As founder of the Amplify Melanated Voices movement Jessica Wilson points out, “today is not the end, it’s just the beginning!” I don’t know when we’ll ever “arrive,” but I do know 2020 is different. The earth is quaking, the trauma embedded deep in the body of our country is pouring forth, & we are shifting.
I stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. If we’re talking about mental health & wellness in this community, we’re talking about racism. I hope you’ll stay for the conversation, even if (especially if) it makes you uncomfortable. I’ll work to keep this conversation centered around empathy, respect, nuance, & deep listening.
I also hope you’ll join me in committing to the lifelong work of anti-racism (and raising actively anti-racist children). Like so many, I’ve had the perverse privilege of *only now* recognizing the ways I’ve been complicit. This is a call to action to show up humbly & do the work continuously & across multiple dimensions. Anti-racism is action. Here are some of the things I’m doing as an example of ways to take action:
1. Listening
2. Protesting
3. Donating: National Bail Out, Brooklyn Bail Fund, Black Visions Collective, Feeding The Valley, Ashe Birthing Services
4. Reading: Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Me And White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad, White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
5. Confronting: having the uncomfortable conversations about racism with others; having the uncomfortable conversations with MYSELF
6. Watching: The Hate You Give, Dear White People, 13th
7. Once I finally get the podcast off the ground, regularly featuring BIPOC as a critical perspective in the conversation about mental health & wellness
8. Supporting Black-owned businesses: Sol Cacao, Partake Foods, The Honey Pot Company
9. Learning from/amplifying melanated voices in mental health: Dr. Jennifer Mullan, The Nap Ministry, The Conscious Kid, Ashley Johns, Minaa B., Dr. Ann-Louise T. Lockhart
10. VOTING
What are some of the actions you’re taking? Let me know so that as a community we can keep ourselves moving forward.
