I can’t fucking believe we have to reiterate that black lives matter. No mother fucker, not all lives, black lives. This subject is rife with assholes. I feel ok disagreeing at assholes. By definition, they’re not willing to disagree with me.
I’m not black, so this is not my story to tell. I want to provide some links that have proven useful to me. I will at some point in the future write a post on being an ally. I just don’t think now is the time for anyone to listen to me when you should be compiling your own primary source materials. Just don’t be an asshole and demand black people teach you anything. Here’s some ways to educate yourself, that I’ve found useful in my own learning:
- Trevor Noah’s explanation and logic is flawless. He exemplifies the concept of space between the words. His mixedness with the backdrop of apartheid inspires me. He has a podcast too. I’ve listened to snippets here and there but have not yet subscribed to Luminary. It’s on the list. If you don’t already, I recommend following his social media accounts.
- I know everyone is saying it, but Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13th on Netflix is mandatory viewing in my book. And guess what? Netflex made it free for everyone, no excuses.
- If you’re in Canada, there are black organizations and anti-racist groups you can support with your time, or your money, or better – both. I like this Huffington Post list, but I’m sure others are easily findable.
- Words matter. Having the basic understanding of terms is essential to this discussion. I really liked this explanation of how some people confuse racism and prejudice.
- My goal is to try to tackle this reading list. There are many others like it out there. Just find some well respected books that challenge your perceptions.
- Or, if sometimes books are just SO MANY WORDS! and you’d prefer to do your research in video form, here’s a good documentary list to start with. It’s created for Australia / NZ but the subject matter is broader OR look at this list of BLM books, they read them aloud!
- If there’s a debate going on around you, learn about it. For example, do you really now what it means when people advocate to defund the police? It’s important to understand the idea before you offer your support for or against it.
- I’ve got a thing for spending power. We have a choice to show our approval for social positions with our wallet. Make sure you do the research. Instead of linking to anything, I suggest you search for “black owned businesses near me” and spend accordingly. Then you’re spending locally as well. If not spending at a black owned business, do some research into whether the businesses you support are true allies. Sometimes they lie.
- I’m personally really enjoying this series on youtube. Emmanuel Acho and uncomfortable conversations with a black man. I hope that he has some intersectional conversations and include black women, but given how some celebrity videos (that I refuse to even link to) are going, good for Matthew McConaughey for using his voice this way.
One additional note, I choose not to use the Black Lives Matter hashtag. I don’t think it’s my brand to curate. In researching how to be a good ally, I came across this post about Virtual Protesting 101. It includes some ways to use your digital voice in a way that doesn’t detract from the core message or the voice of black people. I love how K-Pop fans just banded together to use the internet against itself. While I will write a post about my own path to being a useful ally, here’s a really good resource to help you in your own research.