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 …
by Wendy-O Matik Because of white privilege, I decline to accept any position of power or authority, in the workplace and in other areas of my life. Because of white supremacy, I will shut up and listen when people of color speak. Because of the mis-education around white superiority, I …
by Judy Helfand Ever since hearing about the Napa Valley Wine Train incident where a group of black women were thrown off the tourist wine train for loud laughing I can’t get it out of my mind. Of course it illustrates the racism so much in the news lately. But …
by Judy Helfand As the Black Lives Matter movement continues to unfold, I’ve been thrashing about, asking myself what I should do, what I can do, what I want to do. Are #BlackLivesMatter leaders asking for particular support from white people? Does this apparent national upheaval require more from me …
by Lilith Rogers Sandra Bland was a loving, compassionate woman smart, spirited, with a thirst for life her family said. She had a bright future ahead. And now she’s dead. What did she do? Failed to use a turn signal on the wrong stretch of road deep in the heart …
by Adrienne Maree Brown it is our duty to fight for our freedom it is our duty to win we must love each other and protect each other we have nothing to lose but our chains – assata shakur first, we must love ourselves enough to believe in the fundamental …