Show up. Strategically. Be that white face in a black crowd, especially when it really, really matters. Sad But True: when I showed up at a racial-profiling trial for a group of Somerville teenagers, one of the defense attorneys told me that my presence had an impact on the jury. Horrifying? Yes. Absolutely. But, hey! If we’re to dismantle racism, brick by brick, let’s use the tools that work!
Be in community with other white allies. Don’t do this work alone. And don’t ask your friends of color to hold your hand or give you advice. (Or, for that matter, thank you.) Download soon and often. And, supported and cherished for the wonderful person you truly are, keep on keepin’ on.
Be in community. Work local. Work one-to-one. Keep in mind Mother Teresa’s “We can do no great things, only small things with great love.” (Love, compassion, forgiveness; they’re in our dismantling racism tool boxes, too.)
Here’s your homework: Connect the dots. How are Racism, War, and Climate Change inexorably intertwined? (Hint: it’s complicated. And fear and A strongly held belief there’s not enough are definitely involved.)
Got it? Feel it? Great. Now: let your deep and powerful understanding fuel your passion and guide your actions, especially in those moments when you’re overwhelmed.
We shall overcome.
Dear Patricia,
Hello, there, my dearest and precious white sisterfriend, Patricia! I love this Part 2 of yours just the way I so loved and cherished your Part 1! It is indeed true that “we shall overcome” and what Mother Teresa had said when she so wisely stated, “We can do no great things, only small things with great love.” Sister, you are so right on and on point in saying that we must not try to work alone, and that we must work together in the spirit of unity and cooperation as beloved and shared, precious community in our common humanity together as human family sisters and brothers who are children of our Good God. You have such a powerful Christian witness, friend and sister, Patricia, to not only me but also to your other very grateful and appreciative readers, friendsister, Patricia! You also are a very powerful and productively proactive and progressive, conscientious, honest, and very hard-working white anti-racist and ally in your allyship and activism in solidarity, and you are a friend and sister not only to me, Patricia, but also to other black and nonwhite persons. You are also a dearest and precious friend and sister to other white persons who are striving to learn and grow along with you and to be white allies and anti-racist, sister! Patricia, you are so right when you say that it is also important for white persons to work on an intraracial level to work as community on racism and white privilege, and to caucus together and to work among other white persons in community to heal, learn, and grow away from racism and to process white privilege and to channel that privilege towards the greater good of all. This can be a delicate and a tricky balance, but it is feasible and can very creatively be brought into actuality!
Sister, I love how you mention the great importance of intersectionality in connecting all of the dots. Patricia, you are so, so very right and right on and make very relevant points. All of the “isms” are indeed interrelated, and racism, war, and climate change are indeed inexorably intertwined as you have so sagaciously said in such an insightful and astute manner! Patricia, now I am so, so very blessed and energized by you and these inspirational Parts 1 and 2, and I am renewed, rejuvenated, and reinvigorated by your powerful Christian witness, sister, and your great empowering witness as a white anti-racist and ally! You, Patricia, and the other white allies and anti-racists in solidarity just keep me keeping on, and never ever giving up as the lesbian black woman who I am facing, and still at times continuing to face, racism, oppressions, and discrimination!!!!!! I thank-you, thank-you, thank-you from the deepest depths of my very heart from the very bottom of my very heart in my very heart, soul, and spirit for a always, Patricia!!!!!!
Please have a very nice, special, and a very blessed Wednesday, Patricia, and may all of your days be so, so very blessedly and incredibly blessed, my dearest and precious Christian white sisterfriend!!!!!!
Very Warmly and Sincerely For Always,
Your Christian lesbian black sisterfriend in solidarity, Sherry Gordon