[Julie Helwege]

Let’s chat!

From Lace:

Only seemingly counter-intuitively , I absolutely endorse her assertion that people should follow and learn from and engage with more than just Black racial justice advocates and educators.

And I say this as a Black racial justice advocate and educator!

Her point is that we are found in every interest and arena.

Outside of anti-racism spaces, dear white people (all of us really; BIPOC often give short shrift *to ourselves*), who do you follow?

Do you follow black Knitters?

Or black people who love making elaborate Legos?

How about black people who have a passionate opinion on raised vegetable beds?

Who can tell you Arcane minutiae about Star Trek, the Original Series, and the Next Generation, and even *Voyager*, FFS!

How about black people who find secret meaning in Led Zeppelin lyrics?

The point is that racial Equity work does not end with racial Equity education.

If the people who influence you in ways both seemingly frivolous and deadly serious are not also Black Faces, you will be much less likely to consider a black accountant, or a black orthodontist, or black landscape architect, or a black insurance salesman who throws you into an annuity.

Seeing us fully and as multifaceted: it’s a big deal.

Make this a part of your NON-NEGOTIABLE Praxis.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKeUjybjwxd/?igshid=kcgnzux3zgjz

Discussion

[Julie Helwege]

Normalizing Blackness in every day spaces… There has been so much dehumanization of Black and Brown people and part of that is how WP (me) participate in blackness. I’ve been a user and abuser. I’ve taken advantage of Black women to further my own interests and then moved on. I was terrible about the relational and so self-focused. So competitive and harmful.

I participated in a D&I book club where some of these dots connected, and I realized I was in an echo chamber when it came to my surroundings, all of them. I decided to step out of my comfort zone and find ways to engage with people who weren’t white. I started to connect with my Black and Brown colleagues on their lives and interests. I expanded my social media networks significantly. I started listening and believing. I built deeper relationships with my Black employees.

But I was still harmful and the relational wasn’t bone marrow deep. It wasn’t until LoR that I’ve learned what depth really looks like, that I’ve educated myself and now understand dehumanization and erasure. My relationships with Black and Brown women and men have changed and grown quickly and significantly. There is durable love and holding now, laughter, shared interests, trust and reliability.

I will be vocal and encourage this message – I will share broadly and loudly. I want to get to know all of the Other and his or her Blackness, I want to break bread, travel, laugh, shop, talk religion and self-care and everything else that comes with deep relationships built on trust and respect.

I also want to stand with and for; listen, follow and believe; financially contribute; walk in solidarity and fight for racial equity. It’s both and. But most important, I am uncentered, holding my own hand and always normalizing, never dehumanizing. No more using, no more abusing, no more violence.

The rooting, weeding and walking continues.

[Rhonda Freeman]

For me, a big part of this is about changing where I spend my money. Plain and simple. I send 5 postcards a week to people I know. Those postcards need to come from black and brown artists as much as possible. My toilet paper is now purchased from Ultra Kosmic. I buy books from a small black owned book store. I am now in relationship with the people I buy my wine from, my art, my toilet paper, my journals, my essential oils, and the list goes on. I am still not 100% sure this is what Lace means by relational ethics, but it sure is a fun way to mitigate the harm that I have done to brown and black people over the years by spending my money at large corporations.

[Julie Helwege]

I love this! I have absolutely changed my spending habits to be more supportive of small businesses, specifically Black and Brown ones. I’ve met so many new people, tasted so much new food, read so many new books and am loving all different kinds of new art.

[Author]

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