Hey APW,
I–and the whole team at APW—comes to you today without the right words. Most of us have been crying on and off for days. The team tried to work on an essay on whiteness and race yesterday, which involved us all arguing with each other for hours, because well… no words seem like the right words right now. Other than their names: Alton Sterling. Philando Castile. Brent Thompson, Patrick Zamarripa, Michael Krol, and two additional Dallas police officers.
As a human, I’m hit by overwhelming fear for so many people I love, for my East Oakland neighborhood and community, and for the heavily black city where I grew up. I’m struggling with the knowledge that I benefit from the construct of whiteness, and there is no specific action I can take that will offset that. So in the face of an overwhelming sense of hopelessness and grief, I’m trying to take small actions. Listening. Reading. Donating to the ACLU Civil Defense Fund for police brutality. Standing in solidarity. And living with the knowledge that nothing I can do alone will be enough.
Here is your open thread.
MEG
Link Roundup
This: “Concrete Ways to Be an Actual Ally to Black People.”
Curriculum for White Americans to Educate Themselves on Race and Racism-from Ferguson to Charleston
What You Can Do Right Now About Police Brutality
This is what white people can do to support #BlackLivesMatter
