Everything is amiss right now. 

And much of it is long overdue (except for the pandemic, because that can go straight back into the depths of hell). 

If you’ve been tuning in to your news channels or your social media feeds for even a millisecond during this last week, you’ve likely seen brands, leaders, and influencers emerge to fill the chasm of silence, take their quiet ideologies, and finally put them into visible action.

And sure, if we’re in a position of power, of privilege, of leadership, then we are given a greater responsibility to use those positions for good. Anything less feels like blatant and inexcusable approval.

But here’s the caveat: Being in the position to DO GOOD does not mean that you’re prepared OR equipped to actually do the work.

And what’s more? This can be where the rule of doing more harm than good comes into play.

If you want to be an agent of change, then you have to earn the right to speak into someone’s life. This is the danger many of us are facing right now. We’re being called into the ever-so-critical conversation. But few of us have adequately prepared.

You don’t have to wave your woke flag for everyone to see.

If you’re white, you don’t have to make an impassioned diatribe about your white privilege.

Read the fucking room.

That means not just clucking our tongues and re-sharing one post, or alerting the world we are sad. It’s educating ourselves about institutionalized racism here in the US and around the world. It’s by engaging with the comments on social media posts. It’s by donating to relevant causes and supporting black and brown business owners. It’s by muting YOUR own regularly scheduled programming and handing the mic over.

Have you earned that right?

Here’s a roundup of links, people to follow, and ways you can help take a stand against racial inequality.

WHAT TO READ

Articles:

• Fingerprint for Success: Women of Color in the Workplace
• “The Death of George Floyd, In Context” by Jelani Cobb of The New Yorker
• “Of Course There Are Protests. The State Is Failing Black People” by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor for the New York Times
• “This Is How Loved Ones Want Us To Remember George Floyd” by Alisha Ebrahimji for CNN.
• The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning The 1619 Project is as important as ever. Take some time to read (or re-read) the entire thing, particularly this essay by Nikole Hannah-Jones
• “You shouldn’t need a Harvard degree to survive birdwatching while black” by Samuel Getachew, a 17-year-old and the 2019 Oakland youth poet laureate, for the Washington Post
• “It’s exhausting. How many hashtags will it take for all of America to see Black people as more than their skin color?” by Rita Omokha for Elle
• “The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates for The Atlantic
• “How to Make This Moment the Turning Point for Real Change” by Barack Obama in Medium

Books:

• The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
• A Spectacular Secret: Lynching in American Life and Literature by Jacqueline Goldsby
• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
• How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
• White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
• Biased by Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt
• Wilmington’s Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy by David Zucchino
• Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children In A Racially Unjust America by Jennifer Harvey

What to Watch

• The Hate U Give, a film based on the YA novel offering an intimate portrait of race in America
• Just Mercy, a film based on civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson’s work on death row in Alabama
• The 1965 debate between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley
• Becoming, a Netflix documentary following Michelle Obama on her book tour
• Let It Fall, a documentary looking at racial tensions in Los Angeles and the riots over Rodney King’s death
• When They See Us, a Netflix miniseries from Ava DuVernay about the Central Park Five
• 13th, a Netflix documentary exposing racial inequality within the criminal justice system
• I Am Not Your Negro, a documentary envisioning the book James Baldwin was never able to finish
• Selma, a film that chronicles the marches of the Civil Rights Movement

WHO TO FOLLOW

• Rachel Cargle, a writer and lecturer who explores the intersection between race and womanhood
• Ibram X. Kendi, the author of How To Be An Antiracist and Director of the Antiracism Center
• Nikkolas Smith, the artist behind portraits of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and others
• Charlene Carruthers, founder of the Black Youth Project 100
• Brittany Packnett Cunningham, co-founder of Campaign Zero, a policy platform to end police violence, and a host of Pod Save The People

WHAT TO LISTEN TO

• Still Processing, a New York Times culture podcast with Jenna Wortham and Wesley Morrison
• Seeing White, a Scene on the Radio podcast
• Code Switch, an NPR podcast tackling race from all angles
• Jemele Hill is Unbothered, a podcast with award-winning journalist Jemele Hill
• Hear To Slay, “the black feminist podcast of your dreams,” with Roxane Gay and Tressie McMillan Cottom

Hiring Black/POC, Celebrating Black Creativity, and Buying from Awesome Black-run Companies

This eye-opening thread from Shenee Howard, about allowing Black people to contribute value outside of engaging with their trauma, and constantly unpacking racism for you.

This list of incredible black artists to familiarize yourself with, support, and buy from, via @KianaMaiArt on Twitter.

This thread with a list of FABULOUS black-owned Etsy shops via @pop_reader on Twitter.

This list of Black-owned makeup brands, by ShoppeBlack—a great place to find fantastic Black-owned companies.

This list of black-owned businesses in the online marketing space, via a thread by Jade Connelly-Duggan (this list includes strategists, brand experts, copywriters, video editors, consultants, VA’s, yoga/dance instructors, etc).

Discussions + Courses

This excellent FB live by Rachel Rodgers, discussing the unfolding of recent events inside the B-School community, and encouraging white liberal business owners to examine their performativity.

This FB live by Trudi Lebrón, also exploring the B-School issue, and sharing a discussion about what an EXPLICIT commitment to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in your business looks like.

This constantly-updated list of “75 things White People can do for Racial Justice,” via Corinne Shutack on Medium.

Rise, a course to help women through this time of global crisis by founder of Self-Made Ladies, Letitia Elizabeth. It’s pay-what-you-can, but if you can afford the $111 suggested investment, you can sponsor a woman of color joining the course, as well.

An Introduction to Social Justice and Antiracism for the White Community, a course by Mirna Valerio, featuring an amazing lineup of experts! There are only 40 spots available for this one, but I believe there are a few left. 🙂

And, of course, this EPIC list of anti-racism resources for white people.

While we pray for all those protesting, as well as the injured, impacted, and afraid, I leave you with an important quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.:

“Certain conditions continue to exist in our society, which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard.

And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the N__ro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity.

And so in a real sense, our nation’s summers of riots are caused by our nation’s winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again. Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention.”

Thank you for reading. Let’s keep fighting the good fight.