"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."
- Nelson Mandela
Values - principles and standards that guide how we live our lives and where we choose to place our energy
I value treating people equally. After reading this book I have come to realize me interacting with people the in the same fashion is still not leading to an equitable relationship. I have been working internally to reject social comparison when deriving satisfaction, and that rejection needs to continue when I am interacting with anyone, regardless of their race, economic status, or sexual orientation. I value inclusivity.
Commitment Statements
I am committed to showing up for this lifelong antiracism work to advocate for basic human rights for everyone, while moving away from passive racism.
I am committed to continue my "unlearning" and continuing to better educate myself on topics of antiracism.
I am committed to having conversations with friends and family about identifying racism and incorporating antiracism into our lives.
Additional Resources mentioned in "Me and White Supremacy" that I will continue to come back to for furthering my education will be listed below. Upon finishing "Me and White Supremacy" I have begun "How to be an Antiracist" by Ibram X Kendi, and while this is a next step, it is not a stopping point. This is an easy thing for me to both share and digest on a regular basis. As I add pages to this site I will continue to reference other resources that I find helpful.
Podcasts:
CTZN (Episode that got me hooked: https://www.ctznwell.org/ctznpodcast/justin-michael-williams)
"When you grow up with violence and abuse, you dream of safety. When you grow up living paycheck to paycheck, you dream of security. When you grow up in a broken home, you dream of stability. When you grow up being teased for being different, your dream is to belong. When you grow up marginalized, you dream of the same basic rights that seem to be afforded to everyone else by default. So of course you forget to dream bigger."
- Justin Michael Williams, Stay Woke: A Meditation Guide for the Rest of Us
Netflix Content:
"You want me to make an act of faith, risking myself, my wife, my woman, my sister, my children, on some idealism which you assure me exists in America which I have never seen"
- James Baldwin
- James Baldwin
"Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced."
-James Baldwin
-James Baldwin