AUTHOR OF FROM THOUGHT TO ACTION: DEVELOPING A SOCIAL JUSTICE ORIENTATION - AMY ALDRIDGE SANFORD, PHD PRONOUNS: SHE/HER/HERS - AAUW CORPUS CHRISTI

Amy Aldridge Sanford, PhD    pronouns: she/her/hers

Author of From Thought to Action:
Developing a Social Justice Orientation
                                                      Photo by Debbie Noble

Some Guiding Thoughts for Today’s Talk
• #BlackLivesMatter is mentioned throughout FTTA.
   • People are undereducated about BLM history, goals, and tactics.
   • Why am I presenting? Racism is a white problem.
• Some of the things you hear today may make you uncomfortable.
   •   Welcome the discomfort. It’s an opportunity to learn and grow.
   •   Resist the urges to fight or flight.
   •   Reflect. I’ll make the Power Point available.
   •   Specific actions at the end of the talk.
• Safe space to ask questions.
   • If there is a question you’ve always wanted to ask, here’s your chance.
   • Put your questions in the chat; I’ll pause for them as appropriate.
• I’m likely to get pretty passionate.
   • I feel strongly about Black lives.

History of
  #BlackLivesMatter

• July 2013 – George Zimmerman is
  acquitted of 2012 murder of Trayvon
  Martin in Sanford, FL.
   • Alicia Garza wrote an emotional FB post
     and the hashtag started.
   • Co-founders Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and
     Opal Tometi.
• August 2014 – Officer Darren Wilson
  shoots Mike Brown in Ferguson, MO.
   • People from all over the U.S. gather in
     Ferguson.
                                                Photo by Debbie Noble

History of
#BlackLivesMatter
• May 2018 – Hashtag used 30 million
  times on Twitter.
   • “Social media allows Black people to
     be the storytellers.” ~ Patrisse
     Cullors
• 2020 – Ahmaud Arbery, George
  Floyd, Breonna Taylor, etc.
   • COVID, staying at home, podcasts.
   • BLM Plaza in Washington, D.C. &
     John Lewis.

Goals of #BlackLivesMatter
                       website: blacklivesmatter.com

• Mission: “Eradicate white supremacy and build local power to
  intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and
  vigilantes.”
   • We are expansive. We are a collective of liberators who believe in an inclusive
     and spacious movement.
   • We affirm the lives of Black queer and trans folks, disabled folks,
     undocumented folks, folks with records, women, and all Black lives along the
     gender spectrum and center the leadership of women and queer and trans
     people.
   • We are working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically
     targeted for demise.
   • We affirm our humanity, our contributions to this society, and our resilience in
     the face of deadly oppression.

What is Systemic Racism?
AKA Structural; Institutional

• Backlash after Civil War and Reconstruction.
   • White Citizen Councils and the Jim Crow Era.
       • Ordinances, lynching, poll taxes, caricatures, Confederate hero worship.
   • Today, there are currently 1,800 Confederate symbols on public land.
• Law Enforcement and the Judicial System.
   • History of policing – slave patrols, enforcers of Jim Crow, union busters.
   • 13th Amendment and convict leasing.
   • Today, Black people are 4x more likely to have force used on them by law enforcement.
• Black Americans have less generational wealth.
   • One reason is lack of home ownership – Housing and the GI Bill.
   • Today, 74% of White families and only 44% of Black families own their homes.

Activist Tactics of #BLM
• Rallies, Protests & Marches.
    • Use of Social Media, Speeches, Performance Art.
• Courts & Legislation.
    • The BREATHE Act co-sponsored by Reps. Pressley & Tlaib.
• Rioting & Looting.
    • Infiltrating to disrupt, distract, and disparage.
    • “A riot is the language of the unheard.” ~ MLK
        • Black lives are more important than buildings and
          products.
        • Some “looted” companies are in support.
    • Historical examples.
        • Abolition – John Brown.
        • Temperance – Carrie Nation.
        • Women’s Suffrage – Emmeline Pankurst, Alice Paul.

How to be a Good #BLM Ally

• Reflect.
   • Think about your own racism and
     privileges.
       • Journal it.
   • Admit that you are part of the problem.
   • Implicit Bias test
     https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

How to be a Good #BLM Ally
• Educate.
   • Read (Start a Book Club?) -
       • When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by
         Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandale.
       • On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope by DeRay
         Mckesson.
       • The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government
         Segregated America by Richard Rothstein.
   • Watch –
       • Stranger Fruit directed by Jason Pollock.
       • 13th directed by Ava DeVernay.
   • Learn more about The BREATHE Act.
   • Build authentic relationships with Black folx.
       • Watch and listen.
       • Practice HUMILITY.

How to be a Good
   #BLM Ally
• Action.
   • Financially support Black businesses and
     movements.
   • Write letters to members of the legislature and
     newspapers.
   • Wear t-shirts, post a sign, add a bumper sticker.
   • Post on social media and talk to your friends,
     especially about the extremely hurtful “All Lives
     Matter.”
   • Attend events where you are a minority.
       • BLM Rally in Corpus Christi, NAACP Banquet,
         Juneteenth.