by Judy Helfand In the months after the wildfires that burned through our little farm, taking the house and all the outbuildings, I observed the changing state of my brain as illustrated through my choice of readings. At first I wasn’t reading at all and then gradually I started drifting …
Dear Arno Michaelis, I had the privilege of hearing you speak in Santa Rosa on May 4th, after the film, White Right: Meeting the Enemy. I didn’t get a chance to speak with you but you did answer a great many of my questions. I was deeply moved by your …
The Case for Humility by Wendy Millstine I had the privilege of hearing activist and author DeRay McKesson speak on his new book, On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope. He spoke from a place of personal life stories, on-the-ground activist experience, and strategies for keeping up …
by Chad Bolla I was once asked by the parent of a 4th grade student I was working with, “how do you intend to define justice for the young people in circle?” I answered without hesitation, firm in my belief that justice is equity. I used the pizza example that …
by Judy Helfand Seeing a recommendation for The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein, on the Racial Justice Allies Facebook page, I reserved it at the library, wanting to keep up with recent writing on institutionalized racism in the U.S. When I picked up the book I saw the subtitle—A …
A Gift Poem for an Elder I Just Met by Christopher Bowers I come from a people whose burden was a big story that abhorred storytelling and thus secrets ruled with invisibility. I come from a people who thought the center of the universe was in the perpetual west and …
by Judy Helfand A friend offered us an evening of respite from dealing with the aftermaths of the fire—come over and do our laundry, take a good, long hot shower, eat turkey soup, and watch Netflix. Taking her up on it we arrived with our dirty clothes, shampoo, appetite and …
At our last Racial Justice Allies dialog in July with the community, we talked about what to do as white people when we observe or are a witness to racial discrimination. Bystander intervention is crucial now more than ever. Weekly we are hearing about stories of violent discrimination, verbal and …
Review by Judy Helfand In From #BLACKLIVES MATTER to Black Liberation Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor complicates and disturbs many of the current understandings of racism, racial history, and whiteness in the U.S., especially as these understandings are applied to organizing for freedom and justice for Black people. In the process she provides …
Thanks to all the people who attended our screening of 13th, a documentary directed by Ava DuVernay which featured Jelani Cobb, Angela Davis, Michelle Alexander, Malkia Cyril, Bryan Stevenson, Van Jones, Henry Louis Gates Jr., and James Kilgore. We had a packed house (maybe 35-40 people?) followed by a lively …