Amplify
From my former student, now Hillel movement colleague, Michaela Williams (Insta: @michaelawilliams) :
If you want to see a non-racist society, you cannot just be a non-racist. Not having racism “in your heart” or wishing for a better world is a great place to start actively working against racism as an anti-racist. Here’s a comprehensive list of educational resources and actionable steps you can take to be an anti-racist.
You don’t have to do all of the things- figure out which thing is your thing. Maybe it’s a petition signing spree; calling all of your representatives; a protest; donating to organizations or bail funds; having the hard conversation with people you know who say/do racist things; or supporting black owned businesses. Decide which side of history you want to be on: the one who was complacent or the one who helped bring about positive change that saved lives.
If you’re thinking “now, Michaela, all lives matter.” Show me they all matter by proving that black lives matter to you by doing something to protect us. Nowhere in the three-word statement “black lives matter” are we saying that non-black lives do not matter. We are describing a specific experience in desperate need of action, attention and support.
Lastly, check in on your black friends. It’s not an easy time for us.
Note: I did not make the resource I linked!
From Rabbi Nikki
This week didn’t feel like the moment for a White woman to share my reflections on the current moment. Instead, you can watch this excellent op-ed on the Amy Coopers (and friends of Amy Coopers, which includes me) of the world, White supremacy, and power by my classmate Baratunde Thurston. There are countless Black voices crying out in response to the escalating racism in our nation, voices tired of constantly being called on to do the labor of pointing to the quite evident problem of racism. There are concrete ways that White folks like me can act in antiracist ways (there is no “neutral” or “middle ground”). There are myriad ways to do this in Jewish community. Here are merely a few:
- If you can, put your body on the line at a local, socially distanced protest.
- Expand your reading on race and racial justice.
- Expand your children’s exposure to the concepts of race and racial justice.
- While you’re building this library, support Black-owned bookstores.
- Support other Black businesses.
- Pressure your local, city, state, and national elected officials, police departments, and school boards to take explicit antiracist action.
- Follow Jews of Color on social and other media.
- Support spaces like Ammud, the Jews of Color Torah Academy.
- Donate to the many bail funds touted on trustworthy social media to help protestors, or choose an organization like this one, which broadly works to build true access to civil rights.
