Many of today’s calamities feel beyond our control — a global pandemic, a recession (and bonkers stock market), but the Black Lives Matter movement — we can actually DO SOMETHING about this!
We asked the team at Girl Geek X to share a good resource, or something we are doing right now, and loved the range of actions we raised:
Angie is sharing Letters for Black Lives along with a guide to talking to your Asian immigrant family about race (in Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Hindi, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Thai, and Arabic).
- Sukrutha is reading books recommended by her employer’s Black ERG: “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi and “So You Want to Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo.
- Rachel is taking action to defund the Oakland Police Department (she recommends this helpful FAQ to learn more about the police abolition movement).
- Lety recommends checking out 8 to Abolition.
- Amanda is taking an anti-racism workshop about how to communicate with racists.
- Amy is reading “Me and White Supremacy“ (she recommends checking out this resourceful list of books, podcasts and more for consuming in your anti-racist journey).
- Erica recommends listening to Ibram X. Kendi’s “How to Be an Antiracist“on Libro.fm and listening to Black women leaders like Bernice King, Angela Davis, and Tamika D. Mallory.
- Eric recommends watching Sister Warriors (he helped produce the short documentary on YouTube about formerly incarcerated women and girls in California working to shape policy and transform the systems that criminalize).
This journey is ongoing and we are excited at the broadening coalition participating in the forward momentum for change!
Recently a letter in Fast Company circled the Internet: “Dear tech industry: Protesting is important, but it’s not enough” from Code2040’s Mimi Fox Melton and Karla Monterroso —
“Tech’s inability to diversify its workforce as it defines the future puts all of us in danger. Racial representation and equity means creating the economic, physical, psychosocial, and social conditions at your workplace where Black, Latinx, and Indigenous people can thrive.”
The framework provided includes stages from acceptance to action and advocacy — for example, building “budgets that include financial commitments to recruiting and hiring Black, Latinx, and Native people, as well as training so that they are not hired into abusive organizations and managed by people who have not done the work to unpack their racism and anti-Blackness.”
For employers looking to support #BlackLivesMatter, executive Laura Silva has solid advice:
To the companies, I am not applauding your #blacklivesmatter post.
I want to see a picture of your Executive Leadership Team and company board.
I want to see your HR sanctions against micro-aggressions.
I want to read about your diversity guidelines and promotion policies.
I want to see the numbers on company hiring of Black people and people of color and your retention results.
I want to see the funding for your affinity groups.
I want to read about your community outreach.
I want to read about your accessibility efforts and guidelines.
I want to read your immigration assistance programs.
I want to read your family paid leave guidelines and child care assistance.
I want to read your health care plans and mental health assistance programs.
I want to see your political donations.
I’m not giving out participation trophies; DO the actual work and then post a picture.
#Showthereceipts
