I know it’s non-traditional for a vacation but I spent the morning listening to the Whiteness at Work series by the incredible @desireeadaway group while working on a paint by number...

I recommend both the education and the activity. It was unsettling yet absorbing.

I came away with this to-do list, and plan to add to it.

I’m sharing it here for two reasons:

1. I know I’ve got some white folx here who need to do the same work and maybe it will encourage you too.

2. I really want to know *what else* should be on MY list.

Before I share it, I want to openly invite minoritized people who see this and have had interactions with me to *tell me* about that.

I’d welcome a DM or an email- but this isn’t an obligation- it would just be a gift.

One I would receive and try to do something with.

So, my list thus far:

(1) Stop operating from a place of fear, guilty, and white fragility. Combat that *because* it directly interferes with my deeply held values, beliefs, and commitments. And my daily work.

(2) Stop conflating making a mistake with BEING a mistake.

I learned perfectionism in a systematic way from my family, my schooling, and from academia.

Understanding it as anti-Black *must* cause me to stop.

It is gonna hurt, a lot.

(3) Begin asking where anti-Blackness is in the rooms I inhabit, rather than whether it is there.

(4) Slow down. I recognize and analyze for a living.

I also rush to action because I can’t stand ongoing pain, and I feel pain must END.!

Engage in more reflection with those who are impacted by the rush.

(5) Find ways to be held accountable for better talk and walk.

The lack of accountability in my life as a tenured professor is astounding. Twitter is *not* accountability - I am not in a real relationship with y’all.

There must be more.

I’m about as done with this work as I am with this painting.

I hope to make real progress before my time is up.