Week 1: Ongoing Practice

Dear Friends and Family, 

Here we are again at the beginning, because for us as white people, we have to recommit every day to being anti-racist.  Our priviledge affords us the opportunity to forget, to get caught up in our daily lives and once again overlook the injustice being enacted on our Black and brown sisters and brothers. We hope these weekly emails will serve as a friendly reminder that there is still work to do and we can and must be engaged on a regular basis in the work of anti-racism.  It must be part of our on-going, regular thought processes, of awareness and action. 


In some ways it feels like it’s been longer than a week and in others it feels like just yesterday we were exchanging daily emails, ideas and resources.  In the last week, we have slept more and regained a little balance in our lives but we also miss you.  We miss this community of supportive white folks dedicated to equality and equity and we are excited to create this weekly touchtone.  And we miss the rhythm of intentional practice with others. 

In the last week: 

 I (Camerin) have been reading My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menaken, which is exactly what I should be reading right now.  It centers around the racism living in our bodies.  I am extremely interested in this work, as my understanding of the world centers in movement (dance).  I have also been working with BOOM, the festival that I help plan and produce in Charlotte each year, on a series of events ACT:NOW.  We sent out a call for artists to respond to the current moment and boy did they ever! We received a TON of submissions.  Over the next three Saturdays at 4pm we will be hosting virtual events sharing the work of these artists.  Join us, our website should be updated by the end of the day: BOOM. As the world continues to be unpredictable I wonder what the fall will bring in terms of work.  Everything seems to be changing and this has led me to consider: What if… What if I changed my career pathway- not completely but partly to work with groups of white people in this way, and utilized my understanding of embodiment as part of that practice?  I’ll keep you posted as I consider what and how this could look.  


I (Beth) have signed up for the Summer Institute of “Sacred Conversations 2 End Racism” conducted by the United Church of Christ and leading to the longer more involved process of Facilitator Training for this curriculum.  Last Saturday on July 4, I participated with others in a Prayer March for Justice in our community of Kirkwood in Atlanta.  It felt important and uplifting to be a part of a gathering of others to demonstrate our commitment to racial healing and justice.  And I am on a daily practice of youtube videos and webinars around racial healing and justice.   Some of my favorites are listed in the resources section of this email.   I look very forward to what Camerin will do with My Grandmother’s Hands, which is a very intriguing concept in racial healing.  I have been inspired by the book “See No Stranger: a Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love”  by Valarie Kaur.   An interview with her was one of my favorite watches from this past week.    “Revolutionary Love,”  right now, seems to be a good place to be and to be promoting amidst the intensive study for the Sacred Conversations.  


Today we are both committed to participating Black Out Day, During COVID and ever more so now as part of the Black Lives Matter Movement we have become aware of how and where we spend our money.  One of you shared with us that you have gone completely cold turkey on Amazon and other big box stores in the name of racial equity- what a powerful and decisive step.  Talk about building awareness of privilege into our lives.  Everytime we consider making an Amazon purchase we are faced with the reality of Amazon’s effects on the economy and the job market and must consider how we spend our money.  To be clear we have not yet made the same commitment, but are aware of the idea and it disrupts our easy ordering of items from this mogul that overwhelms small businesses to their demise and monopolizes our product purchasing. We are considering how to make such a move ourselves.  We did purchase matching shirts from a black owned business this week and received ones we brought several weeks ago from another black owned business, one in Charlotte.   Being thoughtful about our spending has made it feel more impactful and made us feel better about our spending choices.  


This week we are virtually attending: 

  1.  ZOOM Conversations on Racialized Trauma (5 week series, flyer attached) Tomorrow 7/8 at 1pm

  2.  Be the Change: Benefit Concert in which Camerin is performing: Friday 7/10 at 6pm 

  3.  BOOM’s ACT:NOW Act 1: Saturday 7/11 at 4pm


We continue to engage in the content shared in June.  And are excited that you continue to share content via email.  Keep it coming.  

Based on feedback from June, the ZOOM meetings were specifically impactful and helpful.  We are interested in scheduling one once a month for July and Aug. and maybe moving forward.  We will set a date in late July and share in our next weekly email.  Furthermore we are working to collect all of the resources shared during June into easy to access lists, which we plan to include on the blog.  


Thanks to all of you who participated in the survey.  If you haven’t filled it out, please take a quick minute to share your thoughts and opt in or out of these weekly emails. 


Let’s keep up the good and necessary work! 


Peace,

Camerin and Beth


A sampling from the survey and additional resources and reflections shared since: 


Upcoming Virtual Events: 


July 7th: Black Out Day 2020: https://www.blackoutday.org/


July 8th- Aug. 5th: 1-2pm on ZOOM A five week series of conversations on Radicalized Trauma (flyer attached) : https://novanthealth.zoom.us/j/99720269204?pwd=T2dTN200RkduYTE5YWg5OGRWK2ZnZz09



Reading/ Watch/Listen List: 


Resources: 


This Week's Actions and Reflections from the group: 


  • Before doing this work, I (shamefully) wasn't educated enough on racism to know that it would essentially require a dismantling and rebuilding of EVERY system that we take for granted (law enforcement, banking, real estate, schools, health care) to UN-DO the larger systemic oppression.

  • Participating in this forum has been empowering in that I don’t feel alone in the grand scheme of how much work we have ahead of us and that there are many people committed to making the world a better place for our children. It’s also been a moment allowing me space for a reawakening and digging deeper about my own implicit biases and challenging myself to expand my understanding.

  • The opportunity to commit without guilt at my own pace was refreshing.

  • I’ve also been grateful to those who have responded from the group with additional resources and helped me understand and recognize some of the implications I did not take into consideration, including for example the impact systemic racism, inequality and Covid-19 has had on black farmers in North Carolina. Learning something new every day has been such a gift. I welcome all of the emotions that come with being open to this critical journey that we are in right now. It’s exhausting and overwhelming, but so very empowering as well!

  • There is so much fear around racism, it’s often hard to break through. I learned ALOT about the shaping of our nation and how there are so many systems that were purposely put in place to keep BIPOC down, and I am horrified by that fact.

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