Celebrating Black Joy in Advancing Racial Justice
|
|
"I believe that telling our stories, first to ourselves and then to one another and the world, is a revolutionary act. It is an act that can be met with hostility, exclusion, and violence. It can also lead to love, understanding, transcendence, and community."
— Janet Mock
|
|
|
Aliaa Eldabli
Social Transformation Intern,
WE in the World
|
|
This is not an angry black soliloquy.
Just a lesson on resiliency.
I could tell you the difference between discontentment and complacency,
Feeling like I could never climb the ladder of social mobility
because only one race shall succeed?
Please, I know when standards of wages are unqualified and denied to me
because my name on a resume holds “too much ethnicity”
or
the “New Jim Crow”, keeping me in custody
accustomed to a custom of hypocrisy,
whether it be schooling, housing, working or socioeconomically
And statistically
I’m more than likely to receive
justified actions of police brutality
with lack of accountability
upholding Amendment 13:
Legal enslavement as a payment for tested patience of the supreme
law of the land, neglected constitutional constituent, inconspicuous supercede
in privilege, inherited inheritance where do we draw the line of meritocracy?
Seems like the only time someone wants to court us
Is through the use of habeas corpus
But I called it hey, BS!
But instead they corpse us
But despite the spite...
I can’t wait for the day of splice
An egalitarianist’s advice, and,
Work with my given devices
And protest and protect my rights, and
That should already be innate despite them
the Civil Rights
Minus the smite and rison--
the Black Life Plight ends.
But until MLK’s dreams and mine are sufficed, then,
I’ll binge on a ‘freedom appetite’
Until I’m ‘fully’ satisfied, fight, win.
This month, we invite you to an exploration, and, most importantly, the celebration, of Black lives. Although there are historical legacies of injustice towards Black lives that reverberate into our societies today, we also cannot ignore the bright spots that Black lives have generated to shape the societies we live in today. So often we are reminded of the tragedies, traumatizations, plight, and censorship that Black lives endure while navigating systemic barriers. Yet, Black scientists and inventors such as Mae Carol Jemison and Percy Julian, authors such as Audre Lorde and James Baldwin, trailblazers such as Harriet Tubman, Marsha P. Johnson, Robert Bullard, Nichelle Nichols, and Martin Luther King Jr., activist youth such as Gwendolyn Sanders, artists, educators, athletes, politicians, etc. have all made contributions that demonstrate resilience and Black excellence. Join us as we examine, reflect, and learn during Black History Month, and also save space to share and celebrate Black history as a lifelong journey.
|
|
"The Hill We Climb"
When day comes, we ask ourselves where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry, a sea we must wade.
We’ve braved the belly of the beast.
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace,
and the norms and notions of what “just” is, isn’t always justice.
And yet, the dawn is ours before we knew it.
Somehow we do it.
Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken,
but simply unfinished.
We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one.
And yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine,
but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect.
We are striving to forge our union with purpose.
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters, and conditions of man.
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us.
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside.
We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another.
|
|
Photo by Robb Carr/Getty Images
|
|
|
Learn About 28 Black History Makers in 28 Days
by Beatrice Alvarez
This year we are making sure to celebrate Black History Month every single day in February. We want to spotlight a history maker per day with an opportunity to honor these great individuals by learning more about their lives and their contributions. Without further ado, get to know these incredible 28 Black history makers.
|
|
Hidden Figures
Before a computer became an inanimate object and before Sputnik changed the course of history, before the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education established that separate was in fact not equal, and before the poetry of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech rang out over the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, a group of black women working at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in Hampton, Virginia were helping America dominate aeronautics, space research, and computer technology, carving out a place for themselves as female mathematicians who were also black, black mathematicians who were also female. Hidden Figures is their story.
|
|
|
|
Eight Podcasts to Deepen Your Knowledge of Black History
by Justine Goode
These eight podcasts illuminate stories from Black history with the same urgency, care, and impact as 1619, and more often than not, bring a deeply personal perspective to national history. We’ve also chosen to highlight episodes that discuss the histories of protests, civil disobedience, uprisings, and people fighting to make change, all of which help to further contextualize our current moment in American history. Thanks to these storytellers, historians, and journalists, learning about Black history has never been more accessible or dynamic.
|
|
Reflections on Politics, Race and Culture: Where We Are and Where We're Going
On the eve of the Inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States, Busboys and Poets hosted a live conversation:
"Reflections on Politics, Race and Culture: Where We Are & Where We're Going."
|
|
|
|
Live music, poetry and special guests:
- Angela Davis
- Alicia Garza
- Somava Saha
- Ibram X. Kendi
- Medea Benjamin
- Ayanna Pressley
- Rashad Robinson
- Lisa Calderon
- Drew Glover
- Amy Goodman
- Michael Moore
- music by DJ CarmenSpindiego
- and more!
|
|
Amanda Gorman - “The Hill We Climb” & Activism Through Poetry | The Daily Social Distancing Show
Amanda Gorman discusses reading her poem “The Hill We Climb” at President Biden’s inauguration, what poetry means to her and her upcoming Super Bowl performance.
|
|
Unsung Black Heroines - If You Don't Know, Now You Know I The Daily Social Distancing Show
Civil rights, suffrage, Stonewall and #MeTooBlack women have stood on the front lines of the fight for justice throughout history, and they haven’t gotten their dues.
|
|
|
How Percy Julian Became One of the World’s Greatest Scientists (feat. Jordan Peele)
Percy Julian grew up to be a pioneer in the field of chemistry despite the many racial barriers he encountered along the way.
|
|
Photo by Alejandra Pedraza Buenahora
|
|
Black and Brown Trans People Have a New Place to Call Home in New York City
by Alejandra Pedraza Buenahora
A building offering affordable housing now stands as a symbol of trans self-reliance and resilience.
In fall 2020, Gays and Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society (GLITS) purchased a 12-unit building in Woodhaven, Queens, with plans to offer affordable housing to low-income Black and Brown trans and queer people. In a year when marginalized communities of color have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic aftermath, supporters say the GLITS building stands as a symbol of what the trans community can do for itself.
|
|
Google can help you find Black-owned businesses. Here's how
by Alison DeNisco Rayome
Google is adding new ways to help users find and support Black-owned businesses. Starting last July, US merchants with a verified Google Business Profile could add a Black-owned business attribute to their profile so customers can see that it's Black-owned when they find that business through Google Search and Maps.
This week, Google extended the Black-owned attribute to the site's Shopping tab, so people can more easily find and buy from Black-owned businesses. The feature will be available to all US-based shops and visible to shoppers in the coming months, the company said in a blog post.
|
|
|
Photo by Matthew Odom for The New York Times
|
|
Two Biden Priorities, Climate and Inequality, Meet on Black-Owned Farms
by Hiroko Tabuchi and Nadja Popovich
The administration has promised to make agriculture a cornerstone of its ambitious climate agenda, looking to farmers to take up farming methods that could keep planet-warming carbon dioxide locked in the soil and out of the atmosphere. At the same time, President Biden has pledged to tackle a legacy of discrimination that has driven generations of Black Americans from their farms, with steps to improve Black and other minority farmers’ access to land, loans and other assistance, including “climate-smart” production.
|
|
Our Movement is #SoMuchMore
by Patrisse Cullors, Black Lives Matter Co-Founder and Executive Director
The spirit of Black History Month goes beyond achievement. It is also about remembering and demonstrating that our lives and contributions are creative, industrious, transformative and joyful. Given the traumas of the last year, it’s important to call out that our experience is about more than the deaths we protest and the pain we hope to heal. Black life is so much more than that. We are not only triumphant and resilient, we deserve to be celebrated and valued. Our minds, our bodies, and our spirits are worthy of real investment.
|
|
|
WE WIN TOGETHER RACIAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY
|
|
SPRING SEMESTER STARTS FEBRUARY 3
|
The WE WIN Racial Justice Community provides space for individuals, communities, organizations, and coalitions to learn from one another as part of our racial justice journey.
Together, we reflect and gather insight for addressing racism in workplaces and throughout life.
Register today for our Spring Semester (February - May) for you or your organization to join this community in transforming from within and together.
|
|
Share on Twitter
The moment is NOW to address the legacies of racism in our work, lives, and systems. Join the @network_win @WEintheWorldOrg Racial Justice Community to learn how you and your organization can take action to advance racial justice.
#WIN4Equity
|
|
Somava Saha
"Structural racism is the endemic underlying our pandemic. This is the moment to act."
|
|
|
|
Katie McCormack
"I’m not only learning from the content of the meetings, but I’m also learning from the other participants...It’s been a really wonderful chance for me to be a better anti-racist.”
|
|
Can't make it to every meeting? Sign up for a special event!
|
|
TOOLS TO BUILD WELL BEING
|
|
|
A virtual exhibition of 28 works that celebrate Black legacy in the U.S.
This exhibition centers the voices of Black LGBTQ leaders and Black leaders with disabilities often diminished in our nation’s history.
Delivered each evening in February via email.
|
|
Community Commons
Black Lives Matter Collection
Community Commons is dedicated to lifting up and amplifying community voices and advancing an equitable approach to improving well-being through sharing resources and tools to incite action. We will continue to draw attention to long-standing inequities and root causes of systemic racism and violence, and to seek out and amplify voices of BIPOC (black indigenous people of color) and stories from communities of color -- to listen and to learn.
|
|
|
|
The Conscious Kid
We are an education, research, and policy organization dedicated to equity and promoting healthy racial identity development in youth. We support organizations, families, and educators in taking action to disrupt racism in young children.
|
|
TREND BENDING POLICIES FOR ADVANCING RACIAL JUSTICE
|
|
Instead of speaking on behalf of the movement and its policies, the goal of this series is to amplify the policies that Black- and Brown-led organizations have been fighting for in their own communities. The series provides readers with a sample of the policy statements, demands, and platforms within the broader movement. In doing so, the author acknowledges that the movement for racial justice is not a single entity. Instead, as the policy briefs reflect, various organizations advocate for a variety of visions and solutions for racial justice. The Anne E Casey Foundation has an excellent resource on racial justice definitions.
|
|
The series is organized around three policy pillars which encompass top pressing calls to advance racial justice.
-
Ending Police Violence whereas police are the de-facto respondents for mental health crisis, homelessness, drug use, school discipline, and a variety of other social and health issues that more often require nuanced responses instead of force.
-
Addressing COVID Inequities in which a range of factors—including an economy where people of color are more likely to have low wage, high exposure jobs as well as low access to testing—have contributed to these inequities.
-
Dismantling Structural Racism as a Whole because there can be no end to police violence, and no racial justice, without a complete upheaval of the system of racism that lies at the foundation of the United States.
|
|
Written by:
Noah Kline is a senior at Wesleyan University and a former Social Transformation Intern with WE in the World. In 2022, he will begin a career as a secondary English Language Arts teacher in Washington, DC.
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
|
|
WE WIN Together Racial Justice Community Voting Equity Action Plan
|
|
WE WIN Together Racial Justice Community Voting + Racial Justice History Resource Guide
|
|
The WE WIN Together Racial Justice Community
Feb - May
Join us for special events:
- Racial Healing
- Addressing Voter Suppression
- Global Perspectives on Racism
- Transforming Systems to Address COVID-19 Inequities
- Unpacking the Complexities of Intersectional Identities
|
|
Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum
2/6 at 1:00 PM ET
Join us for a virtual panel discussion, moderated by CNN Correspondent, Omar Jimenez, as we kick off ACM’s outdoor installation of the Men of Change: Taking it to the Streets exhibition. The social unrest of 2020 has illuminated the active presence of institutionalized racism in America and its impact on the Black community.
|
|
Association for the Study of African American Life and History
2/1 at 1:30 PM ET
The Festival will be a series of stellar educational events that demonstrate how Black people helped shape the American landscape and were shaped by it, posited through the lens of food, religion, social justice, education, economics, and music arts and their impact on the endurance of Black families.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|