The last couple of weeks have been extremely heavy and both emotionally and mentally draining. My emotions were everywhere. I felt angry, sad, guilty, hopeful, shocked, outraged, heartbroken, speechless, uncomfortable, overwhelmed, and awakened. I have learned so much through following, watching, and listening to powerful Black activists and seeing numerous resources about Black Lives Matter, allyship, and anti-racism all over social media. To be honest, there were times where I felt very overwhelmed with the information overload, then followed by the feeling of shock/realization and guilt. I would ask myself multiple times how did I not realize how DIRE this situation was before? Why didn’t I take any ACTION for all of the previous cases? How am I JUST learning about systemic racism?

Although overwhelming, all of this information brings progress, change and self-reflection. I learned that I am guilty of turning a blind eye to systemic racism and violence that disproportionately effects Blacks on a daily basis. I am guilty of not standing up for racial injustices, including ones that involve Asians. I learned that I was part of the problem by allowing racism to persist with my silence. I allowed myself to be complacent with just being not racist. This is NOT okay. I can do so much more, be better, and be part of the change. As I start on my anti-racism journey, I want to share anti-racism resources that have been very helpful to me as well as a very condensed list of what I’ve learned so far. This is in no way a comprehensive list, but it’s my starting point. We all have much more work to do to educate ourselves and know that this deep learning experience doesn’t last just a week, a month, or a year. It’s a lifetime commitment.

3 Major Lessons I Learned

What It Means to Be an Ally and Anti-Racist

There is a lot to unpack here, but the major takeaways for me to be an ally and anti-racist are that I need to 1) Speak up when I hear or see racial injustices. I need to build an automatic reflex to speak out when something is wrong in order to foster a safe environment for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC); and 2) Listen to, amplify, and center melanated voices. I will strive to expand my network and seek out Black voices at work, home, and social media to gain exposure to different perspectives and experiences.

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Microaggressions & How “I Don’t See Color” is Problematic

Microaggressions is another new term that I learned and can relate so much to the Asian examples listed below. These subtle acts and comments are truly problematic as they can make BIPOC feel like foreigners and inferior. It’s critical that we don’t say “I Don’t See Color.” Instead, I hope you see BIPOC’s skin colors and appreciate each of their individualities and cultures. This is a great article about What I Hear When Someone Says “I Don’t See Color.”

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Immediate Ways To Be An Ally

Actions speak louder than words. Here are immediate steps we can take to stand in solidarity with the Black community and be an active and effective ally. These are all steps I personally have completed or plan to engage in myself.

Show Support Through Tangible Actions

• SIGN petitions demanding justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Emerald Black.
• VOTE at both the federal and state levels. If you seek police and criminal justice system reform, change starts at the state and local levels. Check your voter registration status, register to vote online, and sign up for election reminders.
• DONATE to organizations that focus on fighting racial injustices and serve Black communities. I’ve included a list of organizations below.
• BUY from Black-owned and POC businesses. I’ve shared some resources for finding black-owned businesses.

Educate, Amplify, and Diversify

• EDUCATE OURSELVES by continuing to read books / articles and watch movies / documentaries that teach us about privilege and systemic racism (like the ones listed below). There are endless free resources available online, I’ve listed several below. We should not be asking our Black friends what we should do as they have been fighting and grieving for over 400 years.
• AMPLIFY BLACK VOICES AND STORIES. You don’t need a big platform to amplify Black voices and stories. You can pin BIPOC content on Pinterest – could be anything from interior design, lifestyle, fashion, and recipes! Read an interesting story or watched a great show created by a Black author? Share it with your family, friends, coworkers through text, email, Slack!
• DIVERSIFY WHO YOU FOLLOW. Look at your current social media feeds. Are you following mostly people that are white or look like you? Expand your feed to diversify the content you consume every day to include more BIPOC that may look, sound, and have different experiences than you.
• HOLD BRANDS ACCOUNTABLE. Does the brand promote diversity on their feed? Did they just post a black square to be performative? Call brands out (this includes influencers) and determine if you still want to support them. Ask how they treat Black employees, what does their leadership team look like, who gets invited on their brand trips?
• ANTI-RACISM IN THE WORKPLACE. Join marginalized groups at work (for instance, I’m part of the women in tech, Asian Americans, and now the Black Americans groups). Advocate for hiring more Black candidates. Can you add work goals to promote diversity and inclusion and make anti-racism training required?

Anti-Racism Resources

There are endless, free anti-racism resources available online and can be found through simple Google searches. Below are resources that I’m starting with. Let’s put the onus on ourselves to educate each other on systemic racism.

Black Activists to Follow on Instagram

• @mspackyetti “is an unapologetic educator, organizer, and writer. Brittany is an NBC News and MSNBC Contributor and former Fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics exploring social change and intersectional activism. A lifelong activist and proud member of the Ferguson Uprising.”
• @rachel.cargle “is a public academic, writer, and lecturer. Her activism and academic work are rooted in providing intellectual discourse, tools, and resources that explore the intersection of race and womanhood.
• @ohhappydani makes “doodles designed to encourage faith, inspire justice, & guide you as you love your neighbors well.” I shared a couple of her beautiful and educational artwork above!
• @moemotivate “is an anti-racism educator, published author, international speaker, and host of the Shine Brighter Together podcast. She is also the founder of Shine Brighter Together, which is a community dedicated to healthy relationships & diverse unity.”
• @blackandembodied + @jessicawilson.msrd are mental health therapist and dietician activists, respectively. They started the #amplifymelantedvoices movement.

Where to Donate

• Black Lives Matter “We appreciate your support of the [BLM] movement and our ongoing fight to end state-sanctioned violence, liberate Black people, and end white supremacy forever.”
• NAACP “Your donation to the NAACP helps further our mission to ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination.”
• The Bail Project “is on a mission to combat mass incarceration and reshape the pretrial system in the United States. 100% of online donations are used to bring people home.”
• Innocence Project “Be a part of the Innocence Project’s groundbreaking work to free innocent people and transform the legal system.”
• Stream to Donate. “Donate with no money just by listening to some great hip hop music! 100% of advertising revenue generated by this Hip Hop Music stream will be donated to Black Lives Matter,”

Black Owned Businesses To Support

• Intentionalist is a great online resource with a searchable index of Black-owned restaurants, cafes and other businesses in Washington and a few other states/cities across the country.
• Support Black Owned is a directory of Black and African American owned businesses.
• Black-Owned Small Businesses You Can Support From Anywhere
• 140+ Black-Owned Businesses in Seattle
• Black-Owned Farms

Books & Articles To Read

• [BOOK] White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
• [BOOK] How to Be an Antiracist
• [BOOK] So You Want to Talk About Race
• [ARTICLE] How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change
• [ARTICLE] 75 Things White People Can Do For Racial Injustice
• [ARTICLE] Why You Need to Stop Saying “All Lives Matter”
• [INSTAGRAM] Why Do People Say Defund the Police?
• [INSTAGRAM] What To Say When People Deny the Reality of What’s Happening Right Now

Documentaries / Shows / Short Videos to Watch

• [DOCUMENTARY, NETFLIX] 13TH is an Oscar-nominated film from Ava DuVernay that explores the “intersection of race, justice, and mass incarceration in the United States.” It won Best Documentary at the Emmys, BAFTAs and NAACP Image Awards.
• [TV SERIES, NETFLIX] When They See Us is also an award winning show created by Ava DuVernay. “Five teens from Harlem become trapped in a nightmare when they’re falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park. Based on the true story.”
• [YOUTUBE] Trevor Noah “shares his thoughts on the killing of George Floyd, the protests in Minneapolis, the dominos of racial injustice and police brutality, and how the contract between society and Black Americans has been broken time and time again.”
• [INSTAGRAM] White Women Who Truly Want to Help: Here’s How
• [DOCUMENTARY, PBS] Asian Americans “Told through intimate personal stories, the series will cast a new lens on U.S. history and the ongoing role that Asian Americans have played.

Articles for Asian Americans To Read

• ‘Model Minority’ Myth Again Used As A Racial Wedge Between Asians And Blacks
• 20+ Allyship Actions for Asians to Show Up for the Black Community Right Now
• 6 Ways Asian Americans Can Tackle Anti-Black Racism in Their Families
• Asian Allyship | Myths and Facts

Additional Resources + Compilations

• Anti-Racist Allyship Starter Pack by Tatum Dorrell, Matt Herndon, and Jourdan Dorrell
• Anti-Racism Resource Guide by Tasha K
• Large compiled list of Anti-Racism Resources by Ashley Loren
• Helpful Key Terms for Your Google Search Bar for additional learning
• Cards on Race is a deck of cards to help facilitate conversation and reflection on race in America