The Kramer Complex
Citing a famous example of poor use of the N-word, the author asks for places where white people could learn, explore and interrogate that part of themselves related to racism
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Being an Ally
The Burden by Z
(image by Jana Curcio) Years ago, I had a conversation with two white women about the daily burden of being nonwhite in a world of whiteness. My ultimate point was we cannot understand because there is nothing like it in our white reality. We can empathize but the visceral aspect …
Free Event: Allyship for Trans Liberation
From Awareness to Action: Allyship for Trans Liberation Join us Aug. 21 for a conversation with Drew Rose from Positive Images as we explore what it means to practice intersectional allyship with trans and gender-expansive communities. Drew Rose (he/they) is the Training and Education Manager at Positive Images, Sonoma County’s …
We’ve Gotten Reports About You by The Enigma
Have you ever been in a room with a boss or supervisor where they sit you down and say they have been “getting reports about you”? Not substantiated reports with evidence, nothing like that. Simply, reports in the general sense? The dilemma, when this type of situation presents itself, is …
Aftermath of Seeing Kill Move Paradise
by Judy Helfand I’m sitting in the audience for a post-production discussion of Kill Move Paradise, a play in which four black men try to make sense of their recent killing. A white woman in the first row is speaking and I’m thinking Stop! Don’t you, a white woman, tell …
Dialog Report Back: Understanding Whiteness
At the January 11 dialog, after a brief history on the invention of whiteness (see below for an outline of points covered) participants divided into small groups to reflect on ways we individually perpetuate whiteness in our personal lives. Each group listed what came up and shared with the whole …
Post-Election Reflections
by Judy Helfand When a new member of Racial Justice Allies asked why there wasn’t more posting on our blog given all that is going on, I replied that we’d been too busy to write. But the question lingered and I reflected more deeply on what I’ve been doing over …
Historical Brief of Black Lives Matter Movement
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 …
Exposure
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 …
White Silence dialog
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 …