Mistakes were made

Hi readers!

Recently I’ve been thinking about creating a recurring post where I share mistakes that I’ve made. 😅 I can’t even believe I just wrote that sentence, but it might be helpful for others to learn from and not make the same mistakes. Specifically, I’m talking about aggressions or micro aggressions that I notice in hindsight or have pointed out to me.

Our first example will be the fact that I didn’t know Cardi B had a rap career before like 2 years ago… 🙄 We were talking about her in a meeting at work and I said something like about music being new to her and my coworker was like, Nooo..she has been rapping for years. Aauughh. I shouldn’t talk about things that I don’t know about! This is classic cultural appropriation, me inserting myself in a conversation to say something that’s a) not necessary and b) not true. 🙃🙃🙃 Sorry Cardi… Sorry CADRE.. I love you guys!

Of course, apologies mean nothing without action, so, the journey continues. Onwards and upwards.

I also want to acknowledge that my friends who are people of color don’t need to hear my apologies, and that pointing out my own mistakes after the fact to someone and expecting a learning experience is asking a lot. So what I guess I’m getting at is that this post is intended for my fellow white people. Howdy.

If you like the idea of making “Mistakes were made” recurring let me know!

So much to learn, so much to do!

I haven’t blogged as much as I would have liked to, because I want to keep my posts short & to-the-point, but the topics I’m passionate about are so complex and important that it’s hard to keep it simple! I figure that just putting pen to paper (or, okay, fingers to the keyboard) is a good place to start, so here’s a little check-in and update on what I’ve been doing.

-Continuing to learn from people on social media in an EXPONENTIAL way. Every new person or organization I follow leads me to another! It’s seriously amazing. Probably about a year ago (maybe even less) I made a conscious decision to try to follow more people of color on social media. Recognizing a distinct lack of variety in the voices I exposed myself to on a daily basis, I set out to “diversify” my social media feeds with the art, writing, and ideas of people of color. This was the BEST decision I could have made, because it has led me to some incredible leaders who are truly changing the way I see and understand the world, and specifically, the fight for social justice. Here are some accounts that have been especially eye-opening for me: @desireeadaway (mentioned in my last blog post), @ijeomaoluo, @1thatgotawayy, @3tokenbrowngirls, @shaunking, @whitenonsenseroundup,  @guerillafeminism, @r29unbothered, @blairimani, @wildmysticwoman, and @blackpuertoricanphd. These are all Instagram handles, but many of these creators are also found on Twitter and Facebook. A lot of them are activists and educators, which has been the most helpful for me in my allyship journey, but I also love finding artists who are people of color too! There is SO MUCH amazing content out there. All you have to do is look. ❤ Also, shout out to my girl @glennondoyle, who is an incredible example of a white woman amplifying POC/WOC voices, and who led me to many of these accounts. (PS Now I want to work on adding more queer, disabled, and indigenous voices to my feeds!!)

-Working on projects that will help increase college access for high schoolers who are students of color, first-generation to college, and/or from lower-income backgrounds. I am so fortunate to have an inspiring, insanely hard-working boss who is bringing new and important initiatives to our office. Recently I’ve been working on developing curriculum for an online mentoring program that will pair high school juniors and seniors with current college students throughout the college search, application, and decision process. Being able to do allyship work AT work is huge for me. Putting my energy and resources towards something meaningful, that can actually have a direct impact on under-served populations, is deeply fulfilling and also allows me to have periods of rest & relaxation outside of work. I think that if I weren’t doing something like this during my workday, I would feel more pressure to be doing social justice and anti-racism work in my off hours. I absolutely do engage with these issues and ideas outside of a workplace context, but I am learning the importance of taking breaks. I need to have balance and allow myself to disconnect, unplug, and just “be.” Those moments are important and regenerating, giving me energy and passion to continue an uphill battle day after day.

-Getting active in my union. I’ve recently become a member of our delegate council, which means I try to act as a bridge between the union members in my area and the union leadership. I attend delegate council meetings twice a month and have learned SO much in the past few months about the way our specific union works as as well as about unions and the labor movement in general. Two wonderful opportunities have come about from this. First of all, I’m currently participating in a book club through my union’s Committee on Racial Equity (CORE). We are about a month in – we are reading So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo (AMAZING!) and meeting weekly. It’s often the best and most meaningful part of my work week. Secondly, I will have the opportunity to attend a conference at Hampshire College through the Women’s Institute for Leadership Development. My union is paying for the whole thing! I will get to meet and work with other women involved in the labor movement and take workshops. Yasss.

Ok, I think that’s more than enough for now. Talk soon and happy Friday, y’all!

 

Webinar reflection: “Unpacking White Supremacy Values in Organizations”

I just had a chance to watch a free webinar from Desiree Adaway & Jessica Fish (of The Adaway Group) entitled “Unpacking White Supremacy Values in Organizations.” What a great addition to my Thursday afternoon – thank you, Desiree & Jessica!

I’d like to share a few of my takeaways and images of my favorite slides. Before I begin, though, let’s acknowledge the phrase “white supremacy” and the fact that it might cause some to bristle. As Desiree pointed out, using the phrase “white supremacy” causes some people to feel defensive, because it makes them feel that they have just been called a “white supremacist.” However, that is not the case! Rather, white supremacy is referring to the SYSTEM in which our society operates – a system that privileges white people over people of color. So the phrase is not an attack on white people, but rather a recognition of the racial reality in which we live.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the webinar – some paraphrased and some direct:

• If you have to justify why this work (diversity work; anti-oppression work) is important to your organization’s leadership, you are already behind.
• If you are doing the work, get beyond patting yourself on the back for how great your mission is, and ask yourself in a real way – what does it mean to be an anti-oppressive organization, and how will we put our mission/values into action?
• White folks: leverage your whiteness (white privilege) and use it to dismantle white supremacy.
• Along those same lines, white folks have a responsibility to educate other white folks about the system of white supremacy.
• Inclusive workplaces are not afraid to talk about these issues.
• Being “colorblind” means ignoring very real power dynamics.
• Don’t waste your time and energy “talking to a wall.” Instead, focus on talking with people who are “teachable, reachable, and ready.” Engage in dialogue, not debate.

And finally, my favorite quote from Desiree – “How do you have relationships that are transformational, not transactional?”

I really enjoyed this straightforward, easy-to-digest webinar. It was a great introduction into how the system of white supremacy plays out in the workplace, and helped provoke thought about what can be done to change that, on both a personal and organizational level. Over 400 people attended the webinar, which is amazing. Great job, Desiree & Jessica – and thank you again!

Below are a couple of slides from the webinar that I found quite powerful. Do you like my Stitch background? 😉 The Adaway Group is also offering a summer intensive on “Whiteness at Work;” learn more here. Plus, you can follow Desiree on Instagram and Twitter at @desireeadaway.

Visit to Safety Harbor Mound: colonizers are at it again

This past weekend I had the chance to travel to Florida – the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Beach area. It was kind of random that my sister and I ended up going there, but once I did some research one of the things I wanted to do most was visit one of the indigenous mounds in the area. Mounds are made up of alternating layers of shells and dirt and served as central points in cities, where ceremonies might take place, etc. – if I understand correctly. In person, they just look like a hill. Haha 😜

There are two mounds within about 20 miles of each other in this area. One is Jungle Prada de Navaez Park, where Panfilo de Narvaez landed on April 15, 1528. I didn’t get to visit there but I was just dying to see this sign in person!! Like…… damn. “From the sight of this ancient Indian village was launched the first exploration by white man of the North American continent.”

See the rest of the visitor photos at Jungle Prada de Navaez Park Google Maps site.

The one I did end up visiting was Safety Harbor Site mound, which was closer to our hotel and is also the largest mound in Tampa Bay area. It’s in a beautiful park in a pretty area and looks out over Tampa Bay. I was there on a gray, drizzling, cloudy but warm morning and there were lots of people walking their dogs and enjoying the park where the mound is located, Phillipe Park. Lizards, flowers, cool looking birds, and giant trees draped with Spanish moss abounded!

But now is the part when I’m gonna bring race and colonization into it… 😄 You know how I do.

First of all, get this. The Safety Harbor mound (and that’s clearly not its indigenous name) was the MAIN AREA of the CAPITAL CITY of the Tocobaga nation, who were the ONLY people recorded to have EVER lived on that site before colonization. They had lived in that EXACT same spot from 900 BC – 1600 AD, when they were successfully killed off by disease, genocide or a combination of both and merged with another tribe. That’s 2500 YEARS. (How old is the US again? Oh yeah, 242.)

And all we have bothered to do to commemorate the site of this indigenous city is put a retaining wall around the mound and put up one sign, just one sign, inside a park that’s named after Odet Philippe, a plantation owner from the 1800s known for introducing grapefruit to the US. 🙄

I mean, 🙄 (aggressive eye roll).

The other weird thing was that neither of these mounds were advertised on Google or any tourist sites I visited. I am a big planner and Google is my bff! But the only reason I even found out they were in the area was from another traveler’s personal blog – I’ll try to find the link and post it here.

I get so riled up about this and I have some questions!!

Like, why isn’t this a bigger deal? Why don’t we sink to our knees in tears at the site of white man’s first landing in North America, mourning all the loss of life and culture that was to come? How have we allowed this history to be all but erased? Why do we continue to teach pilgrims & Native Americans to schoolchildren every year as if its a happy little Thanksgiving legend instead of recognizing it for what it was – the harrowing attempts of all indigenous people on this continent to survive over hundreds and hundreds of years of continuous genocide and subjugation? Why have we no respect for the cultures that came before ours? Can you imagine if in 250 or 500 years all that remained of Boston was the capitol dome and there was just one little sign mentioning “Oh yeah, by the way, this used to be something in a world gone by?”

..

I am so, so grateful that I took the time to visit Safety Harbor site and have a moment of reflection and offer my respect and apology to the memory of the Tocobaga people. Thanks for taking the time to read this. If you’re interested in learning more about these indigenous communities, here’s a website I liked: http://www.sacredlandspreservationandeducation.org/mp_bizarre_tocobaga.aspx.

Personal Professional Development

I have been trying to get in the habit of reading at least 2 articles per day as personal “professional development.” I work on the diversity recruitment & enrollment team of our undergraduate admissions department, and I’m passionate about racial and social justice. These are the topics of many of the articles I save and add to my “Articles to Read” Google Doc, which I have starred. I also save and add articles about workplace habits, higher education, and more.  I find most of these articles on social media through Facebook or Twitter, or through my daily update email from the New York Times.

The next step, which I’ve been meaning to start for awhile, is blogging about good resources I come across as well as my thoughts on different articles and topics. So although this is very basic, I’m starting by sharing my thoughts on one of the articles I read today: 7 Things Black People Want Their Well-Meaning White Friends to Know, on Upworthy, by Erin Canty. This article references the short film “Your Black Friend” by Ben Passmore, which I have seen and enjoyed. Here are some takeaways…

#1 on Canty’s list is “You’re going to have to get uncomfortable,” which refers to having to speak up when you witness racism in everyday life. This is undoubtedly true, but I also think you have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable even when it’s something about YOU that needs to change, not just about when others need to change. In my opinion, it’s actually a lot harder and more uncomfortable to realize something YOU are doing is wrong or needs changing than it is to call someone else out. As a white person doing anti-racism work, you will undoubtedly make mistakes and also uncover some of your own behaviors or attitudes that are a little ugly. Being able to accept that and do your best to change is the key to being a good ally and frankly, a good person.

#3 is “We are constantly monitoring our surroundings and adjusting our clothes, hair, speed, and speech to maintain white comfort.” This is also called code-switching. Learn about it – it’s fascinating, and also reveals how much extra unseen work POC are doing constantly just in order to survive in a world of white supremacy.

#5 is “…performative blackness is really uncomfortable.” The author mentions “using your ‘blaccent’ when you’re around me and other people.” I think I may have read this article earlier this year, because I remember reading that and getting a sinking feeling – realizing I had done that recently to a black coworker. I said something like “das on you” or “thass on you” in a kind of accent. (Actually this is a quote from an SNL skit about alarm clocks that I really liked at one time and I have been saying it since then, but who would possibly know that?) It came off like I was using a “black” voice to say something to him, a black man. It was a total micro-aggression. Ugh. One thing I have learned lately is that, at least for me, part of becoming comfortable with myself and my role in racial justice work is “leaning in” to my whiteness. I am white, and that’s okay. I talk white, I dress white, I am white. That’s who I am. I don’t have to try to be less white in order to be anti-racist.

#7 mentions this: “We can’t be expected to dismantle white supremacy on our own.” For me, it is a moral duty. I love the quote by Dr. King, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” I am helping to bend the arc through my actions and my words. Once my eyes were opened to the reality of the society we are living in, it would have been morally wrong for me to close them or to look away, even though I have the ability to do so because of my privilege. If you feel the same, I guarantee you that you will find life sweeter and your sense of self stronger if you take action. Matthew 25:40 – “Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto me.”

Comment your thoughts on the article, the video, or my blog post if you’d like!