Member-only story
A Newbie Ally for the Black Lives Matter Movement
Priviledge lives in me.
I don’t know what I don’t know.
Please help me know it.
I have had my hackles up for years about this. I’ve felt defensive and powerless. I have mistakenly thought that the only thing that would make black people happy is if I just returned to my mother’s womb and was born black instead.
“What do you want from me!?” was the prevailing narrative.
But now because his death was the tipping point, I am humbled. Desperate to understand. To see what I don’t see yet. Fortunately for me, Rachel Cargle has created a 30-day #dothework program aimed at helping dismantle the unconscious ways in which we’ve benefitted from this horrible situation, and helping me (us) become a more effective ally.
One of the things we’re encouraged to do, of course, is read books by black authors. One of them happens to be a friend of mine. Donna Hylton, a woman who served 27 years in prison and who, now out in the world, is serving tirelessly as an advocate for incarcerated women, and for those who are released into society with little or no idea how to survive there.
