This post was written by Heidy George, Program Associate for Student Diversity and Inclusion.  

“No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.”

-Marsha P. Johnson

June is PRIDE season. A month where we celebrate all things gay with loud parades, gender bending drag shows, thumping music, rainbows, and glitter. So much glitter. This year is particularly special, as it is the 50th anniversary of the very first PRIDE parade held in the 51 blocks of Central Park in New York. This milestone made me reflect on how our community has gotten here. New York, however, as well as many other cities look different this year...

It is PRIDE season, where amidst the celebration - most non-Black, mostly cis, LGBTQ+ folk forget that Black and Brown trans and queer people carved this month out with their bodies.  Black and Brown trans women (especially) led the struggle and the riots that started the revolution which gave us the rights we enjoy today. These riots, coupled with those bloodied and bruised bodies, were the catalysts for what we now know as PRIDE.

It is PRIDE season, during an utterly unforgiving global pandemic. And if I didn’t understand how systemic racism actually works, I would certainly call Corona a racist. 

It is PRIDE season, as our world protests white supremacist and  government sanctioned police violence that forced countless Black, Indigenous and Brown families to bury their children. 

It is PRIDE season, but right now, I can’t celebrate.

It is PRIDE season, and I honestly don’t know how any of my Black siblings still have any fight left in them.

It is PRIDE season, yet Nina Pop, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, Korryn Gains, Atatiana Jefferson, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, Aiyana Jones, Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Walter Scott and countless others are no longer with us.

So I ask, how many names do we have to see before we do something?

We need to do better.

If you ain’t Black, YOU need to do better. Full stop.

If you ain’t Black but you’re LGBTQ+, YOU need to do better. You don’t get a pass for being LGBTQ+. Period. 

So, what are you going to do? 

Are you going to prioritize Black and Brown voices?

Are you going to take the time to learn Black Africana history and Black Africana contributions?

Are you going to celebrate instead of appropriate Black culture?

Are you going to listen?

Are you going to donate?

Are you going to protest?

Are you going to organize?

What are YOU going to do?

If you're willing to do any of this, look for some roadmaps to guide you by visiting our page, our IG, the Women's Center, and the Office of Equity and Inclusion to get started.

Happy PRIDE everyone.

UMBC Counseling Center

Statement and Resources Regarding Racism and Systemic Oppression in Black Communities 

In light of recent events and in support of the recent statement by the University System of Maryland chancellor and presidents, the Counseling Center continues to take an unequivocal position against racism. Not only do we denounce the extrajudicial murders of Black people, with the recent tragic killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor,  George Floyd, and Tony McDade, but we are also tormented by the daily acts of aggression and weaponizing of majority power that lead to other experiences of racial trauma, most recently seen in the case of Christian Cooper. We continue to show solidarity for Black and Queer/Trans POC (QTPOC) faculty, students, staff, and communities. More personally, as a diverse staff serving students at one of the most diverse institutions on the East Coast, we grieve for the experience of our colleagues who hold these identities.  

As mental health providers, we acknowledge the negative mental health consequences of racism, as well as the detrimental impact of direct or vicarious experiences of race-based trauma. In the aftermath of these traumas, it is normal to experience a range of emotions, such as sadness, anger, shock, fear, helplessness, guilt, or anxiety. In the midst of these extremely trying times, we want to remind you that the Counseling Center staff are here for you, and are committed to providing affirming care to all students who are needing psychological support. If you, or someone you know, would like help coping with and healing from recent events, we encourage you to contact our office at 410-455-2472. 

It’s not lost on us that a little over two months ago we were writing a very similarstatement condemning xenophobia and racism being perpetrated on Asian American communities in the wake of Covid-19. We can’t help but acknowledge that with each new dehumanizing event that requires one of these statements can come the feeling like such measures aren’t enough or ring hollow. However, we implore you to not only see this as a message of support, but as a resource for action, healing, and growth. Below you will find a non-exhaustive list of resources on addressing systemic racism and anti-racism, resources for Black communities on coping with racial trauma, and resources for ways we can all get involved. Let’s all commit to finding our pathway towards bringing change and healing to our communities and our world.

Please continue to follow or check in with the Counseling Center via our website, myUMBC group, and social media platforms (@UMBCCounseling on Instagram and Facebook) for updates on our services and programming. 

Resources from UMBC Campus Partners:

• Campus Life’s (CL) Mosaic, Interfaith, and Pride Centers

• The Women’s Center

Resources Addressing Systemic Racism:  

• “We are living in a racism pandemic says APA president” 

• “A Timeline of Events that Led to the 2020 ‘Fed Up’-rising” 

• “3 Things Amy Cooper Did in Central Park to Damage Her Reputation and Career”

• George Floyd and the Dominos of Racial Injustice Video by Trevor Noah

Resources for Coping with Racial Trauma:

• Coping with Racism

• Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture: Racial Trauma Toolkit  

• Radical Healing Collective

• www.callblackline.com 

• www.thebipocproject.org

• BLM Meditation for Healing Racial Trauma by Dr. Candice Nicole

• www.liberatemeditation.com

• Books on Microaggressions and Traumatic Stress by Kevin Nadal

• The Racial Healing Handbookby Anneliese A. Singh

Resources Addressing Anti-Racism:

Videos on Anti-racism

• Anti-Racism Practices & the PandemicTim Wise 

• Anti-Racism EducatorJane Elliott  

• Deconstructing White Privilege with Dr. Robin DiAngelo 

• America is a Tale of Two Cities Chris Cuomo

*Books on Anti-racism

• How to be an antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi   

• Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson 

• White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo 

•  I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown

Ways to Get Involved

• “75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice” 

• 26 Ways to be in The Struggle Beyond The Streets

• Information re: Financial Support & Donations

• Sign a Petition

• Register to Vote

• Showing Up for Racial Justice

• Color of Change

This post is written by Amelia Meman, ’15, Assistant Director in the Women’s Center.

I am trying to write this as plainly as I can because there are so many other words that are crowding racial justice spaces and many of them are stemming from the folks who could benefit from saying less in order to listen more.

Foreword: It is valid to feel and process through your pain, but the pain felt by our Black friends, family members, and community is not the same as the pain of white folks and non-Black people of color (POC). Feelings of anger, sadness, betrayal, frustration, exhaustion—all of those things make sense because we are in a time of massive unrest (and a pandemic to boot).

More importantly, it should not be Black people’s jobs to take care of and see to your pain right now. It is also not Black folks’s jobs to hold space for you to learn, to educate you, and to explain themselves.

That’s why I’m writing this. Because the burden we are placing on Black folks in all a manner of places right now, needs to be lifted. It is crucial that we center Black voices and words and prioritize creating and maintaining safe spaces for Black-identified people to feel.

Ally is a verb.

• Being an “ally” is not a moniker that one earns through good intentions, donations, or rallies attended. You will never erase your white privilege, and just so, you will always have to work hard if you want to be an ally to the Black community.
• Being an ally is a process-oriented way of being. It means being conscious of privilege and committed to learning more about social justice. It means that allyship comes from your actions and not from endpoints. In other words, allies are made by doing—not by showing. It is a title you are always earning and always striving to do better at.
• Learn how to take feedback and correction. This work is messy and difficult. “Wokeness” does not come automatically (or ever, but that’s a different blogpost). If someone is calling you in or calling you out, especially if that person is Black-identified, listen and course-correct as needed. There’s no shame in changing your mind or letting people know you made a mistake. Feedback, the good critical kind, stems from a place of trust and care. Trust that you will do better. Care for you. Feedback takes work on both sides, and if someone is offering it to you, see it as a gift.

Graphic from the Seerut K. Chawla’s Instagram.

Graphic from the Seerut K. Chawla’s Instagram.

Check in with your people.

• If you are white-identified, check in with other white people to see where they’re at. Hold space for them to be messy and for them to be uncomfortable. Use your privilege to be tolerant of others who are at different stages of racial consciousness. Yeah, it might feel better to unfriend your middle school friend who “does not understand why you’re supporting riots,” but frankly, this is not about your own sense of comfort and curated content. This is the time to dig in your heels, put on the armor afforded by your privilege, and either defend Black folks or help that person understand why they should care about racial justice.
• If you are white-identified, check in with the POC in your lives, especially Black-identified people, and ask how you can support them. That might mean doing absolutely nothing. It might mean being okay with silence coming from the other end. It might mean donating money, giving rides, helping provide PPE for folks in marches, etc. Please offer your support and send your love, because people are hurting right now.
• If you are a non-Black POC, check in with Black-identified folks and help to create, maintain, and safeguard Black-centering spaces. Help to uplift Black voices. Ask how you can support, and, again, be okay with silence on the other end.
• As you reach out and check in, leave space for all of the ways of being. When a bad thing happens in someone’s life, we often default to problem solving and/or wanting to get someone to smile. I get it. It’s hard to watch and empathize with people who are pained. Right now, though, we do not need the reminder of silver linings, rainbows, or bright sides. Toxic positivity does not make us feel better—it does the opposite and perpetuates this idea that the only good way to be is happy. Here’s the thing: the only good way to be is how you are.

Educate yourself.

• It is not the duty of Black folks to explain themselves or this moment to you.
• Recognize that privilege and white supremacy are not just evidenced by the words we use. It is also about behavior, patterns of behavior, and the social value we give to some but not others. For example, if you are at a rally, pay attention to who grabs the microphone and what they have to say. Pay attention to the space white folks and non-Black folks take up whether through their speech or their behavior. Pay attention when a white woman’s tears are met with empathy or care, and when a Black woman’s raised voice and anger are met with eye rolls or pushback (for being “aggressive,” or “too much”). White people have access to so much more social value and acceptable behavior—pay attention to how that can dominate spaces.
• The resources to understand white privilege and the role you can play in anti-racist work are available in many different places. Below there are a list of resources that you can search through.
• Also! You do not need to know everything in order to do this work! Quality, not quantity! Frankly, the best thing you can learn to do is reorient your yourself so that you are open to feedback, open to learning more and/or changing your mind, and not having easy answers (see more on practicing cultural humility). Those paradigms do not come naturally to most people. We are acculturated to feel shame in not knowing and to hold fast to deeply entrenched beliefs, and so this work is difficult.
• There are many ways to support Black lives and do anti-racist work. It’s not always about being in the streets. It’s sometimes about taking the time to have hard conversations with friends and family who are not totally getting it yet. It might be in taking the time to read a book. It might be in journaling and reflecting on how power and privilege come to play in your life. Just like any movement or group effort, it takes as much work as it does rest and reflection.

Are your social media posts effective in creating change? Or are they performative?

• Social media messaging comes easily. It also means little to nothing beyond helping people see that you “care” about a cause. If you want to join in on hashtags and/or social media campaigns, that’s fine, but that should only be auxiliary to all of the work you can do to support Black lives. Those things include all of the recommendations in this blogpost and put more succinctly:
  • Donating
  • Reading
  • Listening
  • Contacting government officials and those in elected office
• Always. Be. Critically. Engaged. It can be tempting to retweet, repost, share messaging from others’ making powerful statements—BUT when you’re jumping into the trend, look at the “why” and the “who” of what is being posted.
  • Quick killjoy jab: corporations do not care about Black lives right now. They care about where you would like to put your money. Just like with human activists, look at what companies DO and NOT what they SAY.
  • For a case study on this, see the origins of #BlackoutTuesday and how far it strayed from the initial campaign by Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang, two black women working in the music industry.
• Ask yourself why you are posting anything at all:
  • What purpose is this message serving?
  • Who is this message serving?
  • Who is the audience?

Graphic from the @take.back.theinternet.

Graphic from the @take.back.theinternet.

Solidarity is the way.

Quick preface: If you’re reading this blog, you have probably gotten to a place of understanding with the difference between “Black Lives Matter” and “All Lives Matter.” The idea of Black lives mattering does not negate others’ importance. Rather it shines a light on the discrepancy between how certain lives are valued more than others.

• The only way through is together. This is not a feel-good statement—it is a hard truth. My survival is tied to yours and we can only do the radical work of anti-racism by understanding that solidarity is key. This means allying with causes and movements that do not necessarily center your own social identities.
• Deepa Iyer writes about the difference between transactional and transformational solidarity practices. She uses the case study of attending a rally: in transactional solidarity, one would attend a Black Lives Matter rally in support and return home to post pictures from the rally on my social media profiles. In transformational solidarity practice, one brings friends to the rally, learns more about the historical roots of the cause you’re supporting, engages in deep and meaningful dialogue, and shows up to more rallies on and on.
  • Transformational solidarity practice stretches the activist and the movement in beneficial ways. The actions taken in this practice have the potential to create meaningful change.

I know that was a lot. If you’ve read to the end here, then you might be feeling many different things. Offended, confused, validated, relieved, upset, guilty–and that’s okay. This is the time and the space for sorting through the discomfort of anti-racist work.

Please know that I write this with as much love (albeit tough) as I can muster. I believe in you.

Quotation from Lilla Watson, Aboriginal Australian visual artist and activist.

Thank you to the Mosaic Center for curating many parts of the following Resources list in their recent posting on myUMBC. As UMBC’s leaders in helping our communities embrace and affirm diversity and inclusion, the Mosaic Center is more important than ever. The Women’s Center is, as ever, in close partnership and solidarity with the Mosaic, and we will always commit to that. Thank you, Mosaic Team, for all you do to make the UMBC community and our world a better place.

Resources*

* There are a lot of resources below. A lot. This work is not being timed. There is no deadline. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Many folks feel an urgency to read! All! The! Things! And yes, this work is urgent but also must be sustainable. Take breaks. Breathe. Set SMART goals when it comes to reading, learning, and digesting so as not to burn yourself out. 

Books:

• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis
• How to be An Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
• They Can’t Kill Us All : Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America’s Racial Justice Movement by Wesley Lowry
• The Good Immigrant: 21 Writers Explore What It Means to be Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic in Britain Today by Nikesh Shukla
• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• Your Silence Will Not Protect You by Audre Lorde 
• When They Call You A Terrorist by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Asha Bandele
• Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Tatum
• White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
  • BONUS: The Opt-In Podcast: Interview with Robin DiAngelo
  • BONUS: White Fragility and the Rules of Engagement (PDF) by Robin DiAngelo
  • BONUS + CAVEAT: What’s Missing from White Fragility by Lauren Michele Jackson
• The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
• The Fire This Time edited by Jesmyn Ward
• Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
• Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
• Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
• Road Map for Revolutionaries by Elisa Camahort Page, Carolyn Gerin, and Jamia Wilson
• Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins
• Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper
• The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century by Grace Lee Boggs
• This Bridge Called My Back edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa 
• A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
• Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks

Readings:

Podcasts:

• 1619 (New York Times)
• About Race
• Code Switch (NPR)
• Intersectionality Matters! hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw
• Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast
• Pod For The Cause (from The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights)
• Pod Save the People (Crooked Media)
• Seeing White

Collections:

Resources for white parents to raise anti-racist children:

• Books
  • Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins by Carole Boston Weatherford
  • Many Thousand Gone: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom by Virginia Hamilton
  • One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
  • LIST: Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners: books for children and young adults
  • LIST: 31 Children’s books to support conversations on race, racism and resistance
• Podcasts
  • Parenting Forward podcast episode ‘Five Pandemic Parenting Lessons with Cindy Wang Brandt’
  • Fare of the Free Child podcast
  • Integrated Schools podcast episode “Raising White Kids with Jennifer Harvey”
• Videos
  • PBS’s Teaching Your Child About Black History Month
  • Your Kids Aren’t Too Young to Talk About Race: Resource Roundup from Pretty Good
• Follow
  • The Conscious Kid: follow them on Instagram and consider signing up for their Patreon

UMBC Organizations:

• UMBC Campus Life’s Mosaic, Interfaith, & Pride Centers
• UMBC Black Lives Matter
• UMBC Black Student Union (BSU)
• UMBC African Student Association (ASA)
• UMBC Caribbean Student Council (CSC)
• UMBC Ethiopian Eritrean Student Association (EESA)
• UMBC Curl PWR
• UMBC Queer and Trans People of Color (QTPOC)
• UMBC Black Faculty and Staff Association (BFSA)
• UMBC Chapter of Black & Latino Alumni (CBLA)

More Organizations:

• Talking About Race – National Museum of African American History & Culture
• National Urban League
• The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
• Race Forward
• Showing Up for Racial Justice – List of Black-led Organizations
• GLAAD &Together

In support of the University System of Maryland chancellor and presidents' statement, the UMBC Counseling Center continues to stand against racism and denounces the murders of Black people with the most recent tragic killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Tony McDade. We stand with Black folx and communities as the COVID-19 pandemic and recent acts of state violence continue to highlight the health disparities and the traumatization of marginalized communities (see Counseling Center Statement).

Below is a non-exhaustive list of resources on systemic racism history, antiracism resources, resources for Black communities, and resources for parents raising antiracist children. If you want your voice to be heard and considering one’s circumstances, call your elected representative, vote, donate time or money. 

Systemic Racism Resources:

·         "We are living in a racism pandemic says APA president"

·         "A Timeline of Events that Led to the 2020 ‘Fed Up’-rising"

·         "3 Things Amy Cooper Did in Central Park to Damage Her Reputation and Career"

Antiracism Resources:

·         "75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice"

·         "26 Ways to be in The Struggle Beyond The Streets"

Videos on Antiracism: 

·         Anti-Racism Practices & the Pandemic Tim Wise

·         Anti-Racism Educator Jane Elliott

·         Deconstructing White Privilege with Dr. Robin DiAngelo

·         COVID-19 Trevor Noah

·         America is a Tale of Two Cities Chris Cuomo

Books on Antiracism:

·         How to be an antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi 

·         Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

·         White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo

Resources for Black Communities:

·         Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture: Racial Trauma Toolkit

·         NAMI African American Mental Health

·         Black Lives Matter: Healing Action Toolkit

·         Coping with Racism

·         Radical Healing Collective

Resources for Queer People of Color

·         Standing Together Coming Out for Racial Justice: An Anti-Racist Organizational Developmental Toolkit for LGBT Equality Groups and Activist

·         Human Rights Campaign: Explore Communities of Color

·         UC Santa Cruz: Queer & Trans Black, Indigenous, People of Color Resources

Resources for Parents:

Articles:

·         "Countering COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Stigma and Racism: Tips for Parents and Caregivers"

·         "PBS’s Teaching Your Child About Black History Month"

Books:   

·         Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners: books for children and young adults

Podcasts:  

·         Parenting Forward podcast episode ‘Five Pandemic Parenting Lessons with Cindy Wang Brandt’

·          Fare of the Free Child podcast

Social Media:

·         The Conscious Kid: follow them on Instagram

*resources list adapted from University of Illinois Chicago Counseling Center

The images and text below were originally shared on the Women’s Center social media pages. We’re re-sharing here to amplify the message and hold ourselves accountable to doing the work of our mission to advance gender equity and prioritize critical social justice and anti-racism. 

There are few things that offer peace in this time, so we turn to the words of other truth-tellers and light-bringers like poet and writer, Lucille Clifton. Her words continue to resonate through our society.

To our Black community: we lock arms in solidarity with you and we hold space for the many ways grief speaks through us. As allies and helpers and friends and family, we hope to continue defending your voices, uplifting them, and offering only belief, hope, and love.

Black lives matter. You matter. Endlessly and always.

To white and non-Black people of color: we bear witness to the visceral tangibility of white supremacy and systemic violence. It has always been here. It runs through everything—and the stark truths of oppression are made clear today. We will not turn away. We must turn towards the radical truth of our privileges and our complicity and our responsibility.

There is work yet to be done and we commit, as ever, to being in it with you.

#BLM #BlackLivesMatter #UMBCTogether

The Women’s Center is working to introduce care and healing spaces to our community and will be working with campus partners to provide additional space for healing and learning. Please follow our myUMBC page for details as they develop.

Throughout distance learning and the campus closure, the Women’s Center staff are still working remotely and are available for individualized support. If you or someone you know is seeking support to process this critical and traumatic moment in our personal and collective present, please email womenscenter@umbc.edu to set up a virtual meeting or phone call.

Images designed by Women’s Center Assistant Director, Amelia Meman.