Yesterday we held an awesome virtual conversation with @SupportGenHope mentors on systemic racism. Here are a few major takeaways. One, it's crucial for us to acknowledge and talk about how institutional racism shows up in #mentoring when we are serving students of color.

Two, learning more about our country's legacy of intentional oppression is going to be uncomfortable, but if you're asking what you can do in this moment, educating yourself is one of the first and most important things you can do - especially as a mentor. Lean into discomfort.

Third, your mentee's job is not to educate you. That's your job. They need your support and encouragement. They don't need another thing on their plate. They need to see YOU doing the work. Read books. Listen. Seek out information.

Fourth, if you are White, understand that you have moved through and experienced systems (education, financial, policing, etc.) differently than your mentee if they are Black. School might be a hostile place where they constantly feel attacked by teachers, for example.

Knowing this is important and even more important is BELIEVING their lived experiences. Your knee-jerk reaction may be to minimize or dispute because their experiences are so far from your experiences. Ask yourself if you would question this if they were White?

Fifth, as mentors, one of the best things you can do is open your networks to your mentee. The Black community and other communities of color have been cut off from resources and connections that can benefit them. You have that access. Use it.

Lastly, the work to dismantle institutional racism is going to take a while. Don't be defeated. Take breaks from Twitter. Take care of yourself. Then get back at it. We need your consistent energy and efforts in every environment you frequent.

So many more awesome points, but I wanted to highlight several. Have to thank @CMariehTaylor and @rickmoyers, our Change Agent panelists, and all of the @SupportGenHope mentors who came to share and learn. I left hopeful and encouraged.