WEEK 14 - April 26, 2021 | 12:00pm
In June 2020, the Center for Organizational Responsibility and Advancement (CORA) hosted a special webinar presentation in response to the public statements released by academic institutions regarding the killings of George Floyd, Jr., Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Tony McDade. Their webinar, "Addressing Anti-Blackness on Campus: Implications for Educators and Institutions," explains how public statements become futile unless accompanied by meaningful action to prevent more harm to Black community members. A panel of experts came together to discuss viable solutions for confronting anti-Blackness in education.
WEEK 15 - May 3rd, 2021 | 12:00pm
Our Asian and Asian American communities are experiencing their own unique plight with "otherness", xenophobia, and anti-Asian racism in America. With the release of the George Floyd, Jr. video, many from the Asian community have come to express great disappointment and anger with the Asian American officer who stood by, failing to intervene. In "The George Floyd Protests: A Guide to Practicing Anti-Racism as an Asian Ally," we learn how Asians and Asian Americans can effectively support the Black community with their allyship.
Our Asian and Asian American communities are experiencing their own unique plight with "otherness", xenophobia, and anti-Asian racism in America. With the release of the George Floyd, Jr. video, many from the Asian community have come to express great disappointment and anger with the Asian American officer who stood by, failing to intervene. In "The George Floyd Protests: A Guide to Practicing Anti-Racism as an Asian Ally," we learn how Asians and Asian Americans can effectively support the Black community with their allyship.
We've seen the headlines; some celebrity or notable public figure gets "dragged" or is threatened to be "canceled" for falling short of expectations or an offense committed long ago. In her reflective piece, "What Is/Isn’t Transformative Justice?," author and Black feminist Adrienne Maree Brown urges us to be careful with how we direct our energy. We must seek transformative justice, which has long-term impact instead of the short-term gain that comes from seeing the fall of individuals, who are often just a symptom of a much deeper, systemic issue.
WEEK 16 - May 10, 2021 | 12:00pm
Many Black people are navigating deep emotional waters right now, with many feeling especially vulnerable and unsafe amid social and mainstream media stories of violence against Black people. Best intentions are assumed of allies, and most understand concern comes from a place of care and desire to help their Black friends and colleagues. But a simple, how are you doing, could rouse more pain than support. In "Some Do's and Don'ts for White People Who Want to Discuss Racism at Work" and "Your Black Colleagues May Look Like They're Okay--Chances Are They're Not," we discuss how to effectively engage with your Black friends or colleagues during these sensitive times.
WEEK 17 - May 17, 2021 | 12:00pm
Furthering the lessons from Day 19, we share a perspective piece by Kimberly D. Manning, MD. In this piece, Dr. Manning grounds us in an intimate look at how she, personally and as a physician, is experiencing the overwhelming effects of anti-Black racism as well as the devastation of COVID-19 on the Black community. She offers hospitals and leaders a starting point from which we can offer support to Black patients, colleagues, and friends during a time of heightened grief and sustain our support for their well-being.
On June 10, 2020, a group of physicists with Particles for Justice led a STEM and academic strike for Black lives in collaboration with ShutDownSTEM and VanguardSTEM. According to Inside Higher Ed, the group amassed over 4,500 pledges from faculty and students to stop research and meetings for one day in support of the issues impacting the Black community8. We link to an exhaustive library of resources, provided by Particles of Justice, for people interested in acting for Black lives and for Black people seeking support with self-care.
WEEK 18 - May 24, 2021 | 12:00pm
In this Harvard Business Review article, "Academia Isn't a Safe Haven for Conversations About Race," we become familiar with terms like “invisible labor”, “inclusion tax” and “racism-evasive rhetoric” to understand how our deflection from problematic behavior perpetuates anti-Blackness and our inability to engage in meaningful dialogue on race and racism.
Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at the University of New Hampshire, shares with us "The Rules of the Diversity and Inclusion Racket." In this article, Dr. Prescod-Weinstein describes her experience as an "only" in the field of physics and astronomy and decodes (from her experience) "what white people really mean when they talk about diversity in higher education."
Section Review - June 7, 2021 | 12:00pm
Completion of the Anti-Racism Reboot is the beginning, not the end, of your anti-racism work.
Over the course of 21 sessions, you have explored a variety of educational pieces chosen to provide you with a deeper understanding of how we as members of American society - individually and collectively - unknowingly sustain systemic racism or perpetuate harmful biases in our daily lives. You might be wondering, what do I do next with my newfound knowledge of anti-Black racism?
This is an important question to consider because meaningful and lasting change in our communities, at UC San Diego and beyond, will require the individual and collective actions of us all. Individually, each of us must commit to doing the self-work to identify our personal biases and knowledge gaps, and make the sustained effort to unlearn and relearn.
It starts with personal reflection and being honest with yourself about your thoughts, choices and actions. Do they perpetuate racism, do they reflect a passive non-racism, or do they advance anti-racism?
- Ask yourself, where can I grow? And, how can I do better? Commit to identifying and interrupting your own biases.
- Commit to participating in on-going racial justice work by partnering with organizational leaders and allying with people of color.
- Develop professional development goals that turn your new knowledge into active skills that you can use in the workplace.
- Consider your spheres of influence to identify where you can make a difference. For example, you might:
- Advocate to change practices and protocols that create barriers to success for Black students, staff, and faculty.
- Focus on the Black experience in strategic planning, policy review and development.
- Review your hiring practices and work to eliminate unconscious biases.
- Consider who you are choosing to mentor, who you nominate for awards, who you promote and with whom you are choosing to collaborate.
We hope that the foundational knowledge you received from the Anti-Racism Reboot inspires you onward with confident humility, knowing that your work will never be done, but each step you take brings us closer to a vibrant society and a university that allows us all to flourish. The change we need is dependent on your individual commitment to ongoing self-reflection and action.
