This is What Long-Term Commitment to Anti-Racism Means

It’s been a grueling couple of weeks of feeling angry, tired, exhausted, overwhelmed, confused, enraged, depressed, hopeless, useless, at a loss, etc. We’ve exerted so much of our energy condensed, forceful, and laser-focused on the Black Lives Matter movement but it DOES. NOT. STOP. THERE. I know as cities begin to reopen from the pandemic and people begin to transition back to routines, this may seem like we're simply trying to get through another difficult phase. But this “new normal” should also mean incorporating the active work to bring equity and justice for Black people (and other people of culture) every. single. day. We cannot stop after just one week. In fact, a week isn’t much when we’re trying to dismantle decades of systemic racial oppression, social injustice and inequality, police brutality and white supremacy. It took 382 days for the Montgomery Bus Boycott, six months for the Greensboro sit-ins, seven months for the Freedom Rides, and 37 days for the Birmingham movement for noticeable action to take place. And as far as uncertainty of timing goes, we’re no strangers to having to adjust to a no-timeline mentality (let’s be real, we all thought this virus was only going to last 2 months). So yeah, we’re only getting started.

Yes, you’re tired. I’m tired. Black people are damn well exhausted. There’s no questioning it because we’re all battling multiple frictions from every angle right now: we have the urgent fight at this very moment; we have the self-evaluation and internal unlearning-relearning work; we have our close circles to listen and support and hold accountable; we have the external structures to abolish and rebuild; and we have the deep-rooted, long-term commitment to anti-racism and oppression forever. Simply put, it’s a lot. I’ve had friends express how they’re not sure how to keep going while also dealing with their own personal struggles, and frankly, even I was worried I wouldn’t be able to continue like this anymore. I care so much about so many things and it feels like I’m running low on energy to continue pushing and advocating and vocalizing. We are each just one person and we can only distribute so much of our limited capacity to so many social causes. But we have to remember that the first week, we acted from feelings of rage and aggression and immediate emotions. We went at it—“it” meaning confronting every angle of the Black Lives Matter movement—with full force without stopping. Then last week we pushed ourselves and others to keep that momentum going, especially with even more brutality and killings happening. Of course we feel spent. Of course we feel like this is not sustainable. Now we must act out of compassion (for ourselves and for others) and practicality. How can we keep this momentum going so that it’s not just a moment but an ongoing movement?

They say it takes about 30 days to instill sustainable habits. Well, we have years and years of undoing so it’s going to be a whole lot more than 30 days to instill this habit of anti-racism. It doesn’t mean it’s impossible or hopeless, but it means we have to put in the daily work to weave it into our routines until it is our normal. The goal is that we will reach a point where we don’t need to feel like we’re expending more energy to take on yet another “thing” but that we’ve successfully absorbed another cause we really care for and are passionate about. And isn’t that what keeps one energized? Your passions, your values, your beliefs are things you don’t think twice about amplifying because you already embody them so we need to do the same dedicated work for anti-racism as a mission ingrained in our practice. Make it one of your habits, hold yourself accountable, end off each day knowing you contributed to the fight.

I had a conversation with a friend about how the power of knowledge has been held against people for too long. If you didn’t know enough or didn’t have the resources to learn more, people who were more educated could find that as an opportunity to shame or condescend, or even worse, control. And it’s when we lose our own reign of control because of this lack of information that we feel inadequate or powerless and ultimately, suppressed. This isn’t meant to call out anyone for not knowing enough because sometimes it’s due to factors beyond us, but instead to think about the significance of the sharing of knowledge, and how much more we can do with it—using what we learn as our chosen tools to improve the world we live in. We can take back that power and control through active learning and a constant seeking of information. We can understand things more fully and speak to them more confidently when resources are accessible to us all and openly shared with each other. It’s now a matter of learning what we don’t know to be more impactful with what we do know.

I wrote a previous article about how to help based on your mental energy, but I think there’s even something to be done at a self-empowering level because I believe we all have the power to empower; it’s simply a matter of utilizing the tools we already have to encompass these actions more intuitively. That’s why I chose to categorize how we can continue our support and amplification of Black communities (even extend to Indigenous people and other people of color as well) as sections of power to achieve. Because every form of action is an extension of our power and how we choose to utilize that power to further bolster the Black Lives Matter movement.

Buying Power

Black-owned small businesses to support:

Black-owned restaurants to try:

Here’s a tip: Search some of these on Google Maps and save them in your own list of Black-owned to always have on hand

Black-owned bookstores to buy from:

Here’s a tip: Search some of these on Google Maps and save them in your own list of Black-owned to always have on hand

Set up a recurring donation to a BLM organization:

Knowledge Power

Leaders, activists, creatives to follow:

Podcasts to add to your listening rotation:

  • 1619

  • Code Switch

  • The Nod

  • Yo, Is This Racist?

  • About Race

  • Still Processing

  • United States of Anxiety

  • That’s Not How That Works

Media publications highlighting Black people and stories:

Books by Black authors or about the Black diaspora:

Here’s a tip: Search some of these on the GoodReads app and save them in your own list to always refer back to

  • Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

  • Becoming - Michelle Obama

  • Between The World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates

  • Black Sunday - Tola Rotimi Abraham

  • Drinking Coffee Elsewhere - ZZ Packer

  • The Warmth of Other Suns - Isabel Wilkerson

  • This Bridge Called My Back: Writings By Radical Women of Color - Rosario Morales

  • The Terrible - Yrsa Daley-Ward

  • The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison

  • Everywhere You Don’t Belong - Gabriel Bump

  • Sister Outsider - Audre Lorde

  • My Grandmother’s Hands - Resmaa Menakem

  • I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou

  • All About Love - Bell Hooks

  • The Culture of Make Believe - Derrick Jensen**

  • The Shock Doctrine - Naomi Klein**

  • Stranger than We Can Imagine - John Higgs**

  • Nickel & Dimed - Barbara Ehrenreich**

  • Listen, Liberal - Thomas Frank**

  • More books in PDFs here

**while not written by Black authors, these books still have eye-opening, long-lasting impressions relevant to our political and social climate

Movies/TV shows to binge watch:

  • Dear White People

  • Insecure

  • #BlackAF

  • If Beale Street Could Talk

  • Queen & Slim

  • American Son

  • She’s Gotta Have It

  • The Boondocks

  • Atlanta

  • Becoming

  • Chewing Gum

  • 2 Dope Queens

  • Do The Right Thing

  • The Proud Family (yes, I’m talking about the Disney classic)

  • Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj

  • The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

  • 40-Year-Old Version

Organizations to stay informed:

Self-Empower

Conversation prompts to bring up with friends & family:

  • Why does talking about racism make us so uncomfortable?

  • How can we continue to have these conversations amongst ourselves?

  • Discuss performative allyship vs. authentic allyship

  • Which zone of antiracism are we in and how can we get to the Growth zone?

  • How do you find intersections between your current passions and the BLM?

  • What do you hope to see change right now?

  • What worries you most out of all this? / What frustrates you most out of all this?

  • What are your strengths and how can you use them to help Black communities?

  • Start a group movie/book discussion to unpack the stories together

Taking care of yourself while learning:

Daily check-ins with yourself:

I’m sure you have a daily planner or a daily to-do checklist or have dabbled in a gratitude journal—all methods to prioritize your schedule and self-reflect on your daily habits. I’ve created this print out (or digital save because we’re being eco-conscious!) based off that same idea of organizing your goals and priorities so that you continue to stay focused on supporting the Black Lives Movement—because as you’ve heard many times, this is not just a moment, this is constant, everyday work until we see change. Don’t let this fade and don’t let your energy falter for something you care about. For people you care about.

So feel free to save the graphic below so you can fill in how you’re holding yourself accountable everyday!

Here’s a tip: create folders on whatever platform (IG, Google drive, etc) that is solely for BLM resources so you never lose it!

Graphic design by Summer Lacuin

Graphic design by Summer Lacuin

 
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