When I search the banks of my memory, I see myself reading the next book that I am about to mention long before the racial injustice of our current times was occurring, or at least before it opened up to the light of public awareness. However, when I look up the actual date that I started reading Rage Becomes Her, it is in May as opposed to March as I originally thought. And why is this important? Because I thought that I was already immersed in "the work" by the time it became mainstream to do so. Because I thought that I was seeking out a higher ground and a higher knowledge before others were doing so. And because this kind of thinking allows us to stand on our moral high ground, which in essence allows us to stay and play small, and allows us to keep doing exactly what we are already doing. I thought that I had begun to seek out the gender that is often unheard from, a skin color whose stories are often left untold, or an open-mindedness that is yet to be grasped by mainstream culture. And I thought that I had begun to do so before George Floyd, and so many others, became a household name. While this book is an important book to read, the narrative of stories of people of color is disproportionately heard, and this is as a result of a system that doesn't carry certain voices to rise above the ashes of the noise that is our current societal climate, I was surprised to see that I was not as far along in the search for an inner peace, that can help cultivate an outer solution, than I thought I was. Which brings me to an important point...any time that we shy away from a particular point of view, a specific author, or a certain demographic out of a fear that we may ingest something that causes us to question who we are as a basis of who we listen to, what we believe, and who we see, we allow ourselves to be stripped of the opportunity for knowledge via enrichment, openness via empathy, and learning via streams and currents of love, similar to the blood that flows through the veins of each and every one of us. I am thankful for the opportunities that I continuously receive to learn more, be more, and do more. And I am grateful to know that when I am ready to learn and grow, new opportunities to see, hear, and experience authors, genres, and cultural landscapes that I haven't previously been exposed to continue to cross my path. So, as they continue to enrich my understanding of our current world, I will continue to bring them to you, in an effort to learn, share, and grow together. As Bryan Stevenson once said, "The opposite of poverty is not abundance. The opposite of poverty is justice." The more we can learn together about how to unearth the institutions of poverty and seek out systems of equality for all, the more we can walk together, hand in hand, lifting and empowering each other as we learn from each other and heal the poverty that exists inside of each and every one of us, poverty of learning, poverty of understanding, and poverty of grace. This brings me to the last, and most important, book that I have read regarding race relations and our blindness to them. I can't recommend this book enough, and I ended up listening to White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism over and over again, going back to chapters once more and then once again, realizing that
the more we are attached to the good vs. bad binary and assigning racist actions, attitudes, and beliefs to those who are bad, as opposed to realizing that the structures, society, and institutions into which we were born and thus required to grow up within, inevitably molded and shaped each and every one of us, and thus our behaviors, actions, and world view, the more we will perpetuate this outdated model. As Ibram X. Kendi so eloquently explains in the above video, once we are able to choose the lens of racist thought processes as patterns that we are unable to avoid, we are able to move past living in a world of default actions, beliefs, and avenues, and choose to unlearn what was previously taught to us, so that we can uplift others whose shoes did not have the same paths to walk, and to hear what they have to say and learn from those who are actually engulfed in the struggles of what solutions would be best to employ to help everyone find an equal and solid footing. I highly recommend watching, reading, and listening to opinions that fly in the face of everything that you were conditioned to hear, see, and do growing up, and to join us in the search for equality that is founded on the basis of honoring our similarities and celebrating our differences, so that we may come together to create a new way of being, doing, and seeing that is inclusive and expansive, enriching and engaging for each and every one of us!
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When I watched Freedom Summer, I was shocked by a number of things: *how Freedom Summer was about people of all colors rising up against racism and segregation *how they did it with courageous spirits and open hearts, knowing that they could loose their liberty and/or their lives in the process *how they were jailed and killed at alarming rates when they were simply sitting in a cafe or driving through a certain state with unity *how they did all of this because they realized the importance of enacting the right to vote, as opposed to just writing down a law on a piece of paper From here, I moved on to An Ordinary Hero, and would like to share some quotes from Dove's synopsis and movie review, as follows: "The National Civil Rights Museum declared, 'This film belongs alongside those of other freedom rights champions.' Experience the incredible true story of Joan Mulholland’s courage to help change the world. As a little girl growing up in the South, Joan witnessed the ugly realities of segregation and racism first hand and vowed to one day do something about it. By the time she was 19 years old, Joan had already participated in over three dozen sit-ins and protest when was put on death row in Mississippi’s notorious Parchman Penitentiary after joining the Freedom Rides… but that was just the beginning of an incredible true story that has captivated millions around the world." "Along with others, Joan took freedom rides on a bus, making a declaration of their belief in equal rights for all. This was unheard of in the south during those early days of the Civil Rights movement. Joan herself is interviewed in this film as well as others who lived during this time." "Featured in the DVD are writers Eric Etheridge, author of 'Breach of Peace', who talks about buses being attacked during the freedom rides. Also featured is Michael J. O’Brien, author of “We Shall Not Be Moved”, who speaks of the bus demonstrations and freedom rides as well as sharing biographical information about Joan." What I loved about this movie was that it all started based on a walk through a community with a friend where Joan "witnessed the ugly realities of segregation and racism first hand" and vowed from that day forward to be an ally and a part of the solution. This movie moved me to watch The Uncomfortable Truth, to learn more about Joan Mulholland, in this case through the eyes of her son. According to a student led panel by college media outlet The Signpost, "Mulholland decided to tell his family’s story through making a documentary as a way of inspiring others to take a step back and carefully examine their perceptions, beliefs and culpability in cultivating any racial barriers. 'I did it because I needed to say something. I hope what people get out of it is understanding, and to check their preconceived notions,' Mulholland explained. 'Knowledge is power. If they have that knowledge they can actually work on it and that is the first step towards empathy.' The panel discussion, featuring civil rights activist Luvaghn Brown and Freedom Rider Joan T. Mulholland, focused on racism and the ways we can learn to overcome it by working with others. Brown stressed the importance of talking to people you wouldn’t normally talk to and encouraged the idea of having a conversation with someone who has different views than you. “Go out tomorrow and look around you and ask, ‘What can I do?'” Brown said. “Just the willingness to act is enough. Do something small if you can’t do something big, but do something.” Since my last blogpost, I also watched 13th and a couple others, and I have to say, if you watch just one movie on this topic, this is the one to watch. I will continue reviewing some, if not all, of the following movies in my upcoming blogposts, as well as sharing my continued actions in uprooting racial bias, both inherent and extrinsic, aquired and external. Anita Hill: Speaking Truth to Power I Am Not Your Negro You Belong to Me: Sex, Race, and Murder in the South Salute Just Mercy Life of a King Brian Banks Marshall Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution The Hate U Give Harriet Tubman: They Called Her Moses Where Do We Go From Here? In the meantime, if you haven't started your own personal journey of education and action, I encourage you to do so now. And if you have, I would love for you to share with me your insights and recommendations, so that we may fulfill our calling of learning from and growing with each other. It has taken me a bit of time to gather my thoughts in a way that would clearly express my sentiments during our current period in history. As a white person, I had to ask myself what I could do to support my friends and loved ones who are people of color, keeping in mind that the reality of what Jane Elliott says, "there is only one race: the human race," citing research that shows that the origins of the human race began in Africa and that, based, on this information, we are all simply varying shades of melanin. While I was collecting my thoughts, I figured that education was the best place to start, since there was a stay at home order and also as a response to my inherent bias, which I was aware of and trying to avoid from the beginning. I ended on both education and action, although the latter came as a result of the former, which I will explain in the review below on The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till. In case you looking for an immediate way to respond quickly to our shared environment, you can find information about The Million Letter Movement on the website or the group Facebook page. As an aside, two things that I didn't know about Jane's "blue eyes" experiment are 1) with the first class she did the experiment, she asked the children first if they wanted to learn about discrimination and how it feels before conducting the experiment and 2) that one of the letters in response to the experiment was this ironic and appalling quotation, "How dare you try this cruel experiment out on white children? Black children grow up accustomed to such behavior, but white children, there's no way they could possibly understand it. It's cruel to white children and will cause them great psychological damage." As part of my education, although I turned to books as I often do to learn, I may write an upcoming post about the books I have read, as I find that movies are a faster and easier route to education during a pandemic. The first movie I watched was Liberty and Slavery: The Paradox of America's Founding Fathers. I found it enlightening and insightful, including the quotes about the bible, which can be summarized as follows: the original translation of slave was servant, and the history of indentured servants is that they were working a certain number of years in exchange for passage and "freedom dues," as opposed to enslaved persons who were kidnapped against their will and forced to work their entire life without a contract that promises freedom after the contract period was over. In this proves an important realization - that the bible does not condone slavery, as so many believe that it does, or that you and I may have even been taught as children to be true. There is nothing godly about slavery, and beyond common sense telling us this, we now have tangible evidence to prove the obvious truth behind this statement. When I watched The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till, this is when I knew that I had to act, above and beyond simply gaining and sharing the education I received. As I was watching the movie, I realized that my grandmother was alive when Emmett Till, a 14 year-old boy was murdered for engaging with a white woman (i.e. handing her change for gum, and later whistling at her as a boyish prank), and I thought to myself, "If she was alive during this time, what did she do?" which I quickly translated to the self reflection of "If I am alive during this time, what I am going to do?" I realized that I could look back and have the same experience years later, or I could actually take action now and make a difference. In the intention of writing a post that is an acceptable length for reading, I will end for now and pick up with my next blogposts to review some or all of the following movies, shows, and/or documentaries: Freedom Summer Anita Hill: Speaking Truth to Power I Am Not Your Negro You Belong to Me: Sex, Race, and Murder in the South Salute Just Mercy Life of a King An Ordinary Hero The Uncomfortable Truth Brian Banks Marshall Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution The Hate U Give Harriet Tubman: They Called Her Moses Where Do We Go From Here? In the meantime, if you haven't started your own personal journey of education and action, I encourage you to do so now. And if you have, I would love for you to share with me your insights and recommendations, so that we may fulfill our calling of learning from and growing with each other. |
AuthorValerie Ellis, who is in alignment with the Black Lives Matter Movement and everyone whose life is impacted, now or before, by times of social injustice. Archives
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