This post is intended to be a resource for those who have not personally experienced racism but want to learn and become allies. We know that our BIPOC readers and followers have been doing this work all their lives and probably don’t need additional resources (although, hey, these are still great accounts to follow!).
We (Jenn and Kristen), as white women, support our BIPOC readers and followers and commit to doing the anti-racism work required to effect change, and encourage those of you who care about dismantling systematic racism to join us. And to anyone who doesn’t believe anti-racism work has a place here, we hope you’ll remember that, until we can all breathe, none of us can breathe, and our anti-racism stance isn’t going anywhere.
Follow.
Listen.
Believe.
Learn — without asking Black people to teach you.
Most importantly, click on links in all of these accounts’ bios, and support these incredible people and organizations by paying for (or donating to) their books, services, and programs. Do the work, and support, support, support!
Also, a huge thank you to @BexLife for sharing so much info and pointing us to many of the below accounts via her Instagram. She’s been on our podcast before, and was our entry point into much of this work. Rebekah is not an anti-racism educator, but she is amazing to follow and is doing so much, especially with children’s books.
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Yesterday, I let y’all know that I was going to be hosting a new webinar for fitness and wellness professionals about how to better show up as it pertains to the intersection of racism and wellness. ⠀ If you have previously taken my course, Diversity and Inclusion 101, this class will go far beyond that. We are doing a deep dive to specifically discuss the following: ⠀ 1) Examining white supremacy, racism, and bias in your own life and the ways in which you are being complicit ⠀ 2) How to actively hold yourself and the fitness and wellness industry accountable and how to make it a space that demands justice for ALL bodies ⠀ 3) How to leverage our privilege to create actual change within the fitness industry ⠀ 4) Resources to educate yourself on the intersection of racism and wellness ⠀ 5) How to show up better and embody anti-racism practices year round, not just when it’s prominent in the news and media ⠀ Due to the overwhelming response, I have made the live webinar available for 3 separate days. The schedule is as follows: ⠀ Monday, June 8th, 3-5pm EST [SOLD OUT] Tuesday, June 9th, 3-5pm EST Wednesday, June 10th, 3-5 pm EST ⠀ *UPDATE* — additional sessions have been added ⠀ Monday, June 15th, 3-5pm EST Tuesday, June 16th 3-5pm EST Wednesday, June 17th, 3-5 pm EST ⠀ If you can’t make it live, a replay of the webinar will be sent out following the live event. ⠀ This class will be uncomfortable. We are going to be discussing the hard things. Confronting racism is never easy. I’m also going to be sending you materials to read and prepare for the webinar and homework to do after the webinar. This is for wellness professionals who are invested in confronting racism. ⠀ Space is limited. Sign up and share with a friend. ⠀ Links are live in my bio NOW. ⠀ I can’t wait to see you on the webinar.
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365 we do this work y’all. we strategize, we build, we support each other with little to nothing by way of resources, from community collectives, small orgs, creators, healers, comrades, accomplices all over the fucking U.S. day in and day out we do this work. — We keep yelling support Black/Brown/Indigenous lead movements it’s beneficial to us all. Over and Over we school y’all, give you insight, language, compassion, brutal honesty, hope, accountability, the real news. — We inform the mainstream only to be shit on and not listened to when it really counts. — Our shit ain’t convoluted. Our shit gets tampered with, exploited, co-opted, silenced. And y’all blame us for why we aren’t believed. — Yet for profit companies y’all be working for with multimillion dollar budgets and exposure ain’t even got their shit together and are never held responsible. — We keep each other safe. We literally spell out how y’all can support us and when the shit hits the fan you wanna question us instead of blaming fucking white supremacy. You want a comfy transition into inevitable. — Guess what shit is messy right now…and it is no more neat bows and well cropped photos and Blackout bs. You got to call it like it is and FUCKIN AMPLIFY THE PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY DO THIS WORK WITH THE MOST AT STAKE. — @jmaseiii said: “Folks will have the nerve to look at thousands of Black leaders in the streets organizing, protesting, moving resources…and ask…”Where is our MLK; where is our Malcolm x?” as if the answer to Black liberation or social inequity is activists with celebrity credentials. There are so many leaders protecting and ensuring the future rights of Black folks nationally and globally in this moment (and always has been). I am so grateful to the Black leaders that have put their bodies, lives and futures on the line for all of us.” – #amplifymelanatedvoices #blacklivesmatter #blm #decolonzingfitness #uprising #fuck12
(Account is private. She admits new followers, but don’t be surprised if she kicks you out if you’re not doing work.)
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Y’all wanna do something, I GET it but for fuck sake make sure the actions you’re seeking to take are actually HELPFUL. Taking action without intention + education results in more HARM than help. Allowing white people to co-opt Black movements is violent white supremacy in action. THIS is why the work has to start INSIDE. This is why Spiritual Activism is VITAL. You need to think critically + engage mindfully. @blklivesmatter didn’t start this campaign + it is causing the movement harm. Stop the performative bullshit. Just STOP. Read @blairimani latest post. As I always say IMPACT trumps INTENTION And to all the white folx in their feelings hitting myself + other Black folx up to have us on your IG lives, podcasts etc. Take a hot minute + ask if you’re doing YOUR personal work to address YOUR white supremacy + anti-Blackness first and foremost. If not, you’re just using us to assuage your guilt + promote your brand. I’m not fucking here for it. Do. Your. Work! Respect that we are GRIEVING. And exhausted by you. NEVER ask a Black womxn+ to do a DAMN thing without offering compensation. Slave days are over. “Exposure” ain’t payment. STOP exploiting our time, energy + labor. I’m glad so many of you are here now but you are CENTURIES late. I’m not here for fame + fortune. I’m here to be a mirror to your bullshit so you will ACTIVELY dismantle the anti-Black systems you created, perpetuate + benefit from. Everything I do, is from a deep well of love. For Black folx first + foremost. We’ve been paving the way for our COLLECTIVE liberation from the get. And y’all need to fall the fuck back, FOLLOW our lead + do your work. If you’re ready, my newsletter goes out tonight. Sign-up @ link in bio. Head to @osopepatrisse for this weeks REAL actions. xo R ID: “if you aren’t actively using your privilege to uplift, follow, support, learn from, check in on and pay Black folx right now, what the fuck is your ‘anti-racism’ about?”
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“But where do I start?” I used to be mystified by this question. The sense of helplessness is not cute. If you wanted a recipe on how to make your own hand sanitizer, you wouldn’t go to a doctor’s profile on Instagram and post, “But where do I start?” You wouldn’t. You know you wouldn’t. So why is it when you need a “recipe” on how to be anti-racist, anti-biased, or anti-oppressive, you express your helplessness through the form of this benign, vapid question? As I said, I used to be mystified, but now I get it. You were raised to believe that you are perfect, pure, and flawless due to nothing more than a function of biology. Thus, you have been conditioned to express innocence using questions whenever acts of racism are made plain. Now that I’ve rebuked the behaviour, lemme now edify the person… If you’re truly serious about interrupting your unconscious biases around skin colour privilege, check my highlight called PROMPTS📝. The guidance I provide isn’t for everyone. For some, my way is too tender. Or, it’s not noisy enough. Or, it’s not boisterous enough. I’m for those who have gentle, quiet, and highly sensitive personality who tend to experience overwhelm and over-stimulation when using other methods to unpack their unconscious biases. I use a method that helps #HighlySensitivePeople reclaim their sensitivities because when they do, they can then see the humanity in people of African descent. Again, check my highlight PROMPTS📝 for more. 🔥 if you’re going to do the work highlighted in the highlight. 🔥🔥 if you’ve scheduled a day/time to do the work highlighted in the highlight. Only add a comment IF you’ve done the work and want to share your reaction. Share / Tag if there’s someone in your network who needs to see this.
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Correction & condemnation are not the same. In this work of anti-racism, you will all mess up. And when you mess up, you will be corrected. Correction is not only a part of this work, it is this work. But you don’t know how to take correction. White folks, one of the reasons y’all are fumbling all over the place in showing up for Black lives in a way that is less about you and actually about us is that you’re just winging it. You’re making it up as you go, as though there are no tools or resources available for you to do this work. It’s a slap in the face to see so many of the very people I’ve personally tried to bring into this work, do the very things they would know not to do had they actually invested in the work & committed to it. But you’re messing up so much because you’re operating from the lens & conditioning of white supremacy that has influenced the way you do everything in the world. Including your internalized resistance to following and taking leadership from Black women. Collectively, where have you seen it consistently & routinely properly modeled & reinforced through systems of power of how to follow, listen and pay Black womxn in way that is affirming of our Blackness… our humanity? You have not. Not in your socialization, your classrooms, neighborhoods, jobs, government…not anywhere. But you’ve seen the opposite…silencing, ignoring and exploiting Black womxn and you’ve seen it reinforced through systems of power. And even right now, you’re reinforcing the patterns of oppression specifically w/ Black womxn. Even though you’re not trying to…yet the intent does not negate the impact. You’re used to doing the very thing you’re doing now:: silencing, ignoring, speaking for or over, and exploiting us. It’s normal for you to overlook what we have to say as if it doesn’t matter because for far too long it hasn’t mattered to you. Keep swiping to read it all before commenting. Also do not ask me for more time and labor to clarify or explain any of this to you. Instead sign up for a class or program & get to work. And tag someone you want to bring along with you in this work…especially the white influencers out here messing up too.
This is far from a comprehensive list. Please leave a comment with other anti-racism accounts from women of color, and we’ll add them to the list.
