In light of the violence rocking our nation following the murder of George Floyd, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, we want to acknowledge how horrific this time is for so many, and remind you that we support you and we love you.
We will not remain complicit in the violence or remain silent. We stand with our Black and Brown community members in demanding better.
What’s on our minds right now…
To our Black students, faculty, staff, and community members:
You are your ancestor’s wildest dreams.
We cannot fathom the pain you must feel. We continue forward with the hope that one day you will not live every day in fear; that one day equity and justice will not simply feel like lofty goals.
We see you. We hear you. We love you. And we will do our best to support you, and continue our own learning and unlearning.
To our folks of color who do not identify as Black:
We also see you. We do not forget about you. We love you. We work to support you as best we are able. And we recognize the rampant and raging anti-Blackness in this country and we believe it needs to be addressed by each and every one of us.
To our White students, faculty, staff, and community members:
We cannot do this alone. We implore you to dig deep, do your best to remain in the uncomfortable zones, as your privilege has most likely enabled you to step back into what feels comfortable for you when it feels convenient.
As a professional staff team of white women, we know that it is our duty to educate and encourage reflection from other white folks. We ask this of you, as a member of this community and person in this nation, that you take a step in your learning and engage as fully as possible.
So, what now…?
For so many of us, it is critical to take the time to learn more; about ourselves, our community members, our neighbors, our society, our system…just more.
In the spirit of education and self-reflection being fundamental to our mission, we have compiled a list of resources, which is in no way exhaustive. If you have other resources you have found, we would love if you shared them with us and with those in your sphere of influence. Now is the time.
To Listen:
Here are a few podcasts we would encourage you to listen to, and take it a step further by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts.
– 1619 (New York Times)
– About Race
– Code Switch (NPR)
– Intersectionality Matters! hosted by Kimberle Crenshaw
– Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast
– Pod For The Cause (from the Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights)
– Pod Save the People (Crooked Media)
To Read:
Articles:
– The Case for Reparations, Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic, June 2014
– Mindfulness for the People, Founded by Dr. Angela Black
– 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice, Corinne Shutack
– The Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture, Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun, ChangeWork, 2001
– Emboldened white nationalists? Look No Further than this liberal Oregon college town, by Noelle Crombie and Shane Dixon Kavanaugh, The Oregonian, December 29, 2017.
– Critical Race Theory Toolkit , Portland Community College
– College Degree Attainment in the US , (interactive map)
– White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, by Peggy McIntosh, 1989
– White people assume niceness is the answer to racial inequality. It’s not, by Robin Diangelo, 2019
Books:
– Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad, 2020
– Sister Outsider, by Audre Lorde, 1984
– How to be an Anti-Racist, by Ibram X. Kendi, 2019
– So you Want to Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Iluo, 2018
– White Fragility, by Robin Diangelo, 2018
To Watch
– Oregon Black History Timeline created by Walidah Imarisha, 2013
– 5 Tips for Being an Ally , Chescaleigh, 2014
– Under Our Skin, The Seattle Times, 2016
– Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequality , 2012
A film that asks America to talk about the causes and consequences of systemic inequity. Available in Knight Library, Call Number DVD 04733
– 13th (2014) A documentary that focuses on the prison system and the overwhelming majority of inmates are Black folks. (Can be found on Netflix).
– Broken Treaties: An Oregon Experience (2017, 59 min) this documentary introduces OPB viewers to Oregon’s tribes and explores a thread of the story that isn’t told well in those shelves of history books. Combines Oregon history with contemporary interviews.
Resources were compiled from multiple sources including Edouard Glissant, University of Oregon Deconstructing Whiteness Working Group, and personally gathered collections.
To Donate:
If you’re able to donate, here are some great organizations:
– The Freedom Fund
– Official GoFundMe for George Floyd’s Memorial
– Black Visions Collective (Black Queer and Trans Led)
– Reclaim the Block
– The Bail Project
As a note, the Minnesota Freedom Fund and the North Star Collective have asked for donations to be made to other organizations, as they have received an abundance of donations.
