by Kate Riffle Roper As a white mother of two black children, three white children, who all have a white father, I have something to say. Racism exists. It is real. And it is everywhere, all the time. When I brought my boys home they were the cutest, sweetest babies …
by Judy Helfand Recently various friends have asked me if I’m scared about the upcoming presidential election, which prompted some self-reflection as to why I’m not. There’s nothing surprising to me about the outpouring of hate and racial invective. Trump does not seem like the devil incarnate, simply another manifestation …
Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi founded #BlackLivesMatter in 2012, after George Zimmerman, responsible for the death of Trayvon Martin, was acquitted for his crime. Trayvon Martin was posthumously charged for his own death. These women moved the hashtag from social media into the streets, holding conference calls, connecting …
Use this ‘cheat sheet’ to guide your reading into the amazing 85 pp document from the Movement for Black Lives. Also, check out Disability Solidarity: Completing the “Vision for Black Lives” a criticism of the platform by Black disability thinkers and activists. ~a quick view of the demands~ Created by Nikki Pyle …
The Spirituality of Confronting Privilege, Entitlement, and Cultural Appropriation by Christopher Bowers Grief and Re-Membering: The Spirituality of Confronting Privilege, Entitlement, and Cultural Appropriation was originally published at Satya Lightworks | Rekindling Ancient Wisdom I live in a beautiful, affluent little town infused with the legacy of 60s-era hippie activism …
As told to Z It was a quiet summer afternoon and I was just getting home from playing tennis with my daughter. I parked in front of my home and was unloading my gear from my car. A silver car slowed down as it was passing me and the white …
by Judy Helfand At the July dialog on White Silence, 63 participants showed up for the meeting, creating an energetic buzz of voices. We were meeting in response to people of color calling out for white people to speak up. The need for active confrontation to the status quo of …
By Adrienne Lauby Recently, I went to the funeral for Cirak Tesfazgi, a 32 year old homeless man who was murdered Sunday night in Santa Rosa. I didn’t know him but many of my homeless friends did. He was asleep outdoors near downtown Santa Rosa when someone he didn’t know …
by Z In June there was electricity in the air; change was just around the corner. The non-white members of the Unitarian Universalist Association (Unitarians) were pressing for more visibility as a group and accountability from the white members at the upcoming General Assembly. My friend Laura was beside herself …
by Judy Helfand An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz sat on my bookshelf for months. I’d picked it up because I admired the author, having read her memoir Red Dirt: Growing Up Oakie, which seriously grappled with whiteness. When I finally took the history off …