Whether you live in the US or not, I imagine you have been actively following the news on what is currently unfolding in the US. Today’s post primarily addresses these events – but if you’re international or work with any American clients and you’re white/white-passing, this is also for you. Because so much of the developed world suffers from the plague of racism in different ways.
If you are a WOC in this community, I want to apologize for all the ways us white/white-passing folx sat in our privilege and didn’t answer the call.
We let you down. We are deeply sorry.
I want to personally apologize for assuming my monthly donations, watching 13th and occasionally offering a scholarship for WOC was good enough. On some level, I was probably just trying to let myself feel like I did my part. And yet, there is so much more to do. And I will do my best to do more and to get better because this is an active and ongoing journey of dismantling a system that is rotten from the core.
I want to apologize for sometimes assuming that this was not my responsibility because I’m Arab (but white-passing) and because I didn’t grow up in the US, can’t vote and didn’t consume American history books. I run a business in the US. I serve American clients and I consume American products. I cannot pretend this does not involve me.
I have spent most of the weekend reflecting on the most effective way to better myself and rally white-passing folx in the vision (and fight) for more love and more justice in the US and the world.
The reason I do this embodiment work is because this is my form of activism.
Anyone in the personal transformation space simply SHOULD NOT stay still or silent on this matter.
Activism is about being active.
Being an active creatrix of change. Of social impact… which is what we do in the personal development space.
Actively shift shit.
Sit with our discomfort.
Notice the deeply ingrained subconscious beliefs we don’t realize we have.
(Some of you may not know this, but growing up in the Middle East, I was very deeply immersed in activism. I led a student anti-sectarian movement, was part of an anti-Zionist movement called FIST, ran Jane Goodall’s Beirut Chapter of Roots & Shoots – an environmental club, and got in lots of trouble in my teens for painting and wearing a shirt that said Love is Gender-Blind over a rainbow.)
So it is literally impossible for me to do the work I do today and not bring in the part of me passionate for change.
And I believe embodied humans are the leaders of the future – because we are able to drop into our hearts and our bellies to feel the truth and to alchemize our rage into fierce fire-y energy that shifts the state of things.
The ugly truth is that all of us white/white-passing folx are benefitting from a system and a society that sits on the foundation of racism and colonialism.
“In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist.” – Angela Davis.
This is the difference between being passively privileged and actively using our voice.
Protesting, petitioning, changing our consumer habits, reading books & watching shows we would never watch, researching around election-time, donating when you don’t have the money… none of these things are convenient. But when your friend calls you in trouble and in need of your help… it doesn’t matter what is going on for you, you will drop what it is and go help them.
This is the state America is in.
We must drop some previously-scheduled stuff to handle something more urgent.
Our brothers and sisters are suffering. And we have been passive for WAY TOO long.
Our monthly donations are not enough. Reading a book here or there. Not enough. Educating yourself but then not translating into some action. Not enough.
If white/white-passing folx are truly a stand for love, we have to do more.
“In America, there are not two kinds of people, racists and non-racists. There are three kinds of people: those poisoned by racism and actively choosing to spread it; those poisoned by racism and actively trying to detox it; and those poisoned by racism who deny its very existence inside them.” – Glennon Doyle.
Here are some resources I’ve found to be helpful in educating myself and I wanted to share:
1) If you want to take a course: I’m starting this course by Brig Feltus soon. If you are a white-passing healer or coach, this is for you.
2) If you want to listen: Rachel Cargle is awesome. Follow her on IG. She also curated an awesome revolution playlist on spotify of different POC speeches.
3) If you are a white coach & want to take an intro workshop: Trudi LeBron just ran a workshop for coaches that you can purchase the replay of here.
4) Layla Saad has a book you can purchase on PDF called Me and White Supremacy.
5) Here is a great comprehensive list of action steps (from 2017 but still relevant). Just reading through it educated me.
6) In addition to supporting the work of POC through donations and/or purchasing their offerings above, here is a list of organizations you can donate to.
Obviously, there is a lot more… but this is a start.
A reminder that this is not a sprint but rather a marathon. The most effective thing we can do is slowly but steadily get better at being allies. We each will do it our own way. That’s ok. But I beg you to take some time to find your unique way of fighting for love. Fighting for justice. Fighting for the dismantling of a system that is rotten at its core.
Can we make this promise to ourselves? If so, press reply and let me know what small first step you plan to take. Let’s inspire each other into action.
And lastly, I want to leave you with a visual that I came across this week that gave me hope… a line of white woman using their privilege to be love warriors, to protect black protestors on Thursday in Louisville, Kentucky. Now that’s how we ally…
