Reading Racism — 4 Stories That Inspired Me
By: Sharon Hurley Hall
Tags: Reading Rhombus, Diversity, Equality, BlackLivesMatter, Racism

Racism

Reading Racism — 4 Stories That Inspired Me

Besides living it, the best education for writing about racism is reading others’ experiences

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

June was the month I stopped being the quiet Black woman and started writing more about racism. Because of that, it was also the month I started reading more about racism.

Though I’ve been known to watch videos and listen to podcasts (and I even co-host a podcast), words are my favorite way to get information. Besides writing regularly, the other thing that makes a good writer is reading, so I set out to hear from different people about their perspectives on racism, equity, Black Lives Matter, and more.

To Ally or Not to Ally? That is the Question

One piece that really struck me examined the whole notion of allyship in regards to racism. It’s called There Is No Such Thing as a ‘White Ally’ by Catherine Pugh Esq.

This hard-hitting article makes several great points, but the core of it is this: Black people didn’t create racism, so why is it up to us to fix it?

I must admit that made me think, and I’ve been sharing the article everywhere, with similar impact on those who have read it.

I’m not saying white people shouldn’t be allies but I think asking Black people to do the heavy lifting of dismantling a system we didn’t create is disingenuous at best.

There are follow up pieces in this series, which I also recommend.

It’s Not Easy Being Black in the Ivory

Wherever you find white people and those they other, you find racism. Academia is no exception. I worked as a journalism professor in the UK for five years, and though my department was one of the good ones, I also experienced racism.

Talking to friends and colleagues working in departments around the world, they face the same issues today. I’ve been checking in on the #BlackintheIvory Twitter hashtag for more stories of excessive emotional labor, missed promotions, gaslighting and outright racism.

That’s why this piece: For Colored Girls in Academia Who Have Burned Out / When Rest Is Enough by Jasmine Abukar appealed to me. Plus the title is a riff on a well-known poem/play/film title. Google it and read it, if you haven’t already.

Jasmine Abukar outlines the work that Black women in academia do for fear it won’t get done if they don’t, but urges true self-care. Beyond bath bombs, it means knowing when it’s time to rest, before taking up the battle again.

Examining the System of Racism

Of course, Black people aren’t the only ones taking up the anti-racism banner. This piece from Tim Wise titled 20 Questions for Those Who Deny Systemic Racism leads readers to identify their own complicity in the system of racism.

I enjoyed the step by step approach, and the resulting insights. It would be hard not to learn something from this.

Anti-Racism Abroad — An Insightful Guide

I grew up in the Caribbean, and in Barbados, we still have work to do on examining the legacy of enslavement. This extended resource called Becoming Anti-Racist in Barbados: Q&A is a super long read (Medium puts it at 44 minutes at the time of writing) but totally worth it.

If you want to understand the Black experience in Barbados and the Caribbean, the shared history between US Southern states and the Caribbean, and the way whiteness is still seen as the norm against which all others are judged, then this is one for you to check out.

This roundup only scratches the surface, but they are the most useful resources I’ve found recently. I find myself sharing and quoting them often, and they’ve contributed to my own learning which is a great thing for any writer.