Do Better

by Rachel Ricketts

  White-passing BI&WoC can do the same: collect your white-passing people and preach as to the need for all to be unpacking the ways they perpetuate white supremacy and cause non-white-passing BI&WoC harm. No matter your race or ethnicity, let us stop applauding white women+ for doing the bare minimum and discontinue our support of white women+ who are attempting to lead the charge in a way that does not follow, credit, and remunerate the centuries of racial justice guidance and gospel from Black and Indigenous women+, unless it’s leading the charge against white folx doing just that. And any white woman+ making a penny of profit off racial justice doesn’t understand what the fuck racial justice is.

  Many BI&WoC have allowed white women+ to get away with this shit because they’ll offer us a seat at a table of power and privilege we hadn’t had access to before. But the price of admission is greater than any nourishment we believe we’ll receive. We too need to address the ways internalized oppression causes ourselves and each other harm; to prioritize our experiences, work, and wisdom; and to hold white folx to account when they try to co-opt the movement. Anything otherwise causes harm.

  #2—Hold Other White Folx Accountable

  There’s a difference between white women+ trying to be educators, which is a no-no, and holding other white folx accountable, which needs to be done immediately! When white women+ witness their people acting out of turn—friends, family, coworkers, strangers, elected officials, whomever—they should be calling those folx out. Racist, sexist, anti-Black, transphobic, or homophobic comments, oppressive actions, etc. need to be condemned and tangible consequences need to be established. Like losing a job, family member, or customer. White women+ need to make it clear that white supremacy will not be tolerated and take action to hold folx accountable when it does. And here’s the kicker: if you are doing your own internal work to face white supremacy, it makes speaking up against injustice easier, because there’s no other option. That is the work. You simply will not allow it any longer. It becomes unacceptable for you, and your integrity mandates you align your actions with your values and your impact over your intention and the intentions of others. A clear indicator that you are committed to racial justice is an inner circle free from all who are not. Read that again and take action as necessary.

  Guide any and all white folx to the Black and Indigenous educators they can learn from, and share what it is you personally learned from those educators and why you find racial justice imperative. Make it clear to all those in your midst what your values are, including those specific to racial justice, and engage in dialogue with those who need help understanding. I’ve shared guidance as to how to best do that in Chapter 14. Credit the Black and Indigenous women+ who’ve taught you, call in your people to do the work alongside you, and encourage other white folx to follow, support, nurture, learn from, and pay the Black and Indigenous women+ leading the way. Remember, your work is not to be a voice for those whose voices have been oppressed. Your work is to spend your privilege.

  #3—Spend Your Privilege

  One of the best ways white women+ can dismantle white supremacy is through leading by example. That starts by calling in your people to do their own work as per the above, but go further by giving up your power and getting out the way. Step down from roles to create space for Black and Indigenous women+. Mandate anti-racist hiring policies. Offer your gifts, talents, and services to BI&PoC, particularly queer and trans Black and Indigenous women and femmes, and other oppressed folx for free. Make introductions to support our access to power. Pay micro-reparations regularly. Continuously ask what you can give up, then make it happen. White folx will never be able to repay the debts owed to Black and Indigenous folx, but it is imperative that they try. Lead the way in not only acknowledging your privilege but actively giving it up.

  #4—Critically Examine White-Only Initiatives and Spaces

  I get a lot of questions from white women+ confused about when they need to act alone and when they need to call on BI&WoC for help. I appreciate this concern, because despite the fact that Black and Indigenous women+ can and must spearhead racial justice, we cannot be expected to bear the brunt of the labor. Black and Indigenous women+ will lead the way, but white women+ ought to do the majority of the work. Think of it like a choreographer and their dancers—queer and trans Black and Indigenous women+ are the masterminds, expending our high-level gifts and guidance to create the way forward and support the dancers (white folx!) in executing the precise routine of the master vision: equity for all.

  Generally, if all participants in an all-white initiative have engaged and are continuing to actively engage in racial justice work led by Black and Indigenous women+ and the intention of the gathering is to act primarily as support for one another in their unlearning, with a goal of always centering and prioritizing the well-being of BI&WoC, then, and only then, can it be acceptable to gather. If the intention is for the white-only group to act as a source of racial justice education, then it is a no. Unpacking and supporting one another through this work is education in and of itself, but not of the same type that ought to be left to Black and Indigenous racial justice educators.

  Even in the best of circumstances, it must be acknowledged that any all-white initiative addressing race is inherently problematic, as all issues and discussions will take place through the lens of white supremacy. There is no work-around for this fact. However, one way to help counter it is to bring in (and pay) a Black or Indigenous anti-racist educator to help check and moderate your white initiative and assist with your ongoing education. It is also imperative that any participant in such a group has taken not just one kind of education from one educator, but many. It is unacceptable to take one webinar or work through one workbook, then rush to an all-white space or start an all-white initiative. Many, if not all, of your queries can be addressed by simply doing more of your own work as led by and through Black and Indigenous women+.

  Lastly, it is always critical to ask: Why do I feel I need a white-only space or initiative? Get real and get honest. With yourself and others. As a queer Black woman, there is no space on Earth that is truly safe for me, so your ability to gather in such a way to work through and process your racism—the thing that has resulted in both my ancestors and present-day community being starved, raped, lynched, enslaved, and murdered—is a product of your white privilege. If you truly feel it is necessary, do it authentically, do it rarely, and know that a group of white folx gathering to discuss racism is rarely in and of itself anti-racist; rather it is supplemental support to one’s anti-racist efforts.

  If you are seeking to be in a white-only space solely in order to process your feelings about your racial justice work, then go for it. Because the BI&PoC in your life are not compost bins for white feelings. We’re exhausted from simply trying to survive.

  To recap on some of the dos and don’ts for white folx taking independent initiative to fight racial injustice…

  Some Dos for White Folx

  Take any and all initiatives to give up your power and privilege whenever and however possible and organize other white folx to do the same.

  Take it upon yourself to conceive solutions and take action that is: (a) rooted in the inner work you’ve learned from Black women+, and (b) centers queer and trans Black and Indigenous women+.

  Actively create ongoing and equitable opportunities for queer and trans Black and Indigenous women+ and call in your people to do the same (for example, hire us, share the mic, mandate equitable practices in your personal and professional life, etc.).

  Engage your fellow white folx in the work of learning from, financially investing in, and following queer and trans Black and Indigenous women+ educators.

  Hold white people accountable for their harmful actions or inactions and create consequences for those who refuse.

  Remain accountable to and led by queer and trans Black and Indigenous women+ educators/activists.

  Actively and continuously educate yourself by reading books, listening
to podcasts, taking racial justice courses, etc. led by queer and trans Black and Indigenous women+ racial justice educators and activists.

  Center the well-being of queer and trans Black and Indigenous women+ in ALL of your efforts and constantly ask yourself and your accountability partners if and how you are doing so.

  Amplify the work of those Black and Indigenous women+ you are learning from, always giving us credit for our work and specifically sharing what you’ve learned.

  Hold space to help fellow white folx move through the grief and other conflicting emotions that arise from undertaking racial justice.

  Stay in your lane and follow, follow, follow the lead of Black and Indigenous women+.

  Some Don’ts for White Folx

  Fancy yourself an anti-racism educator or leader in any way, shape, or form (and for the love of Blackness, stop writing anti-racism books and facilitating workshops).

  Profit from racial justice or anti-racism work in any way (and if by chance you do, redirect those funds immediately).

  Assume your one Black friend (or anyone other than a qualified Black or Indigenous racial justice educator/activist) to be an expert on race from whom you can learn about anti-racism.

  Hold space for white people to have pity parties or prioritize their own discomfort over the discomfort of (or straight up violence committed against) BI&WoC.

  Start an organization or nonprofit to help BI&WoC. (Instead, research BI&WoC-owned and -operated organizations already doing the work and fund/support them. You can even get a group of white folx together to raise funds.)

  Center white people’s education or well-being over the liberation and well-being of BI&WoC.

  Do not attempt to lead, do not attempt to lead, do not attempt to lead.

  * * *

  Authentic anti-racism is about prioritizing Black and Indigenous women+ and finding ways for all BI&PoC to access and maintain the power and privilege that we have been traditionally excluded from. It necessitates all of us, myself included, following and learning from the most marginalized—the old, poor, fat, non-English-speaking, disabled, immigrant, dark-skinned, queer and trans Black and Indigenous women+. It requires critically identifying and engaging with the Black and Indigenous educators and activists truly committed to ending all forms of oppression, while being conscientious not to solely follow and support the cis, straight, light-skinned, pretty, or polite educators who keep you in your comfort zone.

  Racial justice has been and will continue to be led by women+. What I’m telling you, without a shadow of a doubt, is that those women+ will not be white. I firmly believe change is coming. But it can only come if all women+ work every single day, inside and out, to dismantle white supremacy (not just come election time or when a video of Black murder goes viral); and we all must accept that queer and trans Black and Indigenous women+ educated in racial justice must lead the way.

  Spiritual Soulcare Offering/Call to Action

  Setting Your Racial Justice Values

  This is an exercise for you to both clarify and commit to personal racial justice values no matter your race or identity. These values will help guide you to discern when and how to take action toward ending white supremacy, day in and day out. To start, head back to the intention you set at the beginning of the book. Review it, meditate on it, and consider how it may have changed since you first began this journey into Spiritual Activism. Think about the values that lie underneath. You may notice underlying values like: connection, equity, love, integrity, authenticity, intersectionality, community, acceptance, etc. Grab a dictionary or thesaurus (or hop online) and find five to ten words that best sum up your values as they relate to combating white supremacy.

  When you feel good about the values and descriptions you’ve landed on, set a timer on your phone or watch for two minutes, then pick your top three to five values, crossing out all others before the timer goes off. (Tip: Start by crossing off your least important value and go from there. Also, you may find some words incorporate more than one value, so go with those.) When you’re done, write out your top three to five anti-oppressive values (and their definitions). Write out a short description to explain what each word means to you.

  If you need help, head to www.rachelricketts.com/vision-and-values and check out mine. Then put them up somewhere you will acknowledge them every day, like your desk, bathroom mirror, or fridge. Try them on for a week or two and update them as and when needed on an ongoing basis. Use these values to help inform how and when you show up to dismantle oppression. As you dive deeper in this work your values will change, as will you.

  Declaring Your Anti-Oppressive Goals

  Now that you have your anti-oppressive values, let’s put them to werrrrk! Pick three actionable goals to help dismantle white supremacy this month. Write them down. Be specific and set deadlines for each. Then pick three larger, more long-term goals to help dismantle oppression in the next six months. Put them somewhere you can affirm them every day, and hold yourself accountable (call in support to help you)!

  FOURTEEN

  Acting in Allyship

  The thing with activism is that it doesn’t build character, it reveals character.

  —JANAYA “FUTURE” KHAN

  The term “ally” has been a hot commodity as of late. Every cis white woman and her dog are jumping on the ally* train. There’s a lot of self-appointed aggrandizing going on and none if it is for the actual benefit of those most oppressed. So, what actually is an ally? How can we best act in allyship? And where are we getting allyship all wrong? Lemme tell ya.

  WHAT IS AN ALLY?

  An ally is a person who uses their privilege to advocate for someone who doesn’t hold that same privilege. Some argue being an ally shouldn’t be the goal at all but rather an accomplice or co-agitator. Someone who actively disrupts shit in order to create change. For my purposes, I’m going to lump those terms in with “ally,” because unless you’re doing all of those things, I don’t think you’re worthy of any damn term whatsoever. Contrary to the widely held (often white) belief, the term “ally” is not a noun. You cannot name yourself an ally. Ever. The term is one that can be granted to you by the specifically oppressed group with which you seek to act as an ally. Especially not when you’re doing so solely because you dislike a certain oppression. Disliking or disagreeing does not an ally make. Which is precisely why I argue that you can never actually be an ally but you can act in allyship. I cannot take off my Blackness. I am Black. But acting in allyship, or not, is a choice. One that is required to be made time and time again, day in and day out, for the rest of your days. White people can act in allyship with BI&PoC, men+ can act in allyship with women+, non-disabled folx can act in allyship with disabled folx, cis folx can act in allyship with trans folx, and so on. The moments of acting as an ally are defined by the choices, behaviors, actions, or inactions made. We all have allyship to undertake and we will all, at one point or another, fail to take it. One can never act in allyship 24/7, which is why one cannot be an ally. And then there are the ways we oversimplify the intersectionality our allyship demands. For example, maybe you are a hetero and non-disabled South Asian woman who decides to act in allyship with a Black woman but haven’t given much thought to the oppression faced by LGBTTQIA+ folx or disabled folx. In which case, you aren’t acting in allyship for all Black women+. Only those who are straight and non-disabled.

  When we acknowledge that allyship is an action, and one that requires commitment and constant tuning and retuning, we can get over this notion of it being a sense of who we are or element of our identity. It’s not. Nor does it need to be. As racial and gender justice disruptor Ericka Hart shares, “I think there is a higher drive to call yourself something more than taking actions to end the injustice(s)… I just take actions, speak up, disrupt, I don’t need a label.”1 Just do the damn work and get over yourself. Aight?

  EXAMPLES OF ACTING IN ALLYSHIP

  Because acting in allyship is so multifaceted and inhere
ntly intersectional, it is impossible to share an exhaustive list of ways we can best act in allyship. Still, there are some clear suggestions and starting places as they specifically pertain to acting in allyship with BI&WoC and, of course, queer and trans Black and Indigenous women+ in particular. As Black Indigenous activist Kénta Xiadani Ch’umil shares, acting in allyship comes in micro forms (like donating or calling out racist behaviors) and macro forms (like withdrawing from a job and mandating your replacement be a Black or Indigenous women+ or using your privilege to help defund the police).2 Ideally you partake in them all (not necessarily all at once). I always find the best place to start is with real-world examples, so I have shared some of the ways people in my life have shown up and acted in allyship with me as a Black woman. These include:

  A white client checking her racist white colleague when the colleague interrupted our conversation to reject my claim regarding cultural appropriation.

  White friends dropping dinner off for me after multiple violent murders of Black folx.