*DISCLAIMER* This section has been written and compiled by our 2020 executive board, and none of us are Black. We are gathering information and resources from Black activists, creatives, and friends. We want to use the platform that we have to support and amplify Black voices and experiences, not take up space or speak for the Black community. Please message us if any information on the following pages is incorrect, ignorant or we’ve left out any important information or points, and we will edit the posts as soon as we can. To contact us, email ummagazine.ucsb@gmail.com or DM us on instagram @ummagazineucsb
As non-Black folx, we all experience oppression, but we also all have privileges we might not even recognize. It is NOT the job of the Black community to repetitively educate us on how to be a good ally or the way we benefit from the corrupt, racist, and violent system we live in. There are countless free and accessible resources online, in libraries, and on social media. Person of color and Black are not the same, and anti-Blackness is not a solely white issue.
This is NOT about us. We must support and empower Black communities in our area and worldwide but be cautious not to take up space that isn’t ours. Use your privilege to give Black voices a platform, do not speak on their behalf.
Look at yourself. Think about the ways you react to and perpetuate anti-Blackness around you and with people you know; notice the first thought that comes into your head when you witness racism, violence, and other anti-Blackness. We have all been conditioned with anti-Blackness, whether we are aware of it or not, and as allies it is our responsibility to not only NOTICE this within ourselves and our friends, but to SPEAK UP and CHANGE OUR WAYS.
READ AND SHARE BLACK QUARE’S STATEMENT
DON’T CALL THE COPS
Police use violence to perpetuate systemic racism and can put people in your community at risk. Instead, think of alternative resources.
EDUCATE YOURSELF AND RECOGNIZE YOUR PRIVILEGE:
There are countless resources available online to educate yourself. Follow Black activists on Instagram, read articles, and watch the news. Do not expect members of the Black community to educate you. This places an additional burden on them when it is your responsibility to educate yourself on how to be a good ally.
Show up to protests and demonstrations. Use your place of privilege to not only support but protect Black people in your community. Understand how you have benefited from systemic oppression and what you can do to be actively anti-racist. Donate if you can. Sign petitions. Support Black-owned businesses. Share resources. Call out anti-Blackness within your life and your community.
For Our White Friends Desiring to Be Allies
Guidelines for Being Strong White Allies
Curriculum for White Americans to Educate Themselves on Race and Racism–from Ferguson to Charleston
More podcasts, videos, articles, and books here!*
more to come
*list not compiled by Um…Magazine
ENGAGE IN CONVERSATION:
Have hard conversations with your families. Call out people you know (including your friends) on ways they perpetuate anti-Blackness. Being a good ally does not mean only educating yourself, but putting that information into practice. Continue engaging in these conversations
LISTEN TO BLACK VOICES:
Being an ally means we cannot take up space that isn’t ours. Have conversations with your Black friends, support Black creatives and activists, and listen to what they have to say. As white and non-Black POC, we have no authentic black experiences and cannot overshadow or speak over them.
Learn from what Black people are saying, give them the space to speak, and consume authentic perspectives. Do these practices not only in relation to police brutality, but also on Black history, art, love, and other aspects of Black culture that is not represented and acknowledged in mainstream media.
UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS A CONSTANT PROCESS:
Undoing the systematic racism in our country is NOT something that will happen overnight. This isn’t something that will get a lot of social media attention for a few days and then be over. We must be constantly fighting and standing with Black communities until justice has been achieved, until Black people feel safe driving or taking walks in their neighborhoods, until there is no longer fear for their lives every time they have an encounter involving the police, and until the system that actively silences, oppresses, kills, and incites fear into every Black experience has been dismantled and rebuilt.
This is not a temporary conversation. This is not a temporary movement. This is a historical fight that began with the foundation of our country that was built off the backs of Black, brown, indigenous, and immigrant communities. We must continue to actively work against this by constantly engaging in these conversations, sharing resources, educating ourselves, and spreading information. Being a true ally means engaging in these practices for as long as systemic oppression is in place.