Honey, Let’s talk about racism… (part 2)

A riot is the language of the unheard”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

This is a special post. My daughter is our guest blogger today and is sharing her thoughts and research on how we can be part of the fight for racial justice in our society. Welcome, Daughter G!

Hey Honeybees – Daughter G here, reporting with the first guest post of the season. Thanks for letting me crash the party, Mrs. G.

This post is for white people like me. There’s a lot that we can talk about together, especially about the civil unrest across the nation, but I’d like to take a moment to talk specifically about recognizing our role in the active Black Lives Matter protests, and how you can help. 

By now, you’ll have read the first installment in the “Honey, Let’s talk…” series, and had the opportunity to sit with your feelings about systemic racism and police brutality in this country, and how we might help remedy that system of oppression. 

You may be seeing videos in the news or on your social media feeds about the peaceful demonstrations across the country begging our leadership to recognize the conscious and unconscious racism that black people and people of color (POCs) face every day, and the danger that creates. For those of you who haven’t seen footage on the ground from the protests, I’ve included some links here (warning: graphic, but important). 

You’ll have seen long lists of names, like the one below, of black citizens needlessly killed by police country-wide, and you’ll have seen protestors on the street.

You may be seeing friends and family who are saying things like, “Of course it’s horrible that George Floyd was killed, but this rioting/looting/protesting needs to stop.” Little hints that tell you that the value of the message, of the lives that have been lost, are less important than property. Little hints that these loved ones are starting to feel 1% of the fear that people of color are feeling in their everyday lives.

You may be asking “…but what can I do?” or, even better, “How can I help?”. 

The good news? The best time to help was years ago, but the second best time is now!

Below you’ll find a list a lot of resources, and link to a lot of places to give of yourself. Before throwing a wall of links at you though, I would beg of you 3 moments.

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Now that you’ve taken your 3 moments, let’s talk about how you, personally, can change the world. 

I would beg you to consider committing to 3 (or more!) actions from the list below :

Ways to Get Involved¹

Speak