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Fellow non-Black folks: Every hour you spend on your own reading resources about allyship, practicing those skills, teaching them to your kids/family/friends, donating etc. is an hour Black folks can be resting, mourning, healing without praising you or educating you. /1
Let us all watch our thoughts, be self aware, be in our bodies. Every action we take is another opportunity to show by example what allyship can look like. /2
Here are some common ways I notice my body reacts to anti-Blackness. Maybe this can help you build awareness. /3
BODY REACTION: CRYING.
My tears do not serve anyone. If I need to cry, I will do so alone The shame of my privilege is my own homework. When I make my emotions the work of a Black person to bear, I am continuing the legacy of harm. /4
My tears do not serve anyone. If I need to cry, I will do so alone The shame of my privilege is my own homework. When I make my emotions the work of a Black person to bear, I am continuing the legacy of harm. /4
BODY REACTION: NOT ME
Pointing fingers at perpetrators and clutching my pearls does not serve anyone. It deflects from my complicity. Instead I look inwards and consider ways in which I am similar to those perpetrators. /5
Pointing fingers at perpetrators and clutching my pearls does not serve anyone. It deflects from my complicity. Instead I look inwards and consider ways in which I am similar to those perpetrators. /5
BODY REACTION: I AM A GOOD PERSON
I do not need Black folks to affirm me. They have better things to do with their lives. If I am allying, it means I will ally quietly, support movements led by these communities in the ways they are asking to be supported. /6
I do not need Black folks to affirm me. They have better things to do with their lives. If I am allying, it means I will ally quietly, support movements led by these communities in the ways they are asking to be supported. /6
I will not ask Black folks to tell me which resources are out there because there is a thing called google which I can use to look it all up myself without asking Black folks to be amazed at how active I am in resistance. /7
I hope this helps. Let's practice lots every day. /8
