M, 2020

22jul1:00 pm2:30 pmDiversity Talks - White Folks (Part II): A Call to ActionLive Virtual Event [1:00pm - 2:30pm EST]

Event Details

Memorial Day weekend for some meant taking the space to acknowledge and mourn fellow battle buddies. Memorial Day weekend for Black people meant waking up from what was considered to be “a long weekend of rest” to seeing white people use their power and privilege against Black bodies on more than one occasion. It’s attempting to balance the need to talk about George Floyd and Christian Cooper, while suppressing the pain and fear heard in both of their voices as if they knew death was around the corner. Death, due to the fact that their skin tones have been weaponized by white people who later apologize and receive a slap on the wrist because their racism is masked in fear and ignorance. Time and time again, Black bodies lie in the streets and the conversations quickly shift to whether or not they deserved to be murdered.

It’s easier to place blame on individuals than it is to do the internal work that’s needed to dismantle systems of injustice. The internal work of identifying how we individually contribute to these inequitable systems. The internal work of recognizing what it means to be white in the United States. The internal work of analyzing how white fear derives from the thought of losing power and privilege and the white guilt that comes with it, while Black people fear losing their lives daily and experience the guilt of not having the energy to speak on another murder.

Diversity Talks was founded because there was a need for this internal work to happen. We must dissect the layers of our identities while acknowledging the complexity of others. We must recognize the need for continuous expansion of cultural knowledge and we must do so without the fear of sounding ignorant or upsetting the next person. The more time that we spend not acknowledging that individual, institutional, and interpersonal racism still exists, people that look like me and our youth will continue to become hashtags. #StopKillingUs

As a Black, same-gender-loving, woman that founded an organization grounded in racial equity, I am working hard to compartmentalize my rage into action. And in doing so, I have compiled resources for anyone seeking to do the internal work. Most of which I have pulled from social media along with a two-part webinar series that we are offering this summer. Please share this information with your networks until the message is loud and clear: Stop Killing Us!

-Kiara Butler
CEO & Founder, Diversity Talks

Time

july 22(wednesday) 1:00pm - july 22(wednesday) 2:30pm

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