True Social Justice & Racial Equity Is Hard Work
re: domestic violence (trigger warning) Why I am terrified: Black folks have been in an abusive: physically, mentally, and emotional relationship with America for 400 years, and Donald Trump, specifically, for 4 years. If you know anything about domestic violence, you know why we, well, me (I can’t speak for […]
Written July 3rd, 2016 I love my family. We are an eclectic mix of folks. Mostly good, sometimes bad, with a few really bad apples thrown in. But, flaws and all, I unapologetically, unconditionally love my family. Is there stuff we need to work on? Yes. Am I still holding […]
Dear Black (Brown) folks: FIVE beautiful children have been murdered by gun violence in the last two weeks in Chicago. Rightfully, everyone wants “justice” and for someone to turn in the shooter. The thing that is the hardest for Black folks, is to humanize criminals. We have drunk the kool-aid […]
To my White friends: Don’t tell me how you feel about racism. Tell me what you are going to do to stop racism. I know racism is gross. I know racism is evil. I know racism is horrific. But what I don’t know is… what are YOU GOING TO DO […]
This weekend over 100 people were shot in Chicago. And, of course, many folks, including Black folks are angry and want vengeance and punishment of the shooters. They are also including them as enemies to Black folks. But the shooters are victims of racism and perpetrators of racism. A […]
An Inconvenient Truth: There is Racism and White Supremacy in NPOs, too If you are giving money to organizations to help Black folks and support Black liberation; that isn’t run by Black folks, you are not doing anti-racist work. Racism isn’t solved by funding nonprofit organizations that are run and […]
Having a child with a disability, and becoming disabled myself, has put me through a boot-camp that prepared me for the war for quality services for folks with disabilities. I had to learn a new language (so many acronyms!), preferred labels, federal laws, state laws, service providers, what is an […]
News flash: We have been celebrating Black History Month all wrong. Black History Month (originally “Negro History Week”) was started by Carter G. Woodson in 1915. He had a very simple theory to promote the liberation and success of Black people: Black history has to be taught without centering Whiteness. […]
Many White folks, especially northern white liberals who voted for Obama, would argue they are not racist, even while they actively cause harm to Black folks by their racist actions. Since so many people don’t know what racism is or how they are racist, here are three racist things that […]
Each year, my daughter and I give a speech at her school’s MLK Mass. I often talk about race to adults in very direct, blunt language. I wanted to make sure I kept my moral compass about being “real about racism” but also to have it age-appropriate and understandable […]