Let’s shine our lights!
Ways to shine your light
I had intended this to be a breezy post full of summer highlights and coaching news, but it is not to be given the violence of this past week.
It is sometimes hard to know how to take positive action in the face of these kind of incidents, but there are a few things we can do (keep reading to find out what they are) and your light is needed!
First there was the death of Heather Hyer in Charlottesville, VA., a young woman standing up for love against far right protesters that included KKK members and Neo-Nazis. Then the terrorist attack by ISIL in a crowded tourist area of Barcelona, followed by another ISIL attack in a beach resort close to Barcelona.
The ugliness and hate being exposed in Charlottesville and elsewhere, and the ongoing ISIL plague is tough to face.
So what do we do…?
How to shine your light….
1. Speak Up!
If someone says or writes something on social media that you think is racist or hateful towards another person or group call them out.
I had an exchange on my FaceBook personal page earlier this week when I spoke out against the racist marchers in Charlottesville. A woman I was connected to through a Fragile X group (my son has Fragile X) stated she disagreed with me and thought the Black Lives Matter protesters who showed up to counter the white supremacists were equally to blame (sadly, similar to Trump’s words two days after the violence in VA.). To me that was like comparing apples and oranges.
I remember feeling tired and not up for for an on-line debate but I couldn’t let her comments stand. I could have argued longer than I did, but it was late and I wanted to go to sleep, so I wrapped it up, and in hindsight, I ended it sooner than was appropriate.
In my brief exchange with this women (who says she is from the southern U.S) I didn’t press her that hard and I could have more effectively called her out on her defence of these racists, better explaining that putting white supremacists on an equal playing field with Black Lives Matter protesters was wrong. It is one thing to be a protester and want justice and equality, it is another to be a Nazi. (A Nazi! I can’t believe we are actually using this term in 2017! We fought a freakin’ world war over this!!)
Sometimes people are so entrenched in their particular perspective it is tough to make them see that their is another perspective, and although the above exchange was not my most compelling argument to date, I am glad I posted what I did and said something.
How sad is this? Speak up so we can see the end of this type of intergenerational hate.
2. Support a group or charity that is a target of this type of hate.
Arnold Schwarzennegger, in an Instagram post shared his experiences of growing up in post World War II Austria, and the broken, guilty men he saw all around him who had bought into a terrible ideology when they placed their faith in Adolf Hitler. At the end of his post he encouraged his followers to buy a t-shirt that said ‘Terminate Hate’ with proceeds from the sales of the shirt to go to the Simon Wiesenthal Centre (link is below).
As it says on their website;
‘The Simon Wiesenthal Centre is a global human rights organization researching the Holocaust and hate in a historic and contemporary context. The Centre confronts anti-Semitism, hate and terrorism, promotes human rights and dignity, stands with Israel, defends the safety of Jews worldwide, and teaches the lessons of the Holocaust for future generations’.
This would be a deserving group to donate to.
Other groups you might like to consider donating to include;
In Canada
– ‘Stop Racism and Hate Canada’
In the U.S.
3. If you are in Human Resources or are in a position to hire, give someone from a different culture a chance.
Often we have internal biases that we aren’t even aware of and gravitate towards those ‘like us’ as opposed to someone different.
Brene Brown Phd. (Social Work) a researcher and story teller, and a woman whose work I admire, posted an insightful video to her FaceBook page this past week (It is called ‘We Need to Keep Talking About Charlottesville’) were she spoke about the 3 P’s- Privilege, Perspective and Power. She speaks eloquently on how whites have a moral responsibility to recognize their privileged position and work to create opportunities for those from other marginalized groups.
If you are unsure about what ‘white priviege’ is or don’t believe there is such a thing, I encourage you to spend some time and watch this powerful video.
4. Report Hate or Racist / Offensive Content or Comments (on-line or off)
Flag racist channels or users on social networking sites. As I sit and write this a news alert has popped up on my phone saying ‘Neo nazi pamphlets have been found in mailboxes in East Vancouver‘. (I live in a suburb of Vancouver). With the rise of Trump and his recent, morally vacuous remarks, these racist groups have become more emboldened.
While at the rally in Charlottesville, David Duke, the former leader of the KKK had this to say to the media; ‘We are determined to take our country back and fulfill the promises of President Trump’.
I paraphrased his comment so if you want to watch the full short video click on the above highlighted link.
And this isn’t over by a long shot, as I was preparing dinner tonight I heard that there are pro-white, pro-nationalist marches /rallies planned across the U.S for tomorrow including one in Vancouver at City Hall.
Light-bringers of the world unite!
So there are 4 things you can do to shine your light in this dark time.
Actually, there is one other thing you can do!
Watch this spot on video from comedian Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live!- she comments on the Charlottesville violence and totally nails it!
She also advises staying home from the racist marches, let those cowards vent their ‘hot air ‘ without an audience as opposed to engaging in yelling/ shoving matches -Good advice!
We can’t leave it to others, we ALL need to be part of this movement.
If you want to discuss this with me further or exchange ideas about how we can make our communities stronger and more equitable I would love to chat!
Drop me a line at elizjturner@gmail.com or through the contact page on this website.
xo
Eliz
