Get there

It is the beauty of solidarity that has provided me any hope in the last week as more black and brown lives are lost in the U.S. and around the world. Even having the space to look for hope right now, in and of itself I realize, is a privilege denied to many.

But the fact that people rise up to support each other in the face of such tragedy and injustice, that they band together in the face of such formidable power is where hope lies for me. The breathtaking beauty of solidarity is found in people’s belief in love as an organizing force and in the power inherent in remaining open and connected to each other as humans.

My question to all of us working in global development: Are we missing this? That the building blocks of change are found in the beauty of solidarity?

If our work is not beholden to the love and unity that is possible between people, what are we doing? How can our work be re-organized in service of this? Can we stop trying to control projects through logframes, and instead get serious about what it takes to unleash social change?

Use your sorrow and outrage at the recent events in Baton Rouge, Minneapolis, Dhaka, or Istanbul to get there. Us do-gooder, over-thinking, technocratic-types fancy ourselves adept at “asking the challenging questions” of ourselves and of our organizations. But that is no longer enough. We must take concrete actions that dismantle the internal and external power structures that perpetuate inequality and bigotry in aid, philanthropy, social enterprise, and impact investing.

There is a lot of work to do. As my colleague wrote yesterday,

“This is a moment of deep crisis around racism and violence in the United States, and the ways forward will have to be rooted in the most transformative vision possible for a world that is not race blind, nor race neutral, but has the capacity to heal the legacies of imperialism and slavery.”

The denial of dignity to people in our sector is insidious. And if we band together, there are many examples from the Global South that show us, it is also shatterable.

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A sampling of resources/conversations on solidarity (Asking: What can we learn and apply to global aid and philanthropy?)

1. 100 Ways White People Can Make Life Less Frustrating For People of Color, Kesiena Boom

2. After Charlottesville: 5 ways nonprofits can process, heal, and fight, joi foley, Rockwood Leadership Institute
3. Opportunities for White People in the Fight for Racial Justice: Moving from Actor –> Ally –> Accomplice
4. White Nonsense Roundup
5. White progressives: It’s time to be transformers, not just have opinions, Caitlin Breedlove
6. Ready to ditch white feminism? Here are 6 Black feminist concepts you need to know, Melissa Brown, Daily Progressive
7. What To Do? 3 Strategy Questions Matter, Taj James, Movement Strategy Center
8. 7 agreements for productive conversations during difficult times, Vu Lee
9. 8 ways people of color are tokenized in nonprofits, Helen Kim Ho
10. Walking While Black, Garnette Cadogan, Literary Hub
11. Your Guide On How to Support Black People After Incidents of Police Violence, Alan Pelaez Lopez, Everyday Feminism
12. What White People Should Know In The Aftermath Of Police Brutality, Zeba Blay and Lilly Workneh, Huffington Post Black Voices
13. My Revolutionary Suicide Note, Melissa Harris-Perry
14. The Near Certainty of Anti-Police Violence, Ta-Nehisi Coates
15. How white people can stop Black death #StopKillingForUs, Taj James
16. 12 Ways to Be a White Ally to Black People, Janee Woods, The Root
17. 9 things white people can do to fight racism now, by Awesomely Luvvie
18. REPORT: You’ll Never Guess How Many White People Say They Support #BlackLivesMatter, Kenryn Rankin, Colorlines
19. How black people can emotionally protect themselves in the age of #BlackLivesMatter, Karen Attiah, Washington Post
20. 17 Poems To Read When The World Is Too Much, Hannah Giorgis and Tomi Obaro, Buzzfeed
21. A short guide on collectin yo folk, drwhothefuckyouthinkyoutalkinto, tumblr
22. Dear White Friends, ‘Not Being Racist’ Isn’t Enough, Alexa Sykes, Black Professional Magic
23. I, Racist, John Metta, Medium
24. For White People Who Want the Racist Nightmare to End, We Must Reclaim Our Lives from Anti-Black Racism, Chris Crass
25. White People: Stop Microvalidating Each Other, Stephanie Jo Kent
26. Dear White Allies: Status Updates & Hashtags Are Not Enough, Paige Tutt, Bustle
27. 6 Ways Well-Intentioned People Whitesplain Racism (And Why They Need to Stop), Maisha Z. Johnson, The Body is Not An Apology
28. A 5-Step Guide for Macklemore and White Allies Afraid of Doing Anti-Racism ‘Wrong’, Maisha Z. Johnson, Everyday Feminism
29. 15 Things Your City Can Do Right Now to End Police Brutality, Zak Cheney Rice, Mic
30. Waking Up White: A Resource for White Folks and Do Not Unfriend the Racists, Jasmine Banks Brown
31. Explaining white privilege to a broke white person, Gina Crosley-Corcoran, Occupy Wall Street
32. To All my White Christian Friends Regarding Recent Events, Latrice Ingram
33. 11 Words You Should Know to Better Understand Structural Racism, The Aspen Institute
34. #Arabs4BlackPower Releases Movement for Black Lives Solidarity Statement, Kirsten West Savali, The Root
35. 11 Powerful Photos of Latinos Standing in Solidarity With Black Lives Matter, Yara Simón, Remezcla
36. Asian Americans Crowdsource Open Letter to Families: ‘Black Lives Matter To Us, Too’, Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, NBC News
37. Indigenous Solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter, Matt Remle, Last Real Indians
38. Kurdish Women Fighting Islamic State Group Send Solidarity to BlackLivesMatter, teleSUR
39. South African Police Service twice as likely to kill as US police, SA Mail & Guardian
40. Three Countries Issue Travel Warnings About Visiting The U.S., Reuters
41. Indians’ Debt to Black America, by Neil Padukone, HuffPo
42. Racial Bias, Even When We Have Good Intentions, by Sendhil Mullainathan, New York Times
43. Here’s How You Help End Hate & Violence, Jamia Wilson, Refinery29
44. Note to self: White people taking part in #BlackLivesMatter protests, Vonn New, AFSC
45. Why highways have become the center of civil rights protest, Emily Badger, Washington Post
46. White people, don’t tell me what Martin Luther King would think of Black Lives Matter, Jon Crowley, Vox
47. 11 Things White People Can Do to Be Real Anti-Racist Allies, Kali Holloway, Alternet
48. White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism, Dr. Robin Diangelo, Good Men Project
49. Why all white people are racist, but can’t handle being called racist: the theory of white fragility, Dustin Dwyer,
50. Curriculum for White Americans to Educate Themselves on Race and Racism–from Ferguson to Charleston, Jon Greenberg
51. This is what white people can do to support #BlackLivesMatter, Sally Kohn, Washington Post
52. The Conversation We Must Have with Our White Children, Courtney Martin, On Being
53. Advice for White Folks in the Wake of the Police Murder of a Black Person, Justin Cohen
54. Be Less Racist: 12 Tips for White Dudes, by A White Dude, Dan Zanes, The Mash-Up Americans
55. Dear Christians, Stop Judging the #BlackLivesMatter Movement and Start Defending the Oppressed, Stephen Mattson, Sojourners
56. Where Is The White Church In The ‘Black Lives Matter’ Movement?, Dianna Anderson, The Establishment
57. The problem with saying “All lives matter”, Tyler Huckabee, Relevant
58. The real reason white people say “all lives matter”, John Halstead, Huffington Post
59. Reddit response to: Why is it so controversial when someone says “All Lives Matter” instead of “Black Lives Matter”?, GeekAesthete
60. It’s Time You Realize #AllLivesMatter Is Racist, Rachel Charlene Lewis, Pride
61. Here we are again and why we say Black Lives Matter, Shay Stewart-Bouley, Black Girl in Maine blog
62. ‘We need co-conspirators, not allies’: how white Americans can fight racism, Rose Hackman, Guardian UK
63. What to Do When They Don’t Want You to Exist, Rembert Browne, New York Magazine
64. In times of anger and grief and sadness… dance, by Miriam Messinger, Interaction Institute for Social Change
65. The Problem of Othering: Towards Inclusiveness and Belonging, john a. powell and Stephen Menendian
66. Six ways white people can help end the War on Black People, Showing Up for Racial Justice
67. Resources for Analysis, Action, Reflection, Alliance, White Noise Collective
68. Local and national organizations addressing policy accountability and racial justice, Funders for Justice
69. A Partial Map of Black-led Black Liberation Organizing, Resource Generation
70. 28 Common Racist Attitudes and Behaviors, odinsblog, tumblr
71. 29 Stupid Things White People Do and What We Can Do Instead, Baltimore Racial Justice Action (Wow – so much in this one for do-gooders!)
72. 70+ Race Resources for White People, Scraping Raisins blog (SO much here!)
73. The deep roots of “white trash” in America: “Not only are we not a post-racial society, we are certainly not a post-class society”, Kate Tuttle interview with Nancy Isenberg, Salon
74. A Reading List for America, New York Public Library
75. Black Lives Matter Fall 2016 Syllabus, Hunter College
76. Syllabus for white people to educate themselves

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