July 21 2020: It is 56 days since George Floyd died at the hands of US police officers. And safe in the comfort of rural England, it’s easy to be complacent that it is somebody else’s problem.
Up until May 25th 2020 I considered myself Not Racist. I have black friends, I have travelled the world, and Being Racist was something that other people did. People who had more limited life views. I was disgusted by their thoughts and actions, but those people weren’t in my sphere. I don’t come face to face with them. They were bad people on TV, in the papers.
When we moved to Norfolk I was sad that my kids would be leaving the diversity of South London. I worried that their lives wouldn’t have the assorted community that came naturally in the capital, but I figured that it would all be ok, I grew up in rural Gloucestershire and didn’t move to London until I was 18, and I turned out ok.
But in the wake of George Floyd’s death, the worldwide outpouring, learning about Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Philando Castile. The long list of names coming from the US. I was moved too. I put the black square up. Because I’m not racist right? It was a reactive moment, but I stood behind the meaning behind it. I had to do something that day.
But as time has passed, as names, deaths and experiences emerged from the UK, as it became clear that this was not just about police brutality, nor just about America, but about institutional racism, endemic in our society. About a history that we’ve accepted, of experiences that BAME communities live daily, and as a white person, I’ve been largely able to be ignorant.
So I’ve been thinking about what it means to really be Anti-Racist. When I put that square up, it was a starting point for me to really begin to put in the work that is required to realise my privilege and do something about the inequality.
I haven’t been saying a lot publicly, because generally I haven’t been saying a lot publicly lately. It wasn’t the time for me to start talking then, so instead, I listened and began learning.
I may not live somewhere that I regularly see people being shot, attacked or judged unfairly because of the colour of their skin. But I have experienced it, and I can count on one hand the number of times I was confident enough to speak up. That’s a privilege. My brother was never in danger, my sister, my husband, my son. My friends were not being personally insulted. I was safe to remain uncomfortably silent.
Breonna Taylor was an Emergency Medical Technician from Louisville Kentucky, who worked at two hospitals as an essential worker during the pandemic.
On 13th March 2020 Police Officers made an illegal, unannounced and incorrect drug raid on her home. Breonna was shot 8 times.
Becoming Anti-Racist
It’s time to do more. If I want my children to be educated better than I have been, if I want them to understand their privilege and speak up when necessary. If I want to help people right now. This is my small platform, I can use it. I hope some of the resources below can help you too. It’s an incomplete list, and one that I’m working my way through, because it’s my work to do too. I have not read everything yet, and am not responsible for linked content. Please contact me if you have more to add, I’d welcome your contributions.
“Not seeing race does little to deconstruct racist structures or materially improve the conditions which people of colour are subject to daily. In order to dismantle unjust, racist structures, we must see race. We must see who benefits from their race, who is disproportionately impacted by negative stereotypes about their race, and to who power and privilege is bestowed upon – earned or not – because of their race, their class, and their gender. Seeing race is essential to changing the system.”
Reni Eddo-Lodge, Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race
Ways to support the Black Lives Matter movement as a small business owner, parent, human.
Educate ourselves
- Educate our children.
- Write to your MP to ask for better representation of British black history in the school curriculum (email template)
- This is a really helpful Parent’s Guide to Black Lives Matter from Yoopies.co.uk – it helps you speak to children (and possibly older generations) about a range of aspects
- Make a plan for your business
- Jayne at The Alternative is offering Diversity and Inclusion coaching for small businesses
- BITC article: Stamping out racism and inequality in business
- Developing inclusion and diversity in small businesses (blog post)
- Read. From your local library, or from black owned bookshops
- Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
- Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
- Brit(ish) by Afua Hirsch
- Natives by Akala
- I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
- Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
- I Am Not Your Baby Mother by Candice Brathwaite
- Other reading:
- News article: The racism that killed George Floyd was built in Britain by Afua Hirsch
- Anti Racist Resource Guide
- What is White Fragility?
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism
- What they didn’t teach us in school (Instagram post by @das.penman, who also has a list of resources)
- Watch
- Ruby Bridges – YouTube
- Eye of the Storm – Jane Elliott – YouTube
- 13th – Netflix
- American Son – Netflix
- Selma – Film to rent/buy
- Michael Holding West Indies Cricketer discussing racism in the UK – YouTube
- Dear Dope White Mum (Instagram post, poem by Georgina Dukes)
Diversify our consumption
- Follow people and businesses who don’t look like you. The algorithms of social media are not our friends when it comes to diversity, so actively teach them that you want to see other things, other people, other cultures. Dive on into that Instagram rabbit hole and widen your circle.
- Black Owned London (Instagram)
- This amazing Instagram post from Emily Ames has a wide list of tagged businesses
- Mona Chalabi – Data Journalist (Instagram)
- Daddy Dark RDC (Instagram)
- Candice Braithwaite (Instagram)
- Context Project (Instagram)
- Everyday Racism (Instagram)
- Dope Black Mums (Instagram – Facebook)
- Share a wider range of books (and other media they consume) with your children. Ensure diversity is represented both in authors, and characters
- The British Library’s Discovering Children’s Books section is a good start
- Photographer Charlotte Gray shared a collection of children’s books and resources for other books on Instagram.
- The Conscious Kid
- Diverse Kids Books (Instagram)
- Buy from black-owned businesses
- UK Black Owned Businesses
- Jamii – Ecommerce platform and discount card for black-owned businesses
- Black Women’s Directory (Instagram)
- Listen to other voices
- Dope Black Mums podcast
- My friend Ayozie and her daughters talk about racism on the Inside my Wardrobe podcast
- About Race podcast with Reni Eddo-Lodge, includes a list of recommended podcasts
- Great list of black-hosted podcasts curated by @roohiamber on Instagram
- In Search of Black History with Bonnie Greer (Audible Podcast)
- Read more fiction by diverse authors, broaden your perspectives.
- Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker
- The Famished Road by Ben Okri
- Small Island by Andrea Levy
Speak Up.
- If you have an audience, share your opinions and resources with them. Speak up when you disagree.
- Follow “The Ultimate Changemaker’s Guide to Starting a Movement” from Don’t Panic London, An amazing resource with steps to how you can stand up for what you believe in.
- This is an excellent post on Social Media Activism from Hootsuite. Covering how to use your platform to show genuine support for a cause and your audience.
- If you think you don’t have an audience – you do: family, friends, at work, at school, at sports clubs, at your place of worship, in your neighbourhood.
- Share and amplify black-owned businesses and black voices. (See above)
- Have difficult conversations with people. Use the education references above. Share this page with them.
- Vote – Read about the policies of your parties before you vote.
Donate
If you have the ability to donate, help causes that need funding. The publicity from the media may have died down now, so too will donations.
- Resourcing Racial Justice Provide urgent financial support to individuals, organisations, grassroots and community groups that are working to redress the impact of systemic racism on communities of colour.
- The Majonzi COVID-19 Bereavement Fund to support members of the BAME community who have lost loved ones to COVID-19. Created by The Ubele Initiative
- The United Families & Friends Campaign (UFFC), is a coalition of those affected by deaths in police, prison and psychiatric custody
- Black Lives Matter UK
- Black Lives Matter
- Show Racism the Red Card
- The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust
- Stop Hate UK
Keep Going
Commit to ongoing social activism and learning. Continue educating yourself and sharing helpful information. I’m trying.
From Instagram post by @vahinishori
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