on racism and how to be anti-racist, there's a chance that the prolonged feelings of discomfort this education brings will cause us to lose steam. But we can't lose steam. We are already so late to this fight, late to wake up to racial injustices and our role in them, and we have to keep up the momentum. This conversation is new for a lot of people, and you might be struggling with the next steps, and how to ensure they are constructive.
Here are some posts and articles I found helpful on what the next steps are:
This twitter thread posted by Tatiana Mac outlines key ways to keep the momentum going and ensure that we take action long after media coverage fades.
White people:
We gotta talk about burn out. You aren't conditioned to be thinking about race this much because of your privilege. We need you to do all you're doing today, tomorrow, and until the end of time.
Let's talk about ways to focus on current & systemic change.
👇🏽
— Tatiana Mac (@TatianaTMac) June 5, 2020
Below are some of the tips she gave with additional resources to help you moving forward underneath each one (read Tatiana Mac's full thread on Twitter here ) :
- "Write scripts about how to confront racism with colleagues, friends, family. Figure out your boundaries, like when you'll walk away. Prepare to lose people."
Here are some posts on how to have these conversations in your school, workplace, and other spaces:
View this post on Instagram
During my public address earlier last week, one of the intentional action items I suggested was holding your employer, community or organization accountable for how they are showing up for racial justice. I offered a template for connecting with employers and there was a lot of requests for how to demand accountability from your other areas of your life. Here you can hold your local school district accountable! With this document you can copy, paste and edit for your details, sign and ship it off to the email inbox who needs to see it. • Head to the link in my bio for a free template you may find helpful in addressing the need for accountability from the leaders in your local school district. • Thank you to @tamaralalande and @anna_y8s for volunteering to draft this for our use. We all must do our part in every way that we can. This is work that needs to be enacted in all situations not just upon the death of yet another black life. • #RevolutionNow • If you find value in learning with me please consider joining us over at @thegreatunlearn. Link in bio 🙏🏾 • Tag a classmate, friend, neighbor, colleague and anyone else whom you would like to suggest make use of this document as well. • Edit: you have permission to share this in spaces that may find value in this tool.
A post shared by Rachel Elizabeth Cargle (@rachel.cargle) on
Here's a similar template from Rachel Cargle on holding your employer accountable.
Click through the above post to read all slides.
- " Evaluate what your long-term commitments to this work are. Build vocab to address racism.".
Here is a post that may help build with vocab:
- "You can't learn everything rn. Make a list. Learn to find the answers yourself before asking. Take the time to actually look it up. Read multiple sources. Sit with it."
We've compiled a list (that links to many lists) for you to refer to at a later stage, but here's a post that may help you take more away from the sources you are reading and how it's making you feel:
- "It's going to take time and patience but research Black-owned businesses to support instead. Systemic: Boycott massively complicit companies."
Many directories exist which will help you find BIPOC owned businesses and we've linked some of them below. These lists aren't comprehensive- be part of the solution and submit black owned businesses in your area to the sites.
In the UK:
In Australia:
View this post on Instagram
It can be hard to know if they're a blak owned business and if your money's going to the right place??? @tradingblak is going the extra mile to connect with businesses to establish their status and further the conversation. Our lists are growing and this is where we're at today. Supporting blak businesses, blak voices and blak empowerment.
A post shared by NUNGALA CREATIVE (@nungalacreative) on
In South Africa:
Whilst you may have already spent time reading and educating yourself online and sharing helpful posts it's time to ensure we take our activism off Instagram and implement systems and actions into our lives so that these conversations don't stop. If you found the posts and resources shared in this article helpful, remember to follow the creators, support them, pay for their work if you can and credit it when you share it.
Written by Frances Housdon
Fran is a young South African journalism graduate passionate about the outdoors, and getting other people to enjoy them with her. She loves paddling down long rivers, exploring big mountains and consuming bulk quantities of peanut butter.
Read this next: Antiracism Resources, Petitions To Sign And Where To Donate
Header image: Koshu Kunii/ Unsplash