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Exposure Therapy for Allies
One of my favorite rituals at Beloved Community is starting each meeting with a warm welcome. It’s a way to connect with one another in a virtual space and sometimes to connect with yourself as you share personal anecdotes or fond memories. Our team’s latest warm welcome question sure put me in a nostalgic mood: “Who is a TV character that you identified with at a young age?”
National Native American Heritage Month: Centering African-Native Americans.
November is National Native American Heritage Month, a time to celebrate Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, a time to learn and reflect on the original inhabitants of this continent. Owing no doubt to my own ethnic heritage and work (I am a Louisiana Creole and a member of the Atakapa-Ishak Nation) I’d like to reflect on persons who are of both African and Native American ancestry.
Veterans Day: Dreams Deferred for Black Soldiers.
I know three things about my grandpa Joe: he was in the Navy, he was a chef, and he’s the reason I was born in San Diego instead of Mamou. He died when I was barely able to walk, but my mom has a black and white picture of him hanging above her fireplace. It’s strange having never seen him in color.
The Erasure of Black Women From History Needs to Stop.
Today is the 106th birthday of Thurgood Marshall, who was not only the first African American Supreme Court Justice but an integral figure in the ruling of Brown v. Board of Education. And although he is a triumphant leader in the outlawing of segregation, many people fail to realize that he did not do this alone. In fact, he likely would not have received such great recognition without the works of a revolutionary civil rights feminist, Pauli Murray.
Pride Isn't About Parades or Rainbows.
Don’t forget, the first pride was a riot. As we celebrate queerness and pride month we must uphold our black and brown trans community as the foundation and direct reason for our progress.
White Supremacy & Anti-Blackness: A Covert & Overt Beast.
White supremacy and anti-blackness is a beast that since the beginning of our history as a country has burrowed its way into every facet of American life. The beast is a violent one, a sometimes silent one, but it is ever-present and always ready to pounce on anyone or any concept that threatens its predatory way of life.
Black History Month: What’s Intersectionality?
At Beloved Community, we frame our work in Kimberle Crenshaw’s (1989) theory of Intersectionality. We recommend Intersectionality as a framework for organizations to use to examine how multiple layers of oppression may be impacting their stakeholders and community members.
Black Women’s Equal Pay Day…8 Months Too Late!
Hooray! It’s Black Women’s Equal Pay Day! This means that, as of today, on average I, and millions of Black women just like me, will have earned the same amount of money that white men earned in 2018 alone.