“there is only one race…

3 Jun 2020 | Love + Relationships, personal update, Psychology + Soul

"there is only one race...
 
…the human race.”
 
When I heard anti-racism educator Jane Elliot utter this profound statement I wondered why this simple truth hadn’t saturated our education since the beginning of time.
 
Allow me to preface the words ahead with: I am learning so much right now and trying to navigate all these issues that have risen to the surface with a dedication to do better and to change. And I’m going to fuck up along the way.
 
I didn’t know.
 
I didn’t know that in some parts of the world there are people who have to actively advocate for their lives when they do everyday things like go for a walk or use medical services. Having opted out of the traditional workforce before I even entered into it I had no idea that people of colour are sometimes paid less than white people for exactly the same job.
 
There is so much I don’t know and I recognise now that that is part of the problem.
 
Tucked safely in my privileged bubble, I believe in oneness, in unity, in inclusion. But I diligently excluded racism and racist behaviour thinking that if I erased it out of my view and didn’t participate in it, it didn’t exist. I thought that not being racist and ignoring those who are, was enough. I thought that not seeing race or colour was sufficient.
 
My neutrality made me complicit.
 
I’m embarrassed that it took this for me to be brought to awareness and more importantly, willing to take action. I have a lot of work to do around understanding how to encourage and support diversity, how to create inclusiveness in my personal life as well as my online business, while also remaining genuine and real without engaging in tokenism. I am committed to educating myself around how I can use my privilege in the world to enhance and empower the wellbeing of others to a greater extent than I have.
 
There are nuanced differences in how racism plays out from culture to culture, and of course, racism occurs across many skin tones, yet I am clear on two things. One, that just because it doesn’t impact my immediate environment that I have no role to play and two, that we can only dismantle things piece by piece and one by one.
 
When I teach clients to redefine their lives by undoing and unlearning their blocks and triggers we don’t say “yes, there are blocks and triggers in the way of me being a fully flourishing human being” and then hope that a blanket statement like that will be enough. No, we look at each one individually, break it down and replace it with a new narrative and new actions. The clearing of one might create a domino effect in clearing many but we must bring awareness to each one individually. In this case, we are looking at racism directed at black people in every nation. One by one we create systematic change.
 
I am deeply grateful for this wakeup call as I unpack all of this.
 
I am grateful to be held accountable for my actions. I’m grateful to add fuel to the already hard-burning fire around the systemic breakdown of our corporate culture. Racism is earned out of the greed for gain on the backs of human lives.
 
My intention has always been to liberate and empower women, all women, to be fully expressed, safe, and fulfilled. I have been privileged in my whiteness to never consider race. I thought that all women are equally oppressed and we all have the same dismantling to do. It never crossed my mind that my coloured friends might be fighting a battle that runs deeper in layers than my own.
 
It is my aim to make the topic of race and racism an ongoing conversation in my circles. I am educating myself on the lived experiences of people of colour in my communities. I am seeking out solutions to dismantle systemic oppression by learning and teaching methods that prioritise human lives over money, power and materialism.
 
I have a lot to discover, it’s going to take time for me to assimilate and integrate it all, and as and when I make mistakes I will apologise and course correct.
 
Here are some UK-specific useful resources I’m diving into at the moment:
 
ARTICLES & POSTS TO READ

 
BOOKS TO READ

  • Taking Up Space: The Black Girl’s Manifesto for Change by Chelsea Kwakye and Ore Ogunbiyi
  • Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
  • The Good Immigrant: 21 Writers Explore What It Means To Be Black, Asian, And Minority Ethnic In Britain Today edited by Nikesh Shukla
  • I Am Not Your Baby Mother by Candice Braithwaite
  • Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala
  • Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging by Afua Hirsch
  • Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
  • “I will not be erased”: Our stories about growing up as people of colour edited by gal-dem
  • Black and British: A Forgotten History by David Olusoga
  • Don’t Touch My Hair by Emma Dabiri

 
FILMS/SERIES TO WATCH
All Day and a Night (2020
Hollywood (2020)
Uncorked (2020)
Queen Sono (2020)
Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker (2019) a personal favourite of mine
Miss Virginia (2019)
For Colored Girls (2020)
Becoming (2020)
Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story
She Did That (2020)
Who Killed Malcom X (2020)
Kevin Hart: Don’t F**K This Up (2019)
They’ve Gotta Have Us (2018)
When They See Us
Dear White People
13th
Watchmen
I Am Not Your Negro
Noughts and Crosses
 
OTHER THINGS TO DO

 
ORGANISATIONS TO SUPPORT

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