I’ve been thinking about the events of the past week and thought it might be good to share resources from the white allyship training session we did in 2018. The first from Paul Kivel and the second from the Collective Liberation Project. Thanks. Grace

6 ways to engage in Anti- Racist Practise

1) Learn about the history of racism, colonialism, whiteness
and intersectionality
→ Take responsibility for your own continued learning. Do not expect Black/Brown people to educate you. There are many resources available on these topics including books and documentaries.

2) Listen to Black & Brown people’s experiences of racism
→ Listen attentively to people of colour when they talk about racism. They are the experts.
→ Do not interrupt, play devil's advocate, get defensive or compare their experiences to your life. This is hurtful.
→ Acknowledge that you do not have the same lived experience.
→ Take the initiative to research your questions and queries.

3) Work with white people in your community
→ Every day aim to challenge ignorant comments amongst your family and friends.
→ Use your privilege to interrupt racism when you see it happening.
→ Instigate conversations about racism with your peers and strategise about what you can do to dismantle it.

4) Assume racism is affecting everything, all the time.
→ Notice which people are in positions of power in your office/ school/ organisation.
→ Who is present and who is missing? Which voices dominate decision making/ How are people treated differently?
→ Support the just redistribution of power in the spaces you access.

5) Respect Black and Brown Spaces
→ These safe spaces are needed for people of colour to heal emotionally and mentally. They are not a personal attack on you. Please respect their autonomy and encourage other white people to do the same.

6) Find ways to express your feelings safely (Affinity Group)
→ Racism and systems of oppression affect everyone emotionally, albeit in different ways.
→ Release your emotions! Peer counselling, meditation, dance and movement can be great ways to release complex emotions about these issues.
→ If you are white, express your feelings to other white people you feel safe with, ideally in an affinity group. This is a space for people of a shared identity to support each other educationally and emotionally. It’s a great format in which to develop anti racist practise.

Resources

Anti-racism organisations with Educational Resources

www.raceequitytools.org

www.showingupforracialjustice.org

www.collectiveliberation.org/

www.whiteawake.org/

Books

Mike Davis, ‘Late Victorian Holocausts: El Nino Famines and the making of the Third World’

John Newsinger, ‘The Blood Never Dried: A People’s History of the British Empire’

Reni Eddo-Lodge, ‘Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race’

David Olusooga, ‘Black and British: A Forgotten History’

Michelle Alexander, ‘The New Jim Crow’

Paul Kivel, ‘Uprooting Racism’

Nell Irvin Painter, ‘The History of White People’

Noel Ignatiev, ‘How the Irish became White’

Dr Joy DeGruy, ‘Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome’ * (She has lectures on Youtube)

Rae Johnson, ‘Embodied Social Justice’ *

Ta-Nehisi Coates, ‘Between The World and Me’

PDFs

http://criticallegalthinking.com/2017/10/31/britain-empire-never/ [British colonialism]
http://nationalseedproject.org/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack
www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/whiteaffinitygroup.pdf

Documentary/ Film

Black and British: A Forgotten History BBC iPlayer

Generation Revolution (2016)

The Hard Stop (2015)

The 13th (2016) Netflix

The House I Live In (2012) Netflix

The Colour of Fear (1994)

Training & Consultancy:

www.thecollectiveliberationproject.com
thecollectiveliberationproject@gmail.com

~ Be patient with yourself!

This is work that lasts a lifetime ~