By Kim Christensen, Editor of Seismic Sisters
No matter how bad the news gets, I look to the power and potential of this sisterhood to grab the opportunity to change the culture, redesign our society and create something better. This week exposed so much of the ugliness that exists in American culture. It showed the toxic legacy of slavery is still visibly with us, wholly unresolved and causing harm on a daily basis. Black people are still being killed by police – George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, an EMT shot in her own home by police in a midnight raid. Breonna Taylor was an aspiring nurse and is now the latest to join the tragic list of Black women whose unjust death is being spotlighted by the #SayHerName campaign.
Marchers at Justice for George Floyd and Black Lives Matter march in San Francisco on May 31, 2020
Photo by Tumay Aslay
The legacy of slavery is also what’s causing African-Americans to die from COVID-19 in higher numbers. And now we’re all getting familiar with the phenomenon of ‘Karening’ and how that can have deadly consequences or lead to the arrest of Black people – or in some rare cases for Karen to lose her job. #BlackLivesMatter has done so much work to educate white people about the reality of American culture, its deadly impacts, and how it has stolen opportunities, health and wealth from Black people.
Marchers at Justice for George Floyd and Black Lives Matter march in San Francisco on May 31, 2020. Photo by Tumay Aslay
Now it’s time for white people to ACT and change things. White people have a moral responsibility to learn about ‘white privilege’ and begin now to support local Black-led community organizations. As Kim Crayton says, white people. . .“We need you to not wait around looking for orders but to actively engage by asking ‘how can I help?’, ‘where do you need me?’, ‘who can I connect you to?’, and ‘how can I fund this?’ to name a few. ”
We can take action TODAY! I just donated to one of my favorite local groups, Community Awareness Resources Entity, which is providing food deliveries and support to isolated seniors and families in public housing. Other Black-led grassroots organizations in the Bay Area you might consider funding include: Black Futures Lab or She The People.
Marchers at Justice for George Floyd and Black Lives Matter march in San Francisco on May 31, 2020. Photo by Tumay Aslay
Educating ourselves about the issues and what we can do is key.
Some helpful teachers and books include:
Rachel Cargle, writer, activist, and leader of anti-racism workshops @RachelCargle
Ijeoma Oluo, author of “So You Want to Talk about Race” @IjeomaOluo
Dr. Bernice King, daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. @berniceking
Kimberlé Crenshaw, African American Policy Forum @sandylocks
Dr. A. Breeze Harper, a diversity, equity, and inclusion expert in the Bay Area @breezeharper
Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, author of “How to be an Antiracist” @DrIbram
Confronting the damage caused by white supremacy and repairing our culture and institutions is the work we need to be doing right now. Fortunately, the crises we are in right now mean that we can solve many problems at once and create a joyful loving healthy future. A ‘Beloved Community’ as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called it -- that is what we have the opportunity to create.