Reasons For Hope
Although it has been a chaotic couple of weeks following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, I feel there remains much cause for hope. Do you feel that too? (And FYI we are all mothers in one way shape or form even if we don’t have children of our own…)
When the current U.S. President won the election four years ago, many were angry and despondent, but these emotions motivated them TO DO – energies were channelled into such activities as educating, protesting, organizing, donating, or fact checking.
The chilling death of George Floyd captured live on camera, also unleashed powerful emotions such as grief and anger, but it has caused people TO ACT. We have seen individuals of all colours marching and protesting against police brutality and systemic racism in far flung places such as New Zealand, Berlin, London, Australia and Iran!
People of power and influence who never felt compelled to speak up against inequality and injustice before are now using their voices for the collective good. These protests are WORLD WIDE and as George Floyd’s own family members said at his funeral this past week, they never could have imagined that their George would become a household name around the world.
If you follow me on Instagram of Facebook then you may have seen some of the posts I have shared where I have laid out some great resources that have been helping me to better understand the experience of Black people and people of colour. Understanding and acknowledging, instead of turning away, is key because (to paraphrase Maya Angelou);
“When we know better, we do better.”
And I for one want to be an ally to BIPOC (Black Indigenous Persons of Color) and support them to achieve equality and justice.
Announcing The First Ever ‘Made To Shine’ Book Club!
In an effort to ‘do better’ the ‘Made to Shine’ Facebook group will be kicking off our first book club and our pick is…
….Ta Nehisi Coates’ – Between The World And Me
It is written as a letter to the author’s teenage son about the feelings, symbols and realities of being Black in America. Described by the London Book review as;
“An unrelentingly severe, taut and timely text that’s been nearly universally praised.”
The purpose of this particular book pick is to increase our understanding of the Black experience so we can better support Blacks and multi-racial people in the fight for equality and social justice. The book club will be on Zoom and I am thinking about Wednesday evenings at 7PM -8Pm (Pacific time) although there is flexibility around this time / day depending on who is participating.
I believe Audible is offering this book free on a 30 day trial as well or you can download the Kindle app on Amazon.
If you are interested in joining us as we read Between The World And Me shoot me an email (ritchiee@telus.net) and we will start as soon as possible, depending on when everyone can get a copy of the book.
*Disclaimer – this is my first ever book club! But I am picturing a scenario where we agree to read a few chapters, meet and chat about those chapters and go from there. Easy and casual and everyone is welcome!
SOME GREAT RESOURCES FOR YOU!
- 13th by Ava DuVernay
I decided to watch ‘13th’ by Ava Duvernay on Netflix last weekend and I highly recommend this documentary if you are open to learning more about systemic racism. ‘13th’ is no walk in the park but I think EVERYONE should see this for a better understanding of what black people have been and still are, up against. You will see the world differently after watching this movie, you will see systemic barriers where you never saw them before, and I believe this movie will call you to act.
2.) On Instagram I now follow @rachel.cargle Her bio reads: building an intellectual legacy through teaching, storytelling & critical discourse.
I am attempting to bring to life Rachel’s directive – “knowledge, empathy, action”. She puts lessons up on her Insta page and there are also recordings on YouTube. These posts will make you consider all that you have been missing about the black / person of colour experience. SHE WILL SCHOOL YOU! Check her out today!
3.) You might like to read the article ’75 Things White People Can Do For Racial Justice’ by Corrine Shutack,
This comprehensive piece has creative and enlightening ideas about how we an be better allies to BIPOC.
4.) Last week I ordered ‘White Rage -The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide’ by Carol Andersen as well as the book ‘21 Things You Should Know About the Indian Act – Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality’ by Bob Joseph in hopes of further educating myself about what I may be missing / overlooking / not understanding in terms of our Indigenous People here in Canada and see how I can better support them.
(I still need to read these once I have read the book club pic!).
More Books!
5. If you aren’t familiar with any black authors I recommend starting with a classic like Maya Angelou’s autobiographical
‘I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings’ .
For a more modern take, the fiction book, ‘American Marriage’ by Tayari Jones is also excellent. I read this book a couple of years ago and posted about it on Instagram, where I queried why I tended to read books by white women only and I wrote how I had found this book compelling and funny, and Tayari commented!
Recommendations Welcomed!
There is a MASSIVE amount of excellent art / literature from black & multi – racial people to be discovered and if you have any recommendations for me, I would love to hear them!
I hope you find the above resources helpful.
I think we can all learn to be better allies, take increased action, share our learnings, and have tough conversations with friends and family about these issues as we continue to fight for social justice and equality for all.
***Remember- If you are interested in participating in the book club please email me and we will get you set up in the ‘Made to Shine’ FaceBook group (but you can still participate even if you aren’t on FB).
Much love,
Elizabeth
