As I think about Black History Month and how to best honor it and the lives and experiences of Black People, I am very aware of what I DON’T want to do. I don’t want to do anything that feels performative nor do I want to participate in virtue signaling what a woke white person I am (because I’m not). I asked myself, “how CAN I uplift and celebrate Black People and Black history in this blog in a way that feels authentic?”. I kept coming back to Dr. Hardy’s tips for being an ally (you can hear all of them and more in the video I’ve shared in the resource section). Dr. Hardy’s fourth tip states that “allyship is not about what one says or one's intentions. It is about what you are DOING and plan to do. It is a verb and means ongoing action. Allies must always be doing the work.”
This month, I am making the choice to use this platform to keep encouraging my white community to continue to educate ourselves and keep doing our work. Reflecting further on Dr. Hardy’s call to action, we need to continue to refine and strengthen our voices proactively and not just wait for the next incident to happen. We need to continuously engage in self-examination, interrogation and reflection. Doing our work is how we honor the lives of the Black People, whose backs we literally stand on. Doing our work is also how we honor and restore our own humanity. Below are some great resources to help you on your journey.
Warmly,
Robin
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The award-winning documentary “AFTERSHOCK” has been picked up by Disney’s Onyx Collective in partnership with ABC News and will stream onHulu, Disney+ and Star: https://www.aftershockdocumentary.com/. This film which premiered in the Sundance Film Festival features the stories of two families who lost loved ones to a racist maternal health system.
This Month's Resources:
After a "Reckoning," in 2021 America Looked Away From Racism | Time
How to Avoid (Unintentional) Online Racism – and Shut Down Overt Racism When You See It
Revealing white privilege and healing racial trauma with Dr. Ken Hardy: https://vimeo.com/427600351 (Note: This is a 2-hour video and this is the timestamp for Dr. Hardy’s presentation: 48:38-1:49)
On November 19th, I was interviewed by Marsha Ramroop, RIBA Director of Inclusion and former BBC journalist, on the RIBA radio show. You can find my interview at 47:30; the entire video is about an hour long.
I was interviewed by Amira Martin, LCSW-R, and I shared more about my private practice, training, and leadership work. Throughout the interview, I talked about my approach to my work as a white therapist using an anti-racist perspective.