Protests over police brutality being met by police brutality. A global pandemic. Coming to terms with the fact that not being racist is not enough–we need to be anti-racist. All of these things can lead to a lot of discomfort. In this episode, Shannon and Janine discuss balancing the discomfort with the need to take action and the need to take care of ourselves.
Discussion topics include:
- The difficulty of knowing how to respond to the greater events of the world
- How our perceptions of racist behavior are shifting
- That it’s not enough to not be racist; we need to be anti-racist
- The discomfort of talking about this stuff
- Figuring out how we can make a difference
- Our desire to encourage people to look at things from a different perspective
- Using kindness when speaking up
- The language Shannon used on social media when she spoke up about a (perhaps inadvertently) racist comment
- How hard it is to know what the right thing to do is
- Self care during this difficult time
- Keeping up with events without letting it take over your day
- Productive discomfort vs debilitating pain
- Finding the balance of taking care of emotions while still taking action
- Getting conscious of where your discomfort is and pushing against those boundaries a bit
- Extending grace to others
One of the moments in my life that I really regret is back 7 years ago in 2013. I was going out with a man for the 6th date. Evidently he felt comfortable enough with me to use a derogatory word about Black people. That was the last time we went out. What I regret most is that I didn’t say anything at the time. However, I was alone in his house with him, and he was ex-military. I felt physically intimidated by him even though he wasn’t doing anything overt. I just didn’t want to take the chance on calling him out on his racism. But I still regret not saying anything.