Acknowledgement & Accountability
The goal of this post is to speak to white folx about the Impact Over Intent campaign with regard to white supremacy. We need to get past uncomfortable feelings and own the control we have right now to rebuild a society with bricks that are not soaked in the oppression of Black folx.*
As a white person, this topic may bring about a plethora of emotions: guilt, shame, trepidation and/or overwhelm (of saying the wrong thing or being misunderstood,) or other negative emotions that make you want to navigate away from conversations around white supremacy.
Those feelings are normal, and HYY doesn’t believe in shaming people for being human.
That’s ridiculous and counterproductive; Ugh, stop feeling what you’re feeling and just do something, you privileged piece of crap! I suppose belittling someone can be an effective strategy if you’re, say, in boot camp but I’ve yet to see it yield any positive results by way of making a societal difference. Both guilt and shame can be extraordinarily paralyzing feelings. Guilt can (and often does) morph into resentment and ultimately defensiveness, and soon it snowballs and no progress is made.
That being said, HYY also does not believe in coddling.
Heck Yes, Y’all believes that white folx can and should do better. We’re looking to get white folx on board who are ready to push through any negative feelings and keep their eyes on the end goal; being better allies for Black folx (yup, even if you need to sit in some discomfort by embracing the word privilege** for what it is and its relationship to white folx.)
Lamenting to Black friends or family about potentially uncomfortable feelings around racism is not appropriate. Why? Well, if you were present while someone was stabbed in the stomach and bleeding out while you had a paper cut, would you complain to the person who was on the verge of dying about the sting of your cut? Hopefully not.
Just read the room, y’all.
In order to fully commit to taking part in agitating (Rachel’s word, not mine), you need 2 things:
Acknowledgement
Get clear on understanding the origin of your knowledge about white supremacy and/or your knowledge of the Black experience. Focus on informing and educating yourself, not on berating yourself and letting negative feelings stunt your progress. Let that sh*t go.
Accountability
You do have control of your education at this very second. That means you can read, listen to and absorb whatever content you choose. Choosing to listen to a spectrum voices and experiences is 100% within your power.
You will f*ck up, and get called out on it. I know because I’ve done it many times and there is about a 99.9999999% chance I will do it again. It’s okay, as long as you learn from it and do better moving forward.
Listen more than expressing your own viewpoints/opinions because they will never trump someone’s lived experience. And quite frankly, anti-racism work is not about you or your experience so centering yourself within it only perpetuates white supremacy.
Get involved and do something. For instance, buy one of these hoodies I’m selling in my shop and 100% of the proceeds will fund Rachel Cargle’s crucial anti-racism work. These hoodies also create an opportunity to visually create space to start talking to other white folx about white supremacy and unite more potential allies for Black communities.
I hope you’ll join us as an Anti-Jerk-ivist and do what you can to bring white folx in your community together to improve allyship.
“Do the best you can until you know better.
Then when you know better, do better.”
[Maya Angelou]
With warmth and gusto,
H
*If that paragraph gave you a visceral negative knee-jerk reaction then I can pretty much guarantee you shouldn’t read this post. Seriously, just close the tab because I am not here to convince anyone of what is ingrained in our nation’s foundation as demonstrated by its entire history.
**If you are uncomfortable with this word because you think the meaning dismisses your particular life circumstances, here are a bunch of images that capture what privilege actually means (especially white privilege.)