Still processing... JUNE 12, 2020 | ISSUE 19

In this Issue: A Note from Kelsey Defining White Privilege Using Privilege for Good Want to Change the World? Talk About It!! Absentee Ballot Reminder Book Club with Kelsey? Weekend Horoscopes Alexis's Two Truths & a Lie 

Here on the Echols team, we're not ready to entirely snap back to the kind of Quarantimes content of a month ago. We feel that we need to continue to focus on the depth and breadth of racial injustice and adjust to how we can best support your efforts to make change happen. On this front, we've decided to incorporate a new weekly feature: Want to Change the World? We will use this feature to highlight and give pointers on actions you can take to make the world a better place. Thank you for reading, thinking, pressing, listening, shouldering, adjusting, learning, and doing. -Kelsey P.S. Please sign up for the book club (below) As always send things our way via email to   EcholsProgram@virginia.edu

An Excerpt from "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" By Dr. Peggy McIntosh McIntosh uses the following statements to identify the ways in which she benefits from white privilege. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented. When I am told about our national heritage or about “civilization,” I am shown that people of my color made it what it is. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race. If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege. I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods that fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser’s shop and find someone who can cut my hair. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them. I can swear, or dress in second-hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty, or the illiteracy of my race. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group. I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world’s majority without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion. I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to “the person in charge,” I will be facing a person of my race. If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race. I can easily buy posters, postcards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and children’s magazines featuring people of my race. I can go home from most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance, or feared. I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of race. I can choose public accommodations without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me. If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it has racial overtones. I can choose blemish covers or bandages in “flesh” color and have them more or less match my skin. Read McIntosh's entire piece here.

9 Ways to Use White Privilege For Good The videos in this article are the perfect place to start!

Fun Fact: You can use a phone for calling people.

Want to Change the World? You know those issues that are really bothering you? The ones that you wish someone with power would do something about. That's why we have elected officials with phones!

Want to call your government officials and advocate for change but don't know how? Here's a helpful guide for making effective calls:  A Guide to Calling Your Representatives

Talk About It!!

As your timelines and news feeds inevitably return to their usual content, keep talking about the racial and social injustices that exist in our world. Discuss with your friends, your family, your colleagues - keep the conversation going and keep up the momentum! 

Absentee Ballot Reminder

The Echols team wants to remind all of the Virginia-voting readers that our primary elections are coming up! Tuesday June 23, 2020 This week in Georgia, and in other states, we saw just how dysfunctional and problematic voting during a pandemic can be! (some folks had to wait in line for up to seven hours!) If you would like to avoid going to the polls physically this year it is important that you apply for an absentee ballot RIGHT NOW. The deadline for applying online for an absentee ballot is this Tuesday (6/15). Let's be honest, if you put it off are you really going to remember to do it? Learn about and apply for an absentee ballot in Virginia.

Book Club with Kelsey Anyone?

Do you love speculative fiction as much as I do? Reading books that guide you through alternate "what-if"s and "what-could-be"s are my go-to genre. Being immersed in worlds created by other minds -- with other viewpoints and different insights -- makes me think hard about reality, and whose reality. Three of my favorite speculative fiction authors also happen to be women of color. I suspect I gravitate toward these authors because the "what-if"s and "what-could-be"s they are able to imagine are fundamentally different from so many more mainstream authors. I would relish the chance to discuss these authors, their books, and the rich themes they explore with you all! Want to opt in? First step will be a virtual gathering to select the initial book and timeline for reading. Email EcholsProgram@virginia.edu with "Book Club" in the subject line to get added to the list! 

Octavia Butler Butler was the first science fiction author to win a MacArthur Fellowship. Her work has received numerous Hugo and Nebula awards.

 N.K. Jemisin Jemisin was the first author to win the Hugo award for Best Novel in 3 consecutive years, and the first African-American to win the award.

Rebecca Roanhorse Roanhorse's work has won several awards, including the Campbell award for Best New Writer, a Hugo award, and a Nebula award.

Solutions to Alexis's Two Truths and a Lie: My eyes were blue when I was born, they didn't turn green until I was 2 years old I've never had a taco before (LIE. I LOVE TACOS!!) Growing up I always hated it when I would get dolls as gifts, I always asked for books instea Keep in touch with Alexis on Instagram @hey_lexxx, Twitter @SecretLifeofLex, LinkedIn (Alexis Richardson) or Facebook (Alexis Nicole)!!