SCENE: Two days ago. My neighborhood grocery store. It’s small, old-fashioned. The narrow aisles barely allow Dude to push his cart past mine, never mind six feet of distancing. Dude is my age. Dude is White. Dude is wearing a neck gaiter. It is currently uselessly gaitering his neck. We make eye contact. I give […]
SCENE: December 2016. Nonprofit event. Lots of folks I haven’t seen since before The Election. Near the food table, I’m delighted to run into a colleague who’s a Black man. We hug and start catching up: ME: *does the thing I’ve been starting every conversation with for a month* Oh my god, isn’t it awful? […]
Hey friends. As you may have noticed, I’m a white Jewish curly-haired woman who urgently wants to be part of the racial justice movement. So is Jessica Krug, formerly known as Jess La Bombera, which was a completely false AfroLatina persona she invented to steal unearned trust and resources from the people she purported to […]
I’m turning into my father. We used to make fun of him and his so-called “Classic Stories.” Then yesterday I’m on a call (zoom of course) and my colleague says, “Such a relief, today it’s only 95 degrees after all this time at plus-100.” And I go, “That reminds me of the classic story.” Silence. […]
I’m in a big tight-knit facebook group about a shared interest that shall not be named, to preserve everyone’s privacy. Last week, it exploded into a very painful and acrimonious fight in which Black and Latinx participants called out the racism that they had been experiencing in the group’s online interactions – and a handful […]
“Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children.” Guess what? I agree completely. Many in this country insist mercilessly, at any cost up to and including terrible violence, on ignoring the realities of slavery, genocide, and continuing white supremacy that are […]
I posted on Facebook today about how I’m grappling with what it means to me and to our country that George Washington was an enslaver. I said, “If I spent my whole life keeping 300 humans tortured and enslaved for my personal wealth and comfort, it really wouldn’t matter what else I did to improve […]
Maybe I shouldn’t tell this story. ~\_0_/~ Here goes: Not too long ago, I got headhunted for a job that would have been a big promotion with a 30% pay hike. Would I like to apply to lead fundraising for a national org helping 100 high-achieving students of color per year to become first-gen Ivy […]
PSA to folks like me who are new to getting loud and getting active: get ready for a lifetime of this. Even if there are victories on policing, our work will not be finished, not even close. Policing is hugely important but it’s only a symptom. The disease is the deep-down white supremacy that needs […]
This is exactly how it happens. A college classmate who is a Black man just posted searing memories of being repeatedly targeted and abused by our university police and of hearing the same experiences from every one of his fellow Black male classmates. Me? I have not a single memory of *any* interaction with HUPD, […]