Soooo one of the first pieces of news I heard this morning was about white nationalist rallies in DC, Charlottesville, and perhaps across the country.
It is shameful and beyond embarrassing (I have International friends all over the world) to think about how these are the same people who say the pledge of allegiance to, "One nation, under God, indivisible..."
It is difficult for me to understand the folks who throw their hands up, ignore, "don't know what to do..." because every move counts. Every conversation with your racist family member.
Every time somebody begrudges a POC any successes, promotions, or wins and gets (or doesn't get) confronted about it.
Every microagression or time a POC gets confronted with, "Well...maybe that actually wasn't racism" or "Those weren't actually their intentions"...and another white person fails to check that behavior... those count as cogs that keep the wheels turning.
Inaction, that subtle avoidance of confrontation when status and/or privilege are on the line--is a key component of the conditions that make "white nationalism" possible.
I've always thought that our country thrives on a consumerist culture of escapism...We like to put a positive spin on it and say that we supply the rest of the world with dreams. I don't think many would argue that there are nightmarish elements to living here right now.
So as folks who could actually, individually and collectively, do something to turn this tide escape this weekend into whatever...possibly football...Let's remember 3 things:
1) Our oppression or liberation is tied up in one another's. Do not be deluded into thinking that just because you may not be one of the many groups affected by white nationalism, you are protected from the harmful effects of racism.
2) Those of us in education are working hard to help children discover stolen history...reclaim identities. We don't want to have to do this forever. What do you want folks to write/say about us? History is being written right now.
3) Feel overwhelmed? Feel heartbroken? Feel stressed? Some folks (such as myself) live with permanent racial battle fatigue, insomnia, PTSD, and anxiety. It is an unceasing and daily battle not to let it kill me. That is not an exaggeration.
If we are going to heal, it is going to have to be together. Because I'm a book nerd, and a librarian, here are some books...
Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America amazon.com/dp/1442202181/…
Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America amazon.com/dp/1442202181/…
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism amazon.com/dp/0807047414/…
Join us for #cleartheair for an amazing discussion on that one with some brainy, passionate, phenomenal people who are making a difference in the world.
So You Want to Talk About Race amazon.com/dp/1580056776/…
Two-Faced Racism: Whites in the Backstage and Frontstage amazon.com/dp/0415954762/…
Tales of Two Americas: Stories of Inequality in a Divided Nation amazon.com/dp/0143131036/…
A People's History of the United States amazon.com/dp/0060838655/…
An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States (ReVisioning American History) amazon.com/dp/0807057835/…
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong amazon.com/dp/1620973928/…
...and because I'm Julia, and I love this pic that I took in Rio de Janeiro a few years ago, I'll end with this, when in doubt: Escuta seu coração / Mais amor por favor. Listen to your heart. More love please. Love when it's easy, love when it's hard, but love harder. Love more. 
