tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55595605107563990072024-03-13T13:25:57.044-07:00Brown Canadian WomanBrown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-55639380284788817652020-10-02T14:30:00.011-07:002020-10-04T16:02:24.367-07:00White Folk – Stop Casually Bringing Up Racism<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jiqcp5l4U6M/X3ebmCwXaeI/AAAAAAAAAlI/vuEuLw0qN90W9uX7W8NRMV2chMYQBD8AACLcBGAsYHQ/s1000/megaphone-loudspeaker-mouthpiece-symbol-or-icon-vector-18489857.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="1000" height="167" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jiqcp5l4U6M/X3ebmCwXaeI/AAAAAAAAAlI/vuEuLw0qN90W9uX7W8NRMV2chMYQBD8AACLcBGAsYHQ/w237-h167/megaphone-loudspeaker-mouthpiece-symbol-or-icon-vector-18489857.jpg" width="237" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />So, I was
out with a group recently. The day was lovely, the group was majority white
(this IS Nova Scotia after all), but there was a good mix of POCs as well. The
day wound down and we were gathered chatting when out of the blue, one white
person told a story of a time when someone they knew said something racist. I
won’t go into details, but the story was uncomfortable to say the least.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">White folk,
PLEASE STOP casually bringing up racism!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Stop
casually asking the POC you know “Have you ever experienced racism?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Stop
telling the POC you know about how you used to be racist or said racist things.
It’s great that you are on a journey and have improved, but we don’t need to
know and frankly don’t want to hear that shit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Stop
casually bringing up stories of that time you or someone you know experienced
racism or prejudice.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Stop casually
sharing what your racist friend/family member/co-worker/person down the street said
or did. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">Stop telling us about your racist friend/significant other/family member/co-worker and expecting us to want to interact with them or overlook that aspect of them to make YOU feel comfortable. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Just Stop!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When you’re
in a group, take note of your audience. Are POCs present (now, this can be difficult because some POCs are 'invisible', meaning to your eye they may 'look white')? Then you can bet they
have had <u>many</u> instances of racism, big and small. These “casual” stories
you are bringing up – to your friend, to your family, at work, at a party, in a
group setting or even one on one can be deeply upsetting and stir up a <u>lot</u>
of trauma. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Personally,
I have experienced thousands – yes <u>thousands</u> – of incidents of racism
great and small, casual and downright venomous. And as long as I am breathing,
I will continue to experience racism. As you can imagine, there is deep trauma
there. As you can imagine, the topic simply cannot be casual for me, nor is it
for other POCs. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Here’s the
thing; white people get to speak about racism casually because – generally speaking
– they aren’t impacted deeply by it. They can go from talking about the
weather, to racism, to getting the groceries. Racism is a theoretical concept
for many of them…a philosophical conversation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It is not a
theoretical concept for People of Colour. It’s. Our. Life. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">People of
Colour are battling to simply exist in a white world that is rooted in
systematic racism. Racism and stereotyping? For us, we’ve been though hell and
back over these things. We’ve watched people we love get sick and die over
these things. We’ve spent many nights unable to sleep worried that our friends
and family would even make it home safe. We’ve seen our communities, our
families, even ourselves torn apart by these things. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For us?
Racism. Is. War.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The thing
is, when white folk bring up racism in a well meaning but casual way, what is
being demanded of us is severe emotional vulnerability.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When you
ask “did you experience…” what’s really being asked of us is for us to share
deeply traumatic instances that have happened in our lives and risk punishment
in the form of dismissal, denial, being debated with or told “it wasn’t that
bad” (aka we are lying). This is an intimate, deeply vulnerable conversation
similar to asking a person if they’ve ever been raped.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When you
ask stuff like “What are you?” or “Where do you come from?” or “Do Black people
say this?” or “Do Black people have a term for that” or “Do Black people do
this?” you are Othering us. And we get it, we <u>are</u> different than you. We’re
cool with that. But maybe we don’t want to be put on the spot and Othered a that
particular point in time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When you
bring up racist things you used to say or do, or that your
friends/family/co-workers etc. used to say or do, you are using us as emotional
dumping grounds. We can’t offer you absolution – nor do we want to. Your story
doesn’t help us in any way – other than to know that you used to be racist, which
you most assuredly will get defensive about if we point that out. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When you
casually bring up the one time you experienced racism, or heard someone say/do
racist things – you are not relating to us. Not only is it insulting to try to
be relatable with your handful of stories to someone who has experienced racism
on a daily basis, you are stirring up deep trauma within that person’s soul. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">When you tell us about your racist friend/significant other/family member/co-worker, and then expect us to hang out with them or interact with them, you are sending a clear message that not only are you okay with racism, you don't give a fuck about how we feel or the impact this will have on us. Yes, I get it, for you their racism is just one part of their personality...one that you easily overlook. For us? It's a deal breaker, and frankly, if you were really a friend you wouldn't callously expect anyone to overlook this. Have you ever considered that racism...which INCLUDES being around people who engage in racist behavior...is severely stressful and traumatizing to a POC? What you are really asking a POC to do when you expect us to interact with racists in your life is endure a highly stressful situation where WE, not YOU, are on pins and needles in fight or flight mode, having to be on alert for if or when something racist will be said or done. Frankly? If you were a true friend you would never dream of asking this of the POC.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Not only is
insensitive to do these things to a POC, it’s cruel. In doing these things,
white people become part of the problem of compounding racial trauma, no matter
how well meaning they may feel. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And also –
have you ever considered that sometimes a POC just can’t or doesn’t want to “go
there” at that particular time, even if they did so before? Maybe we’re tired
(exhausted!), maybe something happened a few days ago that you don’t know about
and we are wrestling with it, maybe on that day, at that time, we just don’t
fucking wanna.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And sure, a
POC could say back off, but chances are you caught us off guard and we just don’t
want to deal with the stress and drama of having to tell you to keep that shit
to yourself, or explain why we don’t want to go there right now. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“But Brown
Canadian Woman, you said the key to going forward is open communication. What
gives?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I still
believe that, but you have to approach this communication with compassion. Don't forget, you are engaging with someone who has and continues to experience deep trauma.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now, look, personally
I usually don’t mind discussing race – but not in a cavalier way. Not in a group
of white people and never with white people who have been dismissive or engaged
in passive racism before and haven’t acknowledged their mistake and started
showing signs of change.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, ask!
Ask every time you want to ask a question or share a story or bring something
up regarding racism. For God sake, ask! And let me be clear, don't ask in a group or with others around and put the POC on the spot! If you're going to ignore my 'never in a group' advice (which I STRONGLY urge you NOT to do!) , at least pull the person aside and ask one on one.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A perfect
example – I know a white person who has learned to be an effective ally. They
wanted to share a story of something idiotic and racist (and frankly, hilarious) a
family member said to them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We were speaking one on one.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There was already an established
trust between us that discussing racism was safe. I knew they wouldn’t dismiss
or “debate” my POV or comments if I chose to share.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><u><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">They asked first</span></u><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> if they could share the story of
the dumbass racist thing they heard. <u>They waited for me to say yes. Only
then did they share.</u> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I
infinitely appreciated being alerted to the fact that a potentially triggering
story was about to be shared. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I infinitely
appreciated being asked!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I infinitely
appreciated being given the opportunity to say no.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But most important?
I infinitely appreciated that they were aware of the impact such a conversation
may have had on me, and cared enough to pause and prepare me for the topic
ahead. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, to
summarize:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">-Don’t
bring up racism out of the blue or in a casual way.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">-Don’t
bring up racism in a group or crowd, gathering, party… Ever. Just…don’t. OK, I
get it, you know everyone there and think they’re cool and it’s a safe space and
all, but does the POC? Does the POC even want to go there at that time? Don’t
forget, what is ultimately being demanded of here is extreme emotional vulnerability
<u>from the POC</u>, NOT you. What is likely to happen is the POC will be stressed
out and triggered, NOT you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">-Don’t tell
stories of how you used to be racist or said racist things.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">-Don’t
share stories of when you witnessed racism but did nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">-Don’t assume
because you’ve spoken about this with other POCs or feel knowledgeable about
the topic, that that particular POC at that particular time will welcome
speaking with you on racism. Hell, don’t even assume that if you spoke with
THAT POC before about racism they will welcome you bringing up racism out of
the blue at any given time. These topics are emotional labour for us and
sometimes we just don’t want to or can’t muster up the energy or desire.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">-Don’t
assume that because a POC didn’t tell you you crossed a line, everything is
okay.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">-Don’t
assume the story you shared was welcome.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">-Make sure
the person you are speaking to trusts you enough to have this conversation or
hear this story. If speaking about these issues is new territory between you
and someone, you can always explain that you have a question or wish to share
something regarding racism and would the POC mind if you did. Give them the
opportunity and frankly the dignity to say no if they so choose.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">-Finally,
BEFORE bringing something up, ASK! And wait for us to say yes or no. Every time. Ask and say “please feel free to
put your hand up and stop this conversation or call me out if I step out of
line or you’ve simply had enough.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Ask</span></u><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. And if a POC then opens up and
starts sharing with you? Stop talking and Listen. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-45995352287915187392020-07-30T11:34:00.000-07:002020-07-30T11:34:06.463-07:00Peonage<h2 class="hP" data-legacy-thread-id="172f18cea5b7dba7" data-thread-perm-id="thread-a:r-3269356382788098341" id=":17k" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #202124; display: inline; font-family: "Google Sans", Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.375rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px 10px 0px 0px;" tabindex="-1">In 1866, one year after the 13 Amendment was ratified (the amendment that ended slavery), Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina began to lease out convicts for labor (peonage). This made the business of arresting Blacks very lucrative, which is why hundreds of White men were hired by these states as police officers. Their primary responsibility was to search out and arrest Blacks who were in violation of Black Codes. Once arrested, these men, women and children would be leased to plantations where they would harvest cotton, tobacco, sugar cane. Or they would be leased to work at coal mines, or railroad companies. The owners of these businesses would pay the state for every prisoner who worked for them; prison labor. It is believed that after the passing of the 13th Amendment, more than 800,000 Blacks were part of the system of peonage, or re-enslavement through the prison system. Peonage didn’t end until after World War II</h2><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Google Sans, Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 22px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Google Sans, Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 22px; font-variant-ligatures: no-contextual;"><br /></span></span><span class="J-J5-Ji" id=":17n" style="align-items: center; background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline-flex; flex-wrap: wrap; font-family: Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; min-height: 28px; position: relative; vertical-align: bottom;"><div aria-label="Important according to Google magic." class="pG" data-tooltip-align="b,l" data-tooltip-contained="true" data-tooltip-delay="1500" id=":zw" role="img" style="align-items: center; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 0px; height: 20px; justify-content: center; margin: 0px 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 20px;"></div><div aria-label="Important according to Google magic." class="pG" data-tooltip-align="b,l" data-tooltip-contained="true" data-tooltip-delay="1500" id=":zw" role="img" style="align-items: center; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 0px; height: 20px; justify-content: center; margin: 0px 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 20px;"><br /></div><div aria-label="Important according to Google magic." class="pG" data-tooltip-align="b,l" data-tooltip-contained="true" data-tooltip-delay="1500" id=":zw" role="img" style="align-items: center; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 0px; height: 20px; justify-content: center; margin: 0px 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 20px;">Source</div></span></div>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-108044662190670602020-07-10T11:44:00.003-07:002020-07-10T11:52:05.192-07:00Diving deep into our current racial climate<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times">I have heard arguments against the Black Lives Matter
movement that basically say Black people should get their shit together. They go something like 'what about Black on Black crime?', 'what about derogatory
lyrics in rap?' and say we should focus on those things instead of police
brutality and white supremacy. I'm not going to dive into the power dynamics of
gas lighting and deflection as tools to detract from an issue - that's a whole
other can of worms, but suffice to say deflection and gas lighting are very
well known and powerful tools commonly used by abusers in order to perpetuate
abuse.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times">What I will say is that in my experience talking about and
teaching about racism, when comments like these occur it is usually from the
mouths of people who do not have a deep understanding of the issue.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times">In order to comprehend why we got to where we are now, you
must know the history. This is a crucial foundation. Study the history of how
Black people were brought to this country. Study and study it some more. I've
been studying deeply for at least 20 years and I'm still learning. Learn about
Jim Crow, segregation and red lining. Learn about the 'war on drugs'. For Nova
Scotians, learn about the Black Loyalists, learn about Africville, learn about
<a href="https://ansa.novascotia.ca/sites/default/files/files/African%20Nova%20Scotian%20Cultural%20Tourism%20Guide.pdf" target="_blank">Whitney Pier’s</a> Black community – one which the government's treatment paralleled
what that of Africville.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times">Learn about environmental racism, racism in health care,
racism in education. Learn about the power of stripping a people of their
heritage - I've heard often throughout the years 'well you guys have a Black
history month, why don't we have a white history month?'. Short answer to a
complicated question: we don't have a 'white history' month because white
values, history and culture are reflected everywhere and in everything in North
America. It is interwoven into the fabric of this culture. The fact that we
have a month to celebrate Black culture is, in my opinion, not a win. It is a
beacon that shines on a very large problem - Black culture, history and
achievements, on a societal level, are routinely ignored except for one month
out of the year (and the shortest, coldest one at that!). We should not need a
Black History month. The history and achievements of Black people should be
taught, celebrated and acknowledged every day of the year, as should those of
all cultures. Another answer to that question - I have seen lots of
celebrations, clubs and organizations that laud white culture, but the term
'white' is not used because, by and large, white people have the privilege of
knowing their exact roots. For example we don't say 'white day' we say 'St.
Patrick's day" - a day to celebrate elements of Irish heritage. The privilege
here being that Irish people know where their ancestors came from. Black people
in this country do not have the luxury of knowing exactly where our ancestors
came from. We know a continent - Africa - but not a country. If we could say
Nigeria or Chad or Ghana, we would. But we cannot. That was stripped away
during slavery.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times">But I digress.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times">Once you have a deep understanding of the history and
current issues, take it a step further and learn about abuse. Learn that abuse
is not just physical. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times">Learn about emotional abuse. Learn about the abuser / abused
dynamics. Learn about the cycles of abuse. Learn about brainwashing,
deflection, denial, dismissal and gas lighting.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times">Learn about how abuse is used to control. Learn how
isolating and stripping someone of their identity is used as a means to
control. Learn and apply these principles back to slavery and our current day
situation regarding systematic racism.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times">One pattern I have noticed is that unless something huge
happens in someone's life, they will continue on whatever trajectory they have
been going on. You see this all the time in stories that basically go - I was a
drug abuser and headed on a downward spiral and then (insert life changing
event) happened. Is it that much of a stretch to apply this to issues facing
the Black community? Add generations of abuse with a lack of knowledge of and
therefore pride in ones culture and therefore one’s self and then add on top of
that a system that actively seeks to oppress, and you will begin to scratch the
surface of answers to questions like 'what about Black on Black violence' (side
note, have you ever noticed when a white person kills another white person it's
not called white on white violence? The media engine is at play here
influencing how we view crimes perpetuated by Black people) and why there is an
issue with drugs in the Black community, single parent Black homes etc. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times">That said I would contest that these issues also plague
white homes and communities, but the media would have us believe that these are
issues that affect Black communities moreso than white communities. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times">Let's get into the history.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times">During slave times, calculated efforts were made to break
slaves. You don't break a person physically, you break them mentally. You break
up strong family structures and ensure they cannot be formed. You pit people
against each other. You make people hate themselves. When you break a person
psychologically, you set in motion a longstanding chain of events.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times">We've all heard the phrase 'hurt people hurt people'. This
applies. If a person is broken, if they hate themselves, if they are constantly
fighting an uphill battle and being broken down time and time again, wouldn't
it stand to reason that that person's parenting would be compromised? If a
broken person raises a child, wouldn't it stand to reason that the child would
have additional issues? All parents are broken in some way - they are only
human - but my point here is the additional trauma placed on Black people makes
the struggle even harder in all aspects of life. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times">The thing is, in order to fix something that is broken, you
have to first acknowledge that it is broken, then know how it was broken and
then work your way backward to begin to unravel the complicated tangles that
keep someone or something (in this case, society) bound to a trajectory that is
no longer working.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times">So in saying 'what about...' you must understand that those
things exist today as a direct result of the machine of systematic racism that
was designed to and continues to keep Black people broken. You must also
understand that the BLM movement is in place to begin addressing some of those
issues in order to fix them.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times">Learn. Start with <a href="http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/Perspectives_1/Willie_Lynch_letter_The_Making_of_a_Slave.shtml" target="_blank">Willie Lynch's</a> instructions on how to
break a slave and apply what you've learned to current events.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times">And for those who think - well those days are long past.
Pull yourself together already; think about your own life journey. Self
improvement is one of the hardest things anyone can achieve in their life. Imagine trying to work on yourself and improve yourself in a hostile
environment that has things in place to keep you down. Also consider this, people who are under attack enter something called Fight or Flight mode. People who are in survival mode will have an even harder time improving their life circumstances.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times">In order to know where you're headed, you've got to know
where you've been.<br />
Know thy history, know thyself.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times">Some resources to start: </font></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TK7hY2qzkUI/Xwi16zIMMdI/AAAAAAAAAiw/64aTnLjm1xkRuiHx1w46kkQT5jSQGeTvACLcBGAsYHQ/s587/break.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="587" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TK7hY2qzkUI/Xwi16zIMMdI/AAAAAAAAAiw/64aTnLjm1xkRuiHx1w46kkQT5jSQGeTvACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/break.png" width="320" /></a></div><font face="times"><br /></font><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times"><br /></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font face="times"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcXWr-6SQqE" target="_blank">Willie Lynch - the making of a slave</a></font></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/Perspectives_1/Willie_Lynch_letter_The_Making_of_a_Slave.shtml" target="_blank">Willie lynch - the making of a slave speach</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2XfuJS3bZQ&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR3XSMDrNMVw9n9_iET0CHjaVgYxfLB10ZKnBEnxq7u2WTs7uNFNGJlQ2T4" target="_blank"><font face="times">Light Girls documentary</font></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Csa1YON62OI&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR14dJh_toLms68lRqOzdDusruPAqf_EjZBpNr54uf1CxfYhks_boktKUVw" target="_blank"><font face="times">Dark Girls documentary</font></a></p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/NativeBreastfeedingWeek/posts/277924703567268" target="_blank"><font face="times">The racist legacy of breastfeeding</font></a></p><br />Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-46187580115118249112020-06-26T09:47:00.001-07:002020-06-26T09:47:49.613-07:00As An Indigenous Mountie For 17 Years, I Became Numb To The Casual Racism by Chad Haggerty<div><font face="times"><font color="#000000">"<span style="border-image: none; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 400; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">You should be on the reserve where you belong.”</span></font></font></div><div><span style="border-image: none; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 400; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font face="times"></font><font color="#000000"></font><br /></span></div><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border-image: none; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.75rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="border-image: none; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 400; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font color="#000000" face="times">"Racist comments like this were something I’d overhear in quiet conversations behind my back, or from strangers I could easily dismiss. This was different. The comment was personal, the words specific to me. The uniform he wore was the same as mine."</font></span></p><span style="border-image: none; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 400; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/rcmp-indigenous-racism_ca_5ef22127c5b6045b1018e8c8?fbclid=IwAR38IX4VNHzLg3DY92yMHef6bGVBXViBL92HWbmyDFT-z9I-tUt-crM-p20" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><font color="#000000"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="582" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qzeIY8L8Z80/XvYmPv3sRhI/AAAAAAAAAd0/mGa3yu7_8dIZhX79ADeRmOhCWroL_imBQCK4BGAsYHg/s320/5ef22601240000bf1f8ed443.jpeg" /></font></a></p><font face="times"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/rcmp-indigenous-racism_ca_5ef22127c5b6045b1018e8c8?fbclid=IwAR38IX4VNHzLg3DY92yMHef6bGVBXViBL92HWbmyDFT-z9I-tUt-crM-p20" target="_blank"><font color="#000000">Click</font></a></div><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border-image: none; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.75rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/rcmp-indigenous-racism_ca_5ef22127c5b6045b1018e8c8?fbclid=IwAR38IX4VNHzLg3DY92yMHef6bGVBXViBL92HWbmyDFT-z9I-tUt-crM-p20" target="_blank"></a><font color="#000000"></font><br /></p></font></span><span style="border-image: none; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 400; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font face="times"><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border-image: none; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.75rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><font color="#000000"></font><br /></p></font></span>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-46286284611069639692020-06-26T09:42:00.002-07:002020-06-26T09:42:28.285-07:00Why English Class is Silencing Students of Color | Jamila Lyiscott | TEDxTheBenjaminSchool<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">What if someone told you that the way you use language every day had the power to disrupt or uphold social injustice? Language is saturated with history and culture and memory, yet the way that it is policed within our classrooms and our communities is deeply connected to racism and colonialism.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4dc1axRwE4" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="854" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fXYOdj9_Cw0/XvYlUvMLpOI/AAAAAAAAAdc/d92hlKmmyi0LNM7FAfof7VZ75blqSvjtwCK4BGAsYHg/s320/Untitled.png" width="320" /></a></div>
</span>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-19788688279668523512020-06-26T09:37:00.003-07:002020-06-26T09:37:50.596-07:00Everyday Struggle: Switching Codes for Survival | Harold Wallace III | TEDxPittsburgStateUniversity<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; display: inline !important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><font face="times">Harold Wallace III is a Los Angeles, CA, native who received a Bachelor’s degree in Ethnic Studies from Wichita State University and a Master’s of Science in College Student Personnel from Arkansas Tech University.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJy5yeBSQ7o" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="855" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OSh2gFpCG2E/XvYkQvHmP7I/AAAAAAAAAdE/yXCrjDJHvSIPxYs_0jwhLB3Q4hfuR6l8gCK4BGAsYHg/s320/Untitled.png" width="320" /></a></div>
</font></span>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-57916828237602191032020-06-26T09:33:00.001-07:002020-06-26T09:33:09.033-07:00The Missing Century of Black History in the Americas: Jane Landers at TEDxNashville<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; display: inline !important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><font face="times">Jane Landers is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of History at Vanderbilt University. She has written a number of works on Africans in the Atlantic World, including the award-winning monographs, Black Society in Spanish Florida and Atlantic Creoles in the Age of Revolutions. Her research has been supported by fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the British Library Endangered Archives Programme. She directs the Ecclesiastical and Secular Sources for Slave Societies digital archive, which is preserving the oldest records for Africans in Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, and the present-day United States.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmLI6tuq22Y" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="859" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nRfwpPW2aeg/XvYjMPGXNDI/AAAAAAAAAco/Vh0RFnGrFoM45J_eXTD8AG9vSHxeWQocQCK4BGAsYHg/s320/Untitled.png" width="320" /></a></div>
</font></span>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-63659383815403233392020-06-26T09:30:00.001-07:002020-06-26T09:30:13.680-07:00Black murder is normal | Michael Smith | TEDxJacksonville<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. In this Talk, Pastor Michael T. Smith argues that the “normalcy” of black murder is engrained in our American culture. Indeed, the idea that a black American would be involved in a homicide—either as perpetrator or victim—is so broadly accepted as to be largely unnoticed.<br /><br />Smith exposes the racism that underlies the appalling lack of outrage at high death rates in the black community, and highlights the hypocrisy of a society that glamorizes violence, but ignores its victims. “It doesn’t take action to keep racism going,” Smith observes, “it takes inaction.”
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DxHL2i3cZo" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="856" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5lUdLOodqL4/XvYid-hyB0I/AAAAAAAAAcM/njtBt5ylNuE9NaMjp4DVb6zN8kxXdP4EACK4BGAsYHg/s320/Untitled.png" width="320" /></a></div>
</span>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-55744784789744233722020-06-26T09:27:00.001-07:002020-06-26T09:27:08.339-07:00Heroes and Villains: Is hip-hop a cancer or a cure? | Lecrae | TEDxNashville<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">When we prostitute things like misogyny and violence for the sake of entertainment, we perpetuate villainous ideas as heroic. Hip hop is one of our generation's perpetrators, but is also the art form that can turn this ship around.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFas9cd8ZZ8" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="862" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y5tRihYpCag/XvYhw5kqQcI/AAAAAAAAAb0/vIRp1KMKs2MRvJxFajCiOHiQ5uy8UHEWACK4BGAsYHg/s320/Untitled.png" width="320" /></a></div>
</span>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-72127677316878296012020-06-26T09:23:00.003-07:002020-06-26T09:23:47.457-07:00Racial progression in our generation | Michael Smith | TEDxFSCJ<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; display: inline !important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><font face="times">The talk is about my personal journey with the word as part of my vocabulary and psyche from a young age. It also includes how the word has morphed over time from a pejorative to a term of endearment to being eradicated from my vocabulary entirely. The talk concludes with what I believe is the front line of racial progress in our generation: definition, expectation, and normalcy.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9lEvaXodNc" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="854" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VPgLgyCKUzw/XvYg3nzAhTI/AAAAAAAAAbY/dxnQu-_b_l4FIpI-axaoQy4Ju2izIr1dgCK4BGAsYHg/s320/Untitled.png" width="320" /></a></div>
</font></span>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-34574066213793760252020-06-26T09:19:00.002-07:002020-06-26T09:19:28.659-07:00How Canada tries to hide its racism by pointing a finger at the U.S.<font face="times">"In 1969, then prime minister Pierre Trudeau famously said that living beside the United States was like “sleeping with an elephant.” Indeed, a beast of such size is impossible to ignore in even a king-sized bed, and his every grunt and movement becomes the problem of his bedfellow.</font><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1.33rem 0px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><font face="times">Canadians love to conceive of our relationship with the United States like this: we are helpless and can do little against the giant beside us. Roll over. Put a pillow on your head. Hope to God he doesn’t roll over on you.</font></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1.33rem 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><font face="times">But the relationship is much more than a tale of a helpless small animal keeping an even keel in the midst of an elephant. <a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/06/26/opinion/how-canada-tries-hide-its-racism-pointing-finger-us?fbclid=IwAR3AoKH28q4zbml7VyCL8CyH-7kb2qbCOBeQcN4DdG1isd71QUbF6KbH3zQ" target="_blank">Our identity is formed not simply by lying beside the beast, but also by using the United States to whitewash and obscure our own reality.</a>"</font></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 1.33rem 0px 0px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/06/26/opinion/how-canada-tries-hide-its-racism-pointing-finger-us?fbclid=IwAR3AoKH28q4zbml7VyCL8CyH-7kb2qbCOBeQcN4DdG1isd71QUbF6KbH3zQ" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-loENYqVhx_c/XvYf9Qr1moI/AAAAAAAAAbE/TWXib2nnHIUNZZF3WYEFt5q0ws-nmWIjgCK4BGAsYHg/s320/protest_in_l.a._over_the_death_of_george_floyd_-_shutterstock_1746821639.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><font face="times"><br /></font><p></p>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-31490635045534806162020-06-26T09:10:00.000-07:002020-06-26T09:10:13.127-07:00One month after George Floyd’s murder, “woke” white people in Nova Scotia should look at their own repeating history<font face="times"><font color="#000000">"<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; display: inline !important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">In </span><a href="https://www.harpercollins.ca/9781443406581/the-hanging-of-angelique/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; transition: 0.1s ease-in-out; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font color="#000000">The Hanging of Angelique</font></i></a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; display: inline !important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><font color="#000000"> </font>(2006), her landmark book about the 1734 public execution of an enslaved Black woman in Montreal, Dalhousie University professor Afua Cooper rightly noted: “Canadian history, insofar as its Black history is concerned, is a drama punctuated with disappearing acts.”"<br /><br /><a href="https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/one-month-after-george-floyds-murder-woke-white-people-in-nova-scotia-should-look-at-their-own-repeating-history/" target="_blank">Nova Scotians need to wake up to homegrown racism.</a><br /></span></font></font>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-37882507268983715222020-06-26T08:46:00.002-07:002020-06-26T08:46:24.475-07:00Confessions of a Former Bastard Cop<p class="gr gs cd gt b gu gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc hd he hf hg hh hi hj cv ap" data-selectable-paragraph="" id="ab04" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #292929; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0em; line-height: 32px; margin: 2em 0px -0.46em; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><font face="times">"I was a police officer for nearly ten years and I was a bastard. We all were.<br />This essay has been kicking around in my head for years now and I’ve never felt confident enough to write it. It’s a time in my life I’m ashamed of. It’s a time that I hurt people and, through inaction, allowed others to be hurt. It’s a time that I acted as a violent agent of capitalism and white supremacy. Under the guise of public safety, I personally ruined people’s lives but in so doing, made the public no safer… so did the family members and close friends of mine who also bore the badge alongside me.<br /><br />But enough is enough.<br /><br />The reforms aren’t working. Incrementalism isn’t happening. Unarmed Black, indigenous, and people of color are being killed by cops in the streets and the police are savagely attacking the people protesting these murders.<br /><br />American policing is a thick blue tumor strangling the life from our communities and if you don’t believe it when the poor and the marginalized say it, if you don’t believe it when you see cops across the country shooting journalists with less-lethal bullets and caustic chemicals, maybe you’ll believe it when you hear it straight from the <a href="https://medium.com/@OfcrACab/confessions-of-a-former-bastard-cop-bb14d17bc759" target="_blank">pig’s mouth</a>."<br /><br /><br /></font></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://medium.com/@OfcrACab/confessions-of-a-former-bastard-cop-bb14d17bc759" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="1280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qNJBSi9plh0/XvYYIFUKfrI/AAAAAAAAAao/Xt5lW0jJ-ZQJmcuhC63ii53QepzMWQHKACK4BGAsYHg/s320/1_HyIaXPcqi3wl-Hz6A0vagA.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-1376801408735904212020-06-26T08:42:00.001-07:002020-06-26T08:42:11.687-07:00‘Notice the Rage; Notice the Silence’ by Resmaa Menakem<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><font face="times">The best laws and diversity training have not gotten us anywhere near where we want to go. Therapist and trauma specialist Resmaa Menakem is working with old wisdom and very new science about our bodies and nervous systems, and all we condense into the word “race.” Krista sat down with him in Minneapolis, where they both live and work, before the pandemic lockdown began. In this heartbreaking moment, after the killing of George Floyd and the history it carries, <a href="https://onbeing.org/programs/resmaa-menakem-notice-the-rage-notice-the-silence/#disqus_thread" target="_blank">Resmaa Menakem’s practices offer us the beginning to change at a cellular level. </a></font><br /></div><div><font face="times"></font><a href="https://onbeing.org/programs/resmaa-menakem-notice-the-rage-notice-the-silence/#disqus_thread" target="_blank"></a><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://onbeing.org/programs/resmaa-menakem-notice-the-rage-notice-the-silence/#disqus_thread" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M6EHRklCoFg/XvYWfkf4qJI/AAAAAAAAAaM/_jEyeclDWYoKK_XEhPBskclVysVfWI4KwCK4BGAsYHg/s320/1500-resmaa-menakem-768x512.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-54747051149105291522020-06-26T08:00:00.000-07:002020-06-26T08:37:57.186-07:00How I Discovered I Am White by <font face="times">"<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">When I was 14 or so, I asked my grandmother why we didn’t have a “white club” at school. I don’t recall her response, but I do remember feeling particularly smug and vaguely angry that there was a “Latino” club and a “Chinese” club but not a “white” club."<br /><br /><a href="https://www.renegademothering.com/2014/12/09/discovered-white/" target="_blank">Read this important post.</a><br /></span></font>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-69254053276236466102020-06-26T07:56:00.001-07:002020-06-26T07:57:00.862-07:00Racial Injustice has Benefited Me - A Confession by Phil Vischer<p class="XzvDs _208Ie tFDi5 blog-post-text-font blog-post-text-color _2QAo- _25MYV _6RI6N tFDi5 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" id="viewer-foo" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: 0px 0px rgb(253, 253, 253); border-image: none; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; direction: ltr; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><font face="times">"I'm watching America burn, and watching fingers point in all directions. Of course, I'm not a racist. I've never kneeled on anyone's neck or denied housing to anyone. So I'm clean. Right?
</font><br style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: inherit; text-align: left;" /></p><p class="XzvDs _208Ie tFDi5 blog-post-text-font blog-post-text-color _2QAo- _25MYV _6RI6N tFDi5 public-DraftStyleDefault-block-depth0 public-DraftStyleDefault-ltr" id="viewer-79vfp" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: 0px 0px rgb(253, 253, 253); border-image: none; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; direction: ltr; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><font face="times">This situation has me examining how I tell my story, and I am more convinced than ever that how we tell our stories matters. I have benefited from racial injustice. How? <a href="https://www.holypost.com/post/how-racial-injustice-has-benefited-me?fbclid=IwAR34ZvW21Snj7VEtFKFXAB5H7BFwTE7WUfL-tWLTU6y9egcl2AwBU3PhAMk" target="_blank">Here's my story.</a>"
</font></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><font face="times"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kXILA2lAXic/XvYMgv0u-pI/AAAAAAAAAZw/_HDf5sp46D8X97rj3Mi_iZ1vbPdk_rVswCK4BGAsYHg/s111/Untitled.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="93" data-original-width="111" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kXILA2lAXic/XvYMgv0u-pI/AAAAAAAAAZw/_HDf5sp46D8X97rj3Mi_iZ1vbPdk_rVswCK4BGAsYHg/Untitled.png" /></a></font></div><font face="times">
</font><p></p>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-46872144511790394082020-06-26T07:51:00.000-07:002020-06-26T07:51:12.192-07:00158 Resources to Understand Racism in America by Melian Solly <div><font face="times"><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/158-resources-understanding-systemic-racism-america-180975029/" target="_blank">These articles, videos, podcasts and websites</a> from the Smithsonian chronicle the history of anti-black violence and inequality in the United States.</font></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-9963518029277906032020-06-26T07:43:00.001-07:002020-06-26T07:43:08.650-07:00From Juneteenth to the Tulsa massacre: What isn't taught in classrooms has a profound impact<div><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; display: inline !important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><font color="#000000" face="times">Educators said the history of systemic racism in this country and the contributions of Black people</font></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; display: inline !important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><font color="#000000" face="times"><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/juneteenth-tulsa-massacre-what-isn-t-taught-classrooms-has-profound-n1231442?cid=sm_npd_nn_fb_ma&fbclid=IwAR1nnTNbO1FUvM6W6jfb6_5NfgbMrPqo-yjhfkcJzGko9uSYEvvGS8NLXe0&fbclid=IwAR2Gtwo59q6gvmHKor58EaL1Wqe_ta4yo52tjgdf7yMHSvOwm-PoabbJP2k" target="_blank">have been erased.</a><br /></font></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; display: inline !important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/juneteenth-tulsa-massacre-what-isn-t-taught-classrooms-has-profound-n1231442?cid=sm_npd_nn_fb_ma&fbclid=IwAR1nnTNbO1FUvM6W6jfb6_5NfgbMrPqo-yjhfkcJzGko9uSYEvvGS8NLXe0&fbclid=IwAR2Gtwo59q6gvmHKor58EaL1Wqe_ta4yo52tjgdf7yMHSvOwm-PoabbJP2k" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1168" data-original-width="2000" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i5eftdjTjjo/XvYJNiOqfyI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/x8rREOgq2P8H8ZTRMsGapIg73bKQRFeEQCK4BGAsYHg/s320/191021-tulsa-race-riot-mn-1025_86be981b80f0e6ce998fb51e847cfd20.fit-2000w.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><font color="#000000" face="times"><br /></font></span></div>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-53085966459899612082020-06-26T07:39:00.001-07:002020-06-26T07:39:10.421-07:00The history of Canadian slavery goes back 400 years, except we’re blind to it<div><font color="#000000"><font face="times">" It is not common knowledge, but it should be: there is a centuries-long and ugly history of slavery north of the 49th parallel.<br /><br /></font><font face="times">The Underground Railroad, a secret network that brought 30,000 enslaved men, women and children to relative freedom starting in the mid-1800s, is often associated with slavery in Canada.<br /></font></font></div><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 1.9rem; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><font face="times"><font color="#000000"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; display: inline !important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><br />However, slavery here predates the Railroad by </span><a data-id="72" data-m="{"i":72,"p":46,"n":"partnerLink","y":24,"o":5}" href="https://humanrights.ca/story/the-story-of-slavery-in-canadian-history" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank"><font color="#000000">at least 200 years.</font></a>"<br /><br /></font></font></p><div></div><div><font face="times"><font color="#000000"><a href="https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/newspolitics/the-history-of-canadian-slavery-goes-back-400-years-except-were-blind-to-it/ar-BB15pG6a?ocid=sf2" target="_blank">Click to read this excellent article.</a><br /><br /><br /></font></font></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><font face="times"><font color="#000000"><a href="https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/newspolitics/the-history-of-canadian-slavery-goes-back-400-years-except-were-blind-to-it/ar-BB15pG6a?ocid=sf2" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="789" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-130Edm4muLo/XvYIUDeLg8I/AAAAAAAAAY8/h2W95DftKN4xqduxCIW0pP3bkxdvOPCygCK4BGAsYHg/s320/Untitled.png" width="320" /></a></font></font></div><div><font face="times"><font color="#000000"><br /></font></font></div><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 1.9rem; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></p>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-32993789134348094452020-06-26T07:17:00.001-07:002020-06-26T07:17:21.679-07:00Understanding My Privilege | Sue Borrego | TEDxPasadenaWomen<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; display: inline !important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><font face="times">University Chancellor, Susan E. Borrego, reflects on her life as an emancipated minor and dissects the emotionally charged conversation surrounding race relations in the United States. This raconteur uses her powerful first-person account of "White Privilege" and "Black Lives Matter" to underscore the responsibility each one of us has to bring about change.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://youtu.be/XlRxqC0Sze4" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="858" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v4Haf8cj-EI/XvYDTEMep4I/AAAAAAAAAYc/yCBtInT6QAEDBiAQwtyUYDXHp5-Uovu1QCK4BGAsYHg/s320/Untitled.png" width="320" /></a></div>
</font></span></div>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-25302035580960562942020-06-26T07:12:00.001-07:002020-06-26T07:12:30.080-07:00White Men: Time to Discover Your Cultural Blind Spots | Michael Welp | TEDxBend<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; display: inline !important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><font face="times">White men rarely, if ever, are required to examine their own culture. In this timely and provocative talk, Welp speaks to his own experience becoming conscious of his white male culture, bias, and privilege as key tools to effective partnership across difference.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://youtu.be/rR5zDIjUrfk" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="856" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w6cY9XrIkVU/XvYCFQ4SoPI/AAAAAAAAAYI/Fg2DFEfoPXASswOeiix6XQf8uGgCpjBxwCK4BGAsYHg/s320/Untitled.png" width="320" /></a></div>
</font></span></div>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-37163603853284906552020-06-10T14:11:00.003-07:002020-06-10T14:12:19.957-07:00Let's get to the root of racial injustice | Megan Ming Francis | TEDxRainier<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aCn72iXO9s" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><font face="times" size="2"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="907" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jhnmGn4z4Ug/XuFMK5ZkKQI/AAAAAAAAASA/wW7hw8tmbzcgk9vpWZY3gIkMuG9iKaAmgCK4BGAsYHg/s320/root.png" width="320" /></font></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><font size="2"></font><font face="times"></font><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><font face="times" size="2">In this inspiring and powerful talk, Megan Francis traces the root causes of our current racial climate to their core causes, debunking common misconceptions and calling out "fix-all" cures to a complex social problem.</font></span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></div>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-36879985567452408472020-06-10T14:03:00.002-07:002020-06-10T14:03:42.953-07:00Black Panthers White Lies | Curtis Austin | TEDxOhioStateUniversity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPN8LHVeFYA" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><font face="times" size="2"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="857" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--43yOCaWyIM/XuFKaFxpcQI/AAAAAAAAARg/fn8yAN-PucExi84LHcyUkD61GwayF5djACK4BGAsYHg/s320/panther.png" width="320" /></font></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><font size="2"></font><font face="times"></font><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; display: inline !important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><font face="times" size="2">What made the Black Panther Party successful, as well as politically dangerous? In his very personal talk, activist and historian, Dr. Curtis Austin tells his story of being labeled a 'felon' as a result of his research on the Black Panther Party. Dr. Austin details the major successes of the Black Panther Party and the key action behind those successes. Using his personal experience, years of research, and some gruesome realities, Dr. Austin contextualizes the recent outcry by people across the United States against
the legacy of the Black Panther Party and the Black Power Movement.</font></span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></div>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-19570115736015754722020-06-10T13:57:00.004-07:002020-06-10T14:06:52.448-07:00Robin DiAngelo on white fragility<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O27_yBQ8Qc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="858" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E643Pv1C00k/XuFI909UvGI/AAAAAAAAAQw/P5nsXPw6nZ8Qy7HqldnloZXd-7YYgF5vACK4BGAsYHg/s320/fragile.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45ey4jgoxeU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="860" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7-DAuVzxwpI/XuFJmJMRz-I/AAAAAAAAARE/6aaFx0kp1182XBzxybe625gO6JeJfTnOwCK4BGAsYHg/s320/fragile%2B2.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #f9f9f9; color: var(--yt-spec-text-primary); display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Roboto,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"> Dr. Robin DiAngelo discusses White Fragility and why it's so hard for white people to talk about racism. She explains the phenomenon, and discusses how white people can develop their capacity to engage more constructively across race.</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></div>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5559560510756399007.post-54663197232187678352020-06-10T09:28:00.002-07:002020-06-10T09:28:42.715-07:00The dangers of whitewashing Black history | David Ikard | TEDxNashville<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb04xj7LS34&fbclid=IwAR10sCJjBjaQFi9s-9gU_7a_15qgwo0BUEbSsQX0Mpae8mloWl6FTPh87Ug" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="786" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BVQ68mZ7byU/XuEJ8rR26tI/AAAAAAAAAQU/9TB1SJON6OAxUYsbdkRq0KkpIpUAth3SwCK4BGAsYHg/s320/TED.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>"It's not just about what stories are told, it's how we choose to frame them. This video highlights some really important issues around cultural spin and the importance of prioritizing honest representations of our past instead of watering them down for the sake of avoiding cultural discomfort." - Very true and insightful words from my friend Mary.</div>Brown Canadian Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10645636173181093746noreply@blogger.com0