Students in the Upper School club Raising Awareness, Advocating Diversity and the Service Committee were driven to action after the senseless murder of Ahmaud Arbery, and subsequent lack of justice.  Simultaneously, images of violently enforced social distancing measures in communities of color overwhelmed students, who noticed that other communities were being treated more respectfully. Taking a stand of solidarity for racial justice, students created a video montage of Black Friends students reading a series of statements calling attention to 38 unarmed Black people who were killed unjustly following encounters with police or vigilantes.

 

After watching the video, we invite families to read the definitions of civic engagement and antiracism, and consider the action steps below. 

​

​

Action Steps:

• Learn more about Ahmaud Arbery:

  • CNN Article

  • The Nation Article

• Read about the social construction of race

• Resources for anti-racism and deeper reflection:

  • Harvard Implicit Bias Test

  • Bias Cleanse

  • 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice

• Attend the Justice for Maud Event on Tuesday, June 2

• Read & reflect on a community poem

 

​

Defining Civic Engagement:

Civic engagement is taking action by yourself or as part of a group to address an issue that affects your community. This can take many different forms, from holding elected officials accountable for their actions to making sure that other people are aware of the issues that you care about. This type of engagement entails taking the time to think outside of your own immediate experience and to reflect on how you can use your platform to help others. 

 

​

Defining Antiracism: 

Antiracism is an active process of both identifying and eliminating racism. Understanding context, acknowledging your position and knowing your privilege can help you be as helpful as you can be in the fight against racism.

Combating racism and discrimination shouldn’t fall onto only one community. It’s important to acknowledge the privilege that we have to ignore things that are uncomfortable to us and to acknowledge that we could be doing more as an ally. Being an ally is not only acknowledging the privilege we have but also listening, supporting, and advocating for change. Allyship brings together various communities and creates a diverse group of people working toward a more equal and equitable world. Another aspect of anti-racism is discovering the implicit racial biases and stereotypes you have. Being aware of racial biases and actively working to overcome them is important because one's biases can reinforce the biases in others. Acting on your biases can have a negative impact on others despite your innocuous intentions. For deeper reflection on biases, check out the bias check on the FS Taking Care website. 

​

​

​

​

​

RESOURCES for RACIAL JUSTICE

 

 

Action Steps to Take Now

• BLM #DefundThePolice Petition

• Raise The Degree – Change.org 

• Mandatory Life Sentence for Police Brutality – Change.org

• Sign the Tallahassee Dream Defenders’ Petition for Tony McDade

• Text “JUSTICE” to 668366 to sign MoveOn’s petition for George Floyd or sign here

• Sign Color of Change’s Petition for George Floyd

• Text “ENOUGH” to 55156 or sign this petition to demand justice for Breonna Taylor

• Hand’s Up Act to punish police for shooting unarmed citizens

• NAACP #WeAreDoneDying Petition

• Justice for Belly Mujinga

• Justice for João Pedro

• Sign the Movement for Black Lives’ petition to push elected officials to fight against the militarization in communities of color

• Use this template to contact your representative and push them to consider changing police training to decrease police brutality

• Email NYC Mayor de Blasio here

• This BLM document is a master list of petitions, bailout funds, ways to educate yourself, and more

​

​

Organizations to Explore

• #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd

• Black Lives Matter

• Black Visions Collective

• Minnesota Freedom Fund

• Loveland Foundation

• Reclaim the Block

 

​

Articles and Videos

• How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change

• 5 Ways White People Can Take Action in Response to White and State-Sanctioned Violence

• 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice

• The 1619 Project

• America’s Racial Contract Is Killing Us

• Rachel Cargle’s TED Talk: Coming to Terms With Racism’s Inertia

• How to Talk to Your Family About Racism

• Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement (Mentoring a New Generation of Activists)

• My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant

• The Combahee River Collective Statement

• The Intersectionality Wars

• White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

• Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?

• Resources for White People to Learn and Talk About Race and Racism

• Save the Tears: White Woman’s Guide by Tatiana Mac

• Showing Up For Racial Justice’s educational toolkits

• Writing Prompts: Leesa Renee Hall’s Expressive Writing Prompts for White Fragility

• Confronting Anti-Black Racism

• History of American Policing

• Anti-racism resources for white people

• “8 Lessons About Racism That Were Helpful to Me as a White Person”

• How to make a meaningful change during the anti-police protests (white men’s guide)

• This twitter thread includes ways you can help if you can’t make it to a protest.

• Rachel Rickett’s Antiracism Resources

• How to build a police-free future IG post 

• Join Noname’s book club

• Here’s a thread on how to check in on your black friends.

• She Shred’s Anti-Racism Resources for White & Non-Black Musicians

• How to be a White Anti-Racist

 

​

Podcasts

• Code Switch

• Being Liberal Is Not an Oppression Pass

• The Nod

• About Race

• Seeing White

• Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast

• Here to Slay

• What a Day

• NPR on Talking Race with Young Children

​

​

Books

If you are buying a book, please consider purchasing it from a black-owned, or local bookstore. Here’s a list of a few with online stores, but do the research to find one in your area. You can also consider borrowing a book from the library or Friends Sora collection (Resources for Right Now, available in Sora) and donating the cost of the book to an organization.
 

Books for Adults:

• Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor

• White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

• So You Want to Talk About Race

• Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

• Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America's Heartland

• How to Be an Antiracist

• Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?

• The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America

• Just Mercy

• Breathe

• Between the World and Me

• When They Call You a Terrorist

• Sister Outsider

• The Mis-education of the Negro

• Road Map for Revolutionaries 

• How To Be Less Stupid About Race, Crystal M Fleming

• Killing Rage, bell hooks

• We Were Eight Years in Power

• White Tears, Brown Scars

 

Books for Young Adults:

• Ghost Boys

• Dear Martin

• BUCK

• This Book Is Anti-Racist

​

Books for Youth/Children:

• Something Happened In Our Town (video read aloud, questions for discussion)

• Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness

• Intersection Allies: We Make Room for All 

• https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/02/parenting/kids-books-racism-protest.html

• A is for Activist

 

​

Music

• Spotify - BlackLivesMatter