In the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake by police officers in Kenosha, WI, I joined about 300 other Portlanders in protest outside the local police union. Contrary to mainstream news reports, Portland is and has been overwhelmingly peaceful, organized, and unified. // Truth matters. What really happened matters. Believing witnesses matters. Those who shape the narrative hold the power. Black Lives Matter.
I have had an emotional hangover all month. What I (and many black women) need are trusted, sensitive, woke allies, advocates, and activists in which we can share our emotional burdens. I am trying to do that for the folks at the front lines of racial inequity, but I have limited capacity.
Read MoreAs white women—and men—I believe it is incumbent upon all of us to examine our biases and our privilege as the first step to dismantling racism. As with everything I teach and do, we’ve got to Name It to Tame It. Toppling monuments and protesting police brutality are external signs. But there are other, less visible changes that are of critical importance. We must—those of us with white privilege—take a fearless moral inventory of our roots, our conditioning, and the subtle (or not so subtle) ways we keep racism alive, even if only through our silence and complacency. This is the work.
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