Navigating White Fragility and Unproductive Anger

Austin Channing Brown is a writer, speaker, and practitioner who helps schools, nonprofits, and religious organizations practice genuine inclusion. She is passionate about the advancement of racial justice and reconciliation and her words will most certainly move you to action. In her work, she shares her experiences as a black woman who “navigates whiteness on a regular basis”. After listening to this interview and reading her book, your mind and heart will be broadened towards understanding and inclusion – regardless of where you are on that spectrum today. 

We’re re-releasing this episode because as we’re in the midst of a crisis point of racial injustice here in the United States, Austin Channing Brown is a leading voice on racial justice and her wisdom and perspective can benefit us all. 

We hope you’ll take some time to pause, listen to what she has to say, and consider the ways in which you might take some action to further healing and justice at whatever scope and scale you are able. 

To that end, we’ve created a small resource guide to point you in a few directions that we think might be helpful as you look to further educate yourself on what action steps to take. 

Donate to or get involved with:

Southern Poverty Law Center- The Southern Poverty Law Center is dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society. Using litigation, education, and other forms of advocacy, the SPLC works toward the day when the ideals of equal justice and equal opportunity will be a reality. https://www.splcenter.org

NAACP Legal Defense Fund- –https://www.naacpldf.org/–  The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. is America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Through litigation, advocacy, and public education, LDF seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans. 

Campaign Zero- https://www.joincampaignzero.org/– Funds donated to Campaign Zero support the analysis of policing practices across the country, research to identify effective solutions to end police violence, technical assistance to organizers leading police accountability campaigns and the development of model legislation and advocacy to end police violence nationwide.

Ideas of other ways to get involved:

Sign the petition for George Floyd- Yes millions have signed and so can you.

75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice

So many of the changes we need to see regarding police brutality have to happen at the local level. That is good news because it’s easier to get involved and have moe impact. This page has Campaign Zero’s list of issues by city and state:

There are so many books out there but here are some books that come highly recommended:

“White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism” by Robin DiAngelo

“How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi

“Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do” by Jennifer L. Eberhardt 

“Raising White Kids” by Jennifer Harvey 

“So You Want to Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo 

“The Black and the Blue: A Cop Reveals the Crimes, Racism, and Injustice in America’s Law Enforcement” by Matthew Horace and Ron Harris 

“The Fire Next Time” by James Baldwin

“Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race” by Reni Eddo-Lodge

“They Can’t Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, And A New Era In America’s Racial Justice Movement” by Wesley Lowery

“The Third Reconstruction: How a Moral Movement Is Overcoming the Politics of Division and Fear” by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and William Barber II

“Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates

“Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You” by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

“The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander

In This Interview, Austin Channing Brown and I Discuss Racial Justice and…

• Her book, I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in A World Made for Whiteness
• The importance and value of anger
• How we can fight the monsters without becoming the monsters
• That anger reveals something is wrong
• White fragility – sadness and anger
• Naming the things that can come in the way of a discussion, before the discussion happens
• Realising racial bias
• Transformation comes after a moment of realization
• The idea of “whiteness being normal”
• Books to read to gain an understanding of racial injustice
• Disunity in Christ
• Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race
• How to look for opportunities to talk with others about topics of racial injustice
• Check out “Be the Bridge”
• The white confessional being a shortcut to true reconciliation
• Skipping the confessional story and moving straight to the action step you’ll take next
• What reconciliation means to her
• Racial justice and reconciliation
• Radical Reconciliation
• How reconciliation should revolutionize the relationships we have with each other
• The celebration of blackness that is throughout the book
• Cultural misappropriation

Austin Channing Brown Links

austinchanning.com

Facebook

Twitter

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