What a loaded title, Anti-Racism resources... It feels too polite, also not enough. But I AM A JESUS FOLLOWER AND HE WAS DISRUPTIVE. my stance offends and disrupts the world's view because JEsus told me it would (see John 15). I don't struggle expressing my views or CHALLENGING others to see the world in a different light. When it comes to thinking outside of the box, reading scripture with a different context, choosing to live life in the way God calls me instead of the world, or seeing those around me through a different lens, I thrive. and I am afforded the PRIVILEGE to do so because of the color of my skin. The ATROCITY of racism is, has been, playing out in our nation for too long. It plays out in my own home as there is a different set of rules for me than there is my children of color. It plays out in our BUSINESSes and institutions. It plays out in my job as an educator in the disparities within CURRICULUM, the resources DISPROPORTIONATELY ALLOCATED, and the faculty INORDINATELY white.
But this.... anti-RACISM resources.... this is different. I confess I have been silent too long, too content to work behind the scenes for programs and changes that would POSITIVELY impact my friends of color, my children of color while allowing them to carry the burden of being up front, outwardly challenging to the institutions and systems that affect them. I have always told my children I am their Ally. That I believe in their voices being heard over mine, because they are equally intelligent and important. And because I have no idea what it feels like to be a person of color in america. In many ways I was right, I will not speak as one who knows these experiences, I don't. I will however, speak as someone who has a voice and a platform, as someone who knows VERY little and is still learning everyday, someone who is still confessing regularly my own complacency, racism and ARROGANCE.
I speak as someone who wants to be a part of the change that might just save my children's lives. That might afford them the PRIVILEGES that I, and millions of others who share my pale skin, have DISPROPORTIONATELY hoarded from our brothers and sisters of color. May you see this list as nothing more than a launching point, a platform to begin conversations. It IS ONLY A START! Arm yourself with knowledge, empathy, compassion, and confession and then do something with it! Call out your sphere of influence, change your habits, disassociate with toxic influences, enter into tangible steps that say you are not just "learning" but doing something to change the experience for your fellow brothers and sisters in christ by living the mandates of scripture out loud.
But this.... anti-RACISM resources.... this is different. I confess I have been silent too long, too content to work behind the scenes for programs and changes that would POSITIVELY impact my friends of color, my children of color while allowing them to carry the burden of being up front, outwardly challenging to the institutions and systems that affect them. I have always told my children I am their Ally. That I believe in their voices being heard over mine, because they are equally intelligent and important. And because I have no idea what it feels like to be a person of color in america. In many ways I was right, I will not speak as one who knows these experiences, I don't. I will however, speak as someone who has a voice and a platform, as someone who knows VERY little and is still learning everyday, someone who is still confessing regularly my own complacency, racism and ARROGANCE.
I speak as someone who wants to be a part of the change that might just save my children's lives. That might afford them the PRIVILEGES that I, and millions of others who share my pale skin, have DISPROPORTIONATELY hoarded from our brothers and sisters of color. May you see this list as nothing more than a launching point, a platform to begin conversations. It IS ONLY A START! Arm yourself with knowledge, empathy, compassion, and confession and then do something with it! Call out your sphere of influence, change your habits, disassociate with toxic influences, enter into tangible steps that say you are not just "learning" but doing something to change the experience for your fellow brothers and sisters in christ by living the mandates of scripture out loud.