True Social Justice & Racial Equity Is Hard Work
Dear Black Folks: We need to have a hard, honest, but real conversation. We have a race problem in the social service sector, a lack of Black ran organizations, leaders, and Black created policies. Right now, we have White folks (well-intentioned, I am sure) but White people, who have professionalized […]
As a racial scholar and advocate, with an interest in White liberal northern racism, I’ve been closely following the racial equity “vision statement” conversation with Oak Park Village Board. First it’s amazing that there is this much struggle over A VISION STATEMENT! It’s just words! There is literally nothing actually […]
Registration is now open for the pilot class of Black School! This will be for ages 8-12. The program will run from July 15th-July 19th at Schroder Park in Broadview, IL. Only 15 students will be admitted! All students are accepted regardless of their ability to pay. However, if you […]
Racism in America, and, racism in Oak Park is nothing new. But calling out the racism of White liberals, unapologetically and blatantly, is a newer trend. For better or worse, most White conservatives own and are unapologetic with their racism. As an anti-racism advocate, my writing creed is, “call racism, […]
By ShaRhonda Knott Dawson I love my community. I live in an incredibly diverse cluster of suburbs in West Suburban Cook County (Chicago.) By far, the most popular suburb of my local suburban cluster is Oak Park. It is a beautiful village, full of stunning architectural homes by famed architect, […]
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union address. Like many other U.S. citizens, I see our current president as deeply flawed, lacking in empathy, racist and unable to take responsibility for his actions. But as a Black woman, I view Donald Trump as just another tone-deaf, […]
THIS IS A POST FOR PEOPLE WHO IDENTIFY AS BLACK OR ARE MIXED WITH BLACK Okay, I’ve been warned by multiple people, not to write this, because I will be vilified. And, I tried to let it go out of my spirit, but I couldn’t. After a particularly difficult conversation, […]
Around middle school, I began to grasp the civil rights movement. In a real way; not the way we teach it in school. I understood, on visceral level, the terrorism my family endured in Arkansas and Illinois. I could conceptualize the historical structural and institutional reality of American racism that was: Slavery, The […]
January 29, 2018 An interesting phrase, with an equally interesting hashtag, has started to go around: #StayWoke. This phrase was especially present during the Women’s March after the inauguration of President Trump. There are many different ways to interpret what it means to “Be Woke;” but I posit, that instead of just focusing […]
“God never intended for one group of people to live in superfluous inordinate wealth, while others live in abject deadening poverty.”- Dr. King, “Strength to Love”, 1963 Although I’m not a history teacher, I love history and work hard to teach true history to my daughters. One of the hardest […]