Weekly Newsletter, March 22, 2019
A C C O U N T A B L E A L L Y S H I P
Black Excellence Month
Last month was Black History Month, this month is Women's History Month - what do you get when you add those two together? Black Excellence Month. This week I am sharing some of the black women I find most inspiring.
As we talked about last month, black history is not in the past, it is here and now. Alongside the injustices happening to black bodies in this country, there have been countless examples of black excellence. I would like to dedicate this week to celebrating a few of these women. Please respond to this week's newsletter with the black women you admire.
The New Leaders
Rosa Parks, Oprah Winfrey, and Michelle Obama are household names for their leadership. I'm excited to celebrate new leaders: Tarana Burke, Layla Saad, LaMonica Richard and Cherie Buckner-Webb that I believe should become household names too.
Tarana Burke
Many heard about the #MeToo movement through prominent white celebrities like Alyssa Milano and Lady Gaga. The movement swept the globe and sparked a long overdue conversation about sexual harassment and sexual assault. It single-handedly raised awareness and gave voice to survivors around the globe. The creator of the movement? Tarana Burke. Tarana coined the phrase “me too” while working at Just Be Inc., a nonprofit she founded in 2003 that focused on the overall well-being of young women of color. While talking with a girl who revealed that her mother’s boyfriend had been sexually abusing her, Burke uttered a phrase she used from that day forward - "me too". This phrase helped Tarana shape her life-long campaign for activism to help girls and women who have experienced sexual harassment, abuse, or assault.
Cherie Buckner-Webb
In 2010 Cherie Buckner-Webb became the first elected black state legislator, and first black female legislator elected in Idaho. Today, she serves as the Democratic Senator for the state of Idaho and prioritizes Human Rights, Education, and the Environment. Cherie is a talented singer, a pillar of hope in the community, and an inspiring speaker. She vehemently believes in bell hooks quote "To build community requires vigilant awareness of the work we must continually do to undermine all the socialization that leads us to behave in ways that perpetuate domination."
LaMonica Richard
LaMonica Richard lives and works in Boise, Idaho where she has spoken publicly about her experience as a black woman in the workplace and in a majority white community. She debut "Invisible Shackles: Why Representation Matters" at an event for female empowerment to a room made up of 100% white women. In this powerful piece of writing LaMonica begins with, "When I was 12 years old I wanted to be white." She writes with courage, transparency, vulnerability and leads with her compassionate heart. LaMonica is a patient teacher in helping white women understand the experience of black women in America. Find more of her work here.
Layla Saad
If you have been a subscriber for some time, you have heard Layla's name. Layla is the creator of the crucial workbook, Me & White Supremacy, as well as a speaker, podcast host, and racial justice advocate. Her mission: transforming consciousness, cultivating personal anti-racism practice and taking responsibility for our individual and collective healing. Layla had dedicated her life to advocating for racial justice. All of her resources and teachings can be found here. I recommend following her on Instagram as well.
Acknowledge and Celebrate
Some of these women I know personally, some of I have had the honor of meeting, and others I look up to from afar. My challenge to you as you reflect on the black women you admire is to consider how many of them are in your circle. If given the opportunity, many of us would attend an event with Oprah Winfrey or Michelle Obama the helm. But who are the black women in your life, in your community, that are deserving of the same admiration, respect and following we give those with fame? Who are the black women in your life you ask to speak at events - not because they check a diversity box - but because you are challenging yourself to dismantle the white supremacy culture (which suggests that cis white women with a certain voice and attractive appearance is he most qualified). Black excellence surrounds us, and I challenge us to acknowledge and celebrate it more.
Challenge of the Week
In our last accountability check-in for the Me and White Supremacy Workbook many of you shared that you had downloaded, but had yet to start the workbook or you were still in the introduction and had yet to start the journal phase.
Some of you have recently joined this newsletter, others have demanding schedules. I completely understand, but encourage you to make this a priority. Start with one hour a weekend.
After the white nationalist attack on New Zealand last week I vowed to revisit the workbook again. Each time I circle back to a prompt I discover that I still have more to pull out of myself. More room to grow, more room to learn and unlearn. Our internal growth in this work is just that - ours. So take time to be with yourself and dismantle white supremacy culture from the inside out.