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 …
5 Ways to Take Action after Charleston & Making Connections to Police Violence by Isaac Lev Szmonko Before Dylann Storm Roof took the lives of 9 Black people at the Emanuel AME church in Charleston Wednesday, he said, “I have to do it. You rape our women and you’re taking …
The room was humming with voices and energy as we dragged in extra chairs to accommodate the 36 folks who turned out to dialog on #BlackLivesMatter. After starting with some readings from Alicia Garza, co-founder of #BLACKLIVESMATTER, everyone shared with a few others what they hoped to get from the …