Headline Poetry & Press

Justice in June

Open-Source Lessons on Becoming an Active Ally
created by Bryanna Wallace & Autumn Gupta

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Choose how much time you have each day to become more informed as step one to becoming an active ally to the black community. On this document are links to the learning resources and a schedule of what to do each day. Click on the following to jump directly to that info:

• 10 minutes/day (below)
• 25 minutes/day
• 45 minutes/day

 

Additional Resources:

• Most of the links in this doc were pulled from: Anti-Racism Resources and 75 Things White People Can Do For Racial Justice
• Comprehensive Ally Resources

 

Important Note: 

This should just be the beginning. Please do not stop learning after you complete this month. Each section (10/25/45 minutes) has somewhat different material and the links under “Additional Resources” also include new content, so go above and beyond to educate yourself.

Want to increase your impact?

Find a friend, create a group, and share this content with others. Share on Twitter
or Facebook

 

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As an example: 10-minutes a Day 

Over the course of the month, you will have spent 5 hours intentionally learning how to be an active ally of the black community. (That’s less than the amount of time it takes to watch all of Tiger King ~ 5.5 hours.) Remember, the black community lives the reality of the information you will learn- they have a lifetime of fearing for their well being versus 5 hours of you being uncomfortable. All the action items listed in the calendar have linked information below the weekly schedule (see sections Watch, Read, Listen, and Act).

DAILY

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1st Read “Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?”	2nd & 3rd Read “America’s Racial Contract is Killing Us”		4th Listen to “Your Body Being Used” podcast	5th Sign the petition “Justice for George Floyd”	6th & 7th Watch “How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion” TED Talk
8th & 9th & 10th Explore and read the articles that are part of The 1619 Project from the New York Times			11th Listen to “When Civility is Used as a Cudgel Against People of Color” podcast	12th Write/call local gov rep & police chief asking for all officers to be outfitted with body cam. The racial make-up of your town doesn’t matter — This needs to be standard everywhere.	13th & 14th Watch “Let’s Get to the Root of Racial Injustice” TED Talk
15th Read “The Intersectionality Wars”	16th & 17th Read “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”		18th Listen to “The Power of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Anger” podcast	19th Write/call local gov rep & police chief advocating for police de-escalation training. The racial make-up of your town doesn’t matter — This needs to be standard everywhere.	20th & 21st Watch “How to Overcome Our Biases? Walk Boldly Towards Them” TED Talk
22nd Read “The Case for Reparations”	23rd & 24th Read “Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups”		25th Listen to “Opinion: My Father Stood for the National Anthem for the Same Reason Colin Kaepernick Sits”  and “When Calling the Po-Po is a No-No”	26th Donate to anti-white supremacy work (see below links)	27th & 28th Watch “How We’re Priming Some Kids for College and others for prison” TED Talk
29th & 30th Buy books, materials, supplies for educator friends featuring POC (see below links)

 

WEEKLY

	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5
Watch	“How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion” TED Talk	“Let’s Get to the Root of Racial Injustice” TED Talk	“How to Overcome Our Biases? Walk Boldly Towards Them” TED Talk	“How We’re Priming Some Kids for College and others for prison” TED Talk
Read	“Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?” by Ibram X. Kendi and “America’s Racial Contract is Killing Us” by Adam Serwer	The 1619 Project from the New York Times	“The Intersectionality Wars” by Jane Coaston and “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh	“The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates and “Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups” developed by Craig Elliott
Listen	“Your Body Being Used”	“When Civility is Used as a Cudgel Against People of Color”	“The Power of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Anger”	“Opinion: My Father Stood for the National Anthem for the Same Reason Colin Kaepernick Sits”  and “When Calling the Po-Po is a No-No”
Act	Sign the Petition Justice for George Floyd	[1]Google whether your local police department currently outfits all on-duty police officers with a body-worn camera and requires that the body-worn camera be turned on immediately when officers respond to a police call. If they don’t, write to your city or town government representative and police chief to advocate for it.The racial make-up of your town doesn’t matter — This needs to be standard everywhere.	[2]Google whether your city or town currently employs evidence-based police de-escalation training. Write to your city or town government representative and police chief and advocate for it. The racial make-up of your town doesn’t matter — This needs to be standard everywhere.	[3]Donate to anti-white supremacy work such as your local Black Lives Matter Chapter, the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, the NAACP, Southern Poverty Law Center, United Negro College Fund, Black Youth Project 100, Color of Change, The Sentencing Project, Families against Mandatory Minimums, A New Way of Life, and Dream Defenders.	[4]If you or a friend is an educator, buy said friend books that feature POC as protagonists and heroes, no matter the racial make-up of the class. A few good lists are here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. And/or purchase educational toys that feature POC, such as finger puppets, Black History Flashcards, etc for their classroom. Use these items year-round, not just in February.

All the links:

Watch

• “How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion” TED Talk
• “Let’s Get to the Root of Racial Injustice” TED Talk
• “How to Overcome Our Biases? Walk Boldly Towards Them” TED Talk
• “How We’re Priming Some Kids for College and others for prison” TED Talk

Read

• “America’s Racial Contract is Killing Us” by Adam Serwer
• “Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?” by Ibram X. Kendi
• The 1619 Project from the New York Times
• “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh
• “The Intersectionality Wars” by Jane Coaston
• “The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• “Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus Groups” developed by Craig Elliott

Listen

• “Your Body Being Used” CodeSwitch Podcast from NPR ~ 6 min
• “When Civility is Used as a Cudgel Against People of Color” CodeSwitch Podcast NPR ~ 6 min
• “The Power of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Anger” CodeSwitch Podcast NPR ~ 5 min
• “Opinion: My Father Stood for the National Anthem for the Same Reason Colin Kaepernick Sits” CodeSwitch Podcast NPR ~ 4 minutes
• “When Calling the Po-Po is a No-No” CodeSwitch NPR ~ 4 min

Act

• Sign the Petition Justice for George Floyd
• Google whether your local police department currently outfits all on-duty police officers with a body-worn camera and requires that the body-worn camera be turned on immediately when officers respond to a police call. If they don’t, write to your city or town government representative and police chief to advocate for it. The racial make-up of your town doesn’t matter — This needs to be standard everywhere. Multiply your voice by soliciting others to advocate as well, writing on social media about it, writing op-eds, etc.

1. (Source: 75 Things White People Can Do For Racial Justice)

• Google whether your city or town currently employs evidence-based police de-escalation training. The racial make-up of your town doesn’t matter — This needs to be standard everywhere. Write to your city or town government representative and police chief and advocate for it. Multiply your voice by soliciting others to advocate as well, writing on social media about it, writing op-eds, etc.

1. (Source: 75 Things White People Can Do For Racial Justice)

• Donate to anti-white supremacy work such as your local Black Lives Matter Chapter, the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, the NAACP, Southern Poverty Law Center, United Negro College Fund, Black Youth Project 100, Color of Change, The Sentencing Project, Families against Mandatory Minimums, A New Way of Life, and Dream Defenders. Join some of these list-serves and take action as their emails dictate.

1. (Source: 75 Things White People Can Do For Racial Justice)

• If you or a friend is an educator, buy said friend books that feature POC as protagonists and heroes, no matter the racial make-up of the class. A few good lists are here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. And/or purchase educational toys that feature POC, such as finger puppets, Black History Flashcards, etc for their classroom. Use these items year-round, not just in February. The racial make-up of students doesn’t matter — kids of every race need to know American history and be exposed to people from different races, religions, and countries. If the friend is interested, buy them for your pal’s classroom. Don’t be shy to ask Facebook friends that you haven’t actually talked to in ten years.

1. (Source: 75 Things White People Can Do For Racial Justice)