White people, if you're wondering, "but what do I *DO*??"

Here you go in 10 steps.

1. Don't need convinced that racism is still alive and well. It clearly is. Shift from needing it regularly pointed out to you to actively pointing it out to other white people.

2. Learn the racial history of your state, city, and neighborhood and make sure others learn it as well. This often reshapes how we think about local action.

3. Be insanely intentional about where you spend and donate money. What percentage is staying in white circles and what percentage is being given or spent on BIPOC run orgs, restaurants, etc? Don't guess, chart it out, track it, actively pursue change in it.

4. Get involved in politics at a local level - find local BIPOC that are running for down ballot races and help fund their campaign, help with fundraising, door knocking, registering voters, and getting people access to the polls.

5. Attend city council and school board meetings. Relentless bring up racial disparities, support/champion BIPOC who already do, and ask what they are doing to fix the problem. Don't take broad sweeping answers as an answer, demand action steps that are BIPOC led.

6. Broaden your circles. The worst think segregation taught white people is that we aren't missing out on anything by having all our closest people to us be white. We are missing out on so much. Spend the next 1-2 years intentionally developing relationships across racial lines.

7. Look into your workplace's hiring practices & if they have evaluated them for bias. The racial makeup of the company may give you your answer outright. Push hard for actual DEI work to happen and be well funded (give BIPOC power, job protection, and payment for this work).

8. Look up the stats for bias in your local police dept, rates of stops, use of force, civil forfeiture. Don't allow endless funding to be funneled to police departments that show clear bias and racist outcomes while social services and schools have to have bake sales.

9. Commit to diversifying who you learn from. Social media, the books you read (not just books on race, but all books), podcasts, media companies, etc. Changing up what voices have a constant presence in your head will do substantial things in your life.

10a. Pick an area your are passionate about and see how race ties into it. Education? Pour time and energy into racial disparities in outcomes, suspensions, and teacher bias (not as a solo gig or starting anything new, but by standing alongside BIPOC that are already doing this).

10b. Healthcare? - Find local orgs working to lower rates of BIPOC mother and infant mortality rates that are 3-4x that of what white women experience or some other area with atrocious racial disparity.

10c. Every area we care about in the US has a racist legacy, because that's our country's legacy. Don't march in with answers. Humbly come alongside BIPOC who have been doing this for centuries while constantly educating yourself about the complexity of the issue.

Want to know more? I appreciate carrying burden for BIPOC when I can, but please follow and learn from them over me. That's where I learned all I know. I'm happily part of the amazing team at @BAbridgebuilder - follow, join, support the amazing work of @LatashaMorrison there.