“By resisting (or even embracing) fear, guilt, and shame, we can open ourselves up to conversations about race that actually create a deeper understanding.” Amelia Shroyer How do you feel when you receive feedback that your behavior as a white person looked or felt racist to someone else? As a …
by Judy Helfand At the day-long singing and drumming retreat on Saturday, I failed to fully step up and confront cultural appropriation and lack of respect for the people whose drums were enriching our lives. In a circle of around 50, all of us but one appeared to be …
by Judy Helfand On the first night of the 2015 Geography of Hope conference, I met Lauret Savoy while standing in the food line. She was an engaging conversationalist and I was almost sorry as we reached the serving tables. When I learned she was a presenter, I awaited her …
By: Arlene Eisen Section 1: The Enduring War on Black People in the US Two years ago today the acquittal of George Zimmerman re-kindled a movement against impunity for police and vigilante killers. Once the classic method of lynching was the rope. Now it is the policeman’s bullet … We …
by Judy Helfand Musicians seem to me better able to work across ethnic and racial boundaries than most folks, exploring, adapting, and changing music springing from various cultures. Respect Yourself: the Story of Stax Records surprised me by exploring, not only the music recorded at Stax, but the racial history …
by Judy Helfand The “Oregon Standoff” seems to me a blatant illustration of the white supremacist foundations of the U.S. I wake up every morning incredulous that it’s still going on. That law enforcement allows the occupiers supporters to come and go, bringing supplies, setting up “perimeter reinforcements,” talking with …
Anonymous Here is an account of a recent Copwatching incident—my first ever, and totally unplanned —in Sonoma County: how it happened I was in transit; a friend was dropping me off in Petaluma when we saw a cop car pulled over/parked on the street, unusual in this well-off neighborhood. As …
by Judy Helfand At a recent gathering someone asked if there was more activism in the 60s than today. I felt strongly that there is as much today, but it’s not as visible on mainstream media. Then he asked a question about what was happening in the 60s, …
by Wendy-O Matik While sleep escapes her, she lists her confessions. I was conceived in part because of race this was 1966 I was delivered in a white-walled hospital on white bed sheets beside the spirit of thousands of white babies before me amidst white doctors and white nurses while …
I teach at a community college and this morning had in my email a long letter from another faculty member who found the shooting at Umpqua College to be a “clarifying moment.” This caught my attention but as I read through I became more and more angry and puzzled. My …