Policies and antiracist behavior. You are either with us and with the black community or you are against. There is no way you can straddle this. Allies in action. A bay area conversation. Thank you so very much for joining us for this special edition of abc7 news. Im dan ashley. Over the past several weeks, the issue of Race Relations shas exploded into the headlines, into the streets and into the national consciousness. It has. Instead of our 4 00 p. M. Newscast, well spent an hour engaging experts and you in an abc7 listens virtual town hall on allies and racism. This has been on the backs of our friends of color and it is time to step up. Well have a very frank conversation including questions from you. This is a very important onehour virtual town hall airing on tv. You might be watching it right now on youtube and facebook. Were glad youre here. If alliship is a new term for you, it is someone who cannot fully understand what oppression fels like but can tea that struggle as their own. To stand up in solidarity and support. Allies are vital in the fight for social justice, equity and equality. Theyre not new but the term has taken on new meaningful heres eporter in the weekceeo fyd,e seen sneikth. Seets demanding an end to brutality. These ladies organized this one that shut down the golden gate bridge. There were more white people out there than black people. More of every culture than black pople. It was crazy to see how many people supported it. Reporter beyond protests and posts on social media, what does it mean to be an ally in. It requires a common cause and a common theme. Reporter the history professor points to one. United states earliest exams. John brown, a white abolitionist who was hanged after an effort to start an armed slave revolt and destroy the institution of slavery. It really underscores what true sacrifice looks like. Reporter from cofounding the naacp to fighting in the Civil Rights Movement, white people have been allies throughout american history. But dr. Brown pelham argues, it hand gone far enough. If a person is responsible for having built the system of oppression, those persons should also be responsible for dismantling that system. Reporter thats where carlo wallace comes in. Those of houston are white, when we say what can we do, what can we . Thwork we have to do is move other white people. She found showing up for Racial Justice or surge. A National Group of individuals organizing white people for Racial Justice. I think some white people get stuck in the idea, if we just israel go develop a good heart, good intentions, thats enough. While thats a critical part of the journaly as our own journey of change, if we are not pushing against structural and institutional racism, then were just better hearted people and things will not change for people of color in this community. The east oakland activist john jones iii gives people this advice. Start with organizing in your own community, in your own neighborhood. Organize your family members, your coworkers. Use your privilege. They have a level of assets that we as black people and people of color do not have. She trains people how to be allies and says the key come possibly is action. We have to figure out what were going to do. What were going to incorporate in our lives. What were going to change. In particular, we need people who are not part of oppressed groups. We need people who are white. Who historically held power. What folks really want to see realize, they as individuals have a role to play. Taking action in defining what allyship means for you. Abc7 news. Our thanks to kumasi for that. Action, the operative word. Heres another example. A waitress did not hesitate when a tech company ceo targeted other guests in an angry ran at a restaurant in carmel. Watchful. [ bleep ]. You need to leave. You do not talk about guests like that. You need to leave. [ bleep ]. Get out of here get out you are not allowed here. I already do not talk to our guests like that. They are valued guests. The waitress you heard kicking the man out of the restaurant told abc7 news in an exclusive interview, she had no other choice. Did i what needed to be done. I think i did what anybody else should or would do in that situation. I felt very protective of them. You know . You dont come in here and say those things to people. If you see something, do something. Stand up against racism, hatred any time you can. With all of that as a back drop, there is a lot to discuss. So much that we have put together two great panels for you today. The first panel will discuss what it means to be an ally. Our second group will look at solutions. We have a Diverse Group of Community Leaders focused on everything with it and allyship. So lets get right to it. Well introduce you to them. We have theo miller, jessica murphy, also joining us live, we have dr. Shelly, author of witnessing whiteness, and timothy wise, an antiracist writer, educator. Lets begin with theo miller. Lets tart with this could not semiof allyship. Why are allies so vitally important in this struggle . So its a tremendous queflt nowadays, were so focused on these visible acts of racism. The horror of george floyd. The example you showed us in the restaurant. What i want to talk about, the disparities we see in income here in San Francisco. The wealth gap. The way in which covid19 is raf communities of color. So allyship is critical not just as a form of compassion and sympathy but also, what has been called racial empathy. It requires allies to look deeply. To selfsacrifice. To have generosity and try to put themselves in a position for people of color that are literally facing a war in this country. As we start to explore these issues, can you talk about the terminology . Thats critical here. Especially the term, antiracism. What does it mean to be antiracist as opposed to saying im not racist . Sure. It means youre actively working against the system of racism, which is embedded in our everyday culture. It is not enough to say im not racist. Youre not really doing anything to ends racism. You are inherently benefitting from being white or light skinned or whatever it might be. You may feel im not a racist person. If youre not doing anything to work against the racist structures around, to take it a step further, if youre not unpacking it and taking time to have selfawareness about ways you have internalized racism, implicit bias against people in the community, then youre not living up to what you feel in your heart anyway. So i think being antiracist is much more effective. I want to turn the discuss to dr. Shelly. You said in an interview, par of unpacking this is knowing all the nukes and crannies that it has gotten into us, so we can stop and it name it on the spot. I imagine thats what you talk about in your book witnessingssg whiteness. How do people unpack these things . The idea of witnessing whiteness goes back to a sense justice. If we think about someone who has been victimized. Theres a perpetrator and way too often, bystanders. For white people, what i am trying myself to do, and trying to support other white people to do, to become witnesses who can take a stand and call for justices. I know what it is. I understand what it is. Thats not easy for a group of people who was told not to see myself being a race being. Someone conditioned by my whiteness. That was completely foreign to me when i got challenged to see myself differently. To see our world differently. It did take a complete and utter shifting of my world view. And it took a number of steps and aspects of learning. I had to learn a bunch of new knowledge. I needed to learn a lot of new skills. I needed to develop the emotional capacity to do things differently, to hold myself together when i became frustrated or defensive. And then quite frankly, i needed a community. And i think thats an extremely important aspect of continuing allyship. To work with people in an organized fashion to make sure that we stay on the path toward deepening our skills and making use of them. Let me go back to you. White people seem to have the luxury of not having to think about their race very much. They dont. We dont, i dont. Were not confront with it on a daily basis the way people of colorful are but we have been confronted with it in reason weeks because of these terrible incidents captured on cell phone video. George floyd, others around the country. The incident we showed at the karlel restaurant. I often think, thank goodness for cell phone video. It has pushed something to the public consciousness that a lot of people either denied or didnt really think was happening. But people of color have said it has happened for generations. Your thoughts. Thats right. It is the daily experience for people. We cant forget class status that matters. There is a loss of community here. A lot of humanity. Truth and reconciliation commission. I would pause it here. We have an opportunity with george floyd and Breonna Taylor and others, not to focus on truth and reconciliation but truth and restitution. It is the truth, the neil that has beenpe longstandi, multigenerational, to so many. Police brutality. Sit in that truthful before you move to reconciliation, there must be restitution. Allies that come in with only sympathy and compassion, but not willing to look at the material disparities that are at work, george floyd, and what society do we live in in which a Police Officer can have his knee on the back of a black man for eight and a half minutes, thats not an individual act. But thats about a system that allows this thing to keep going. So we move from truthful we sit in this discomfort. Then we move to restitution before we can get on to reconciliation and liberation. A great point. Define for us restitution so people understand what you mean. Sure. So restitution, and this is my lawyer background, to say that we acknowledge a harm that has been called. And shelly mentioned this earlier, as well as my colleague jessica. There are material benefits afforded white people. We see it through red lining, through mortgages, through credit. We have this in the city of sfrap. Loss of businesses, potential the people of color. What restitution would say, we look at the systemic benefits afforded white folks. And black people say i dont want to participate in a system in which i get unjust benefits. In which i get the privilege just for being white. So restitution would say, let me acknowledge the disparity. Let me acknowledge the burden put on black, indigenous community, people of color. And then let me have a systematic redress. Housing, education. So this moment of revolution, rebellion, is powerful. For those of us doing this works we wonder, it will be more than a sound bite . More than a few people getting a few implicit bias, will it result in a redress. In a systemic look at segregated communities. The way our families in Pacific Heights have benefited from the system. Will we redress it . Will we have real restitution . I want to you jump in here. You talk a lot about motivation which theo mentioned as well. You say, is it from shame . Gilt about my institutional oppression . You say it is. Chair. It is solidarity work. Can you explain that a little bi . Well, i think the thing that white folks need to ask ourselves in this moment, it is fantastic to see such a broad base of White Americans. Not only in the streets but asking these questions of what do we do, what do we do, even though those of us who have been in the work do that. Theres that tendency to say, where have you been . Better late to the party than never to the party. So its fine and Everybody Needs to be part of the work. I do worry that if the motivation is i feel such shame over not having known about this. Or i feel such shame over the przybilla. I dont think shame is a very good motivator for human action and i dont think it is sustainable of now guilt over a system of oppression is a decent vacation destination but i wouldnt bull a house on that sand. Moral revulsion. Even that is hard to sustain. I dont expect white folks to remain optimistic in our fight for justice. What i think is for to us understand, racial inequity, even though were not the targets of it, we are the Collateral Damage of it. Think about the war on drugs. For years, the vast majority of White Americans said very little about the fact black and brown bodies were being sent to prison disproportionately, even though the use and sale were virtually identical. We didnt do anything. We were locking people away, mostly black and broum. Here we are, and we have an Opioid Crisis for White America for which there is not enough rehab and treatment. We have all these white folks would understandering, where is the rehab . Wheres the compassion . Thats a great question. The reason we dont have that is because we criminalized drug use when we thought it was those people. Now it has come back to bite us. So everything with it, not allowing that, was in our interests. Think about covid. We know that black folks, for instance, are dying at a rate, two, two and a half times the rate of white folks. We have millions who are indeed at risk. And im wondering what they see when they see some other white folks who maybe they have voted like. Maybe theyre in their own family. Lets reopen everything. Im not wearing a mask. Screw that. I dont want to wear a mask at the costco because thats tyranny which is another whole situation about, what white people think teernly is. But you have millions of white people looking at other whites thinking we just rolled the dice on their grandma. On their immuno compromised child. On their recoveing spouse who had cancer. Millions of white folks who might have thought they were on that team. Now theyve got people in their own family and community willing to gamble. Not just black life, poor life, disabled life, preexisting conditions life, elderly life. Thats a lot of us, too. We all benefit from a different mentality. When you allow a mentality of hurm disposability, and hierarchy, which is what White Supremacy did. We think it will only get them. We learn that they dont love us either. The folks who benefit most dont love most of us. So maybe if we understood the commoniality of interests. Derek bell used to talk about it from a legal perspective. If we understood that, we would see this is our fight. I love these examples. This is racial empathy. What covid19 has shown, the air we breathe, our own health, is inextricably linked to each other. We can play a foolish game and take our country down if we believe that allyship is not critical to our own future. So we do want to remind everyone. This is an interactive conversation. Everyone watching at hole. On tv right now, facebook, we are monitoring those comments. So please leave one there and we will ask it of our panelists. We want you to be part of this conversation. We have a baseline understanding of what it means to be an wanf also y make som distinction between what we all. Break it do you mean. Whats the difference in. Sure. So basically, ally for me is a great entry point. Weve been using the word ally and allyship for decades now. In a lot of ways, it has become watered down for the communities that im working and the communities that were working to dismantle. Accomplice for me shifts the narrative into something much more action oriented. An ally is someone who would notice their privilege, be aware of it but maybe not take those steps to work actively against it. And so we talk about bringing in the word accomplice. Looking at what it is supposed to be. Making the phone calls. Or london breed, if you are able to, go in and shut down the 580 or the bay bridge. If youre not able to do that, having the Difficult Conversations within your family, within your community, educating yourself. Its not so much of a transactional experience as sometimes allyship can be. I do consulting. We often do ally training. You would think with all the ally trainings that ive double in last final years,ering would be great. The issue that we undocumented students. Or i did the lgbtq training so im good with that. Or the black lives matter training. Whatever it might be. Its not a check box. There is no end point to the destination. A lifelong process and accomplice helps to identify that more than ally does. And it is more action oriented direction toward it. I love this. Go ahead. You want to jump in . I was saying the idea of a coconspirator. Your own skin is in the game. Your own lie bill is in the game. I keep emphasizing, protesting is credible. We have real material disparities here. The Opioid Crisis. The covid19 crisis. The question for me is what extent will you be an accomplice . Will you actually step in and maybe lose some material benefi benefits. It is 400 years. You cannot be 92 ral it has been there 400 years so neutrality is not an option. Youre complicit or dismanning it. It seems like the locomotive has been gathering some steam the last few weeks and there is perhaps a renewed determination to effect some real change. Let me go quickly to the author of witnessing whiteness. As we bounce off about you talk about selfinvestigati selfinvestigation. There are people watching, maybe theyve been sympathetic. How do they begin with selfreflection . What should they be asking themselves . Well, i think a couple of pieces are important. What you started talking about were barriers. What are the barriers to entry . One major barrier for people just coming to this conversation is just a sense of overwhelming confusion. So one thing i think is really helpful is to understand that there are four Different Levels of how racism or bias take place. There is the interimized work. Thats how my own psyche has been condition in the ways i didnt invite. I might not even cognitively understand how my entire interpretation of my world experiences are shaped by race. So thats an important part to explore. That can be done on that sort of healing journey. You can read a lot. Watch a lot. There are things that you can do. It moves to interpersonal. How is it that i inact in the world in a way that causes harm. Thats its own exploration. Then we have the institutional work and this is where we move into the systemic. We could walk through corporations, institutions, thinking if my intentions are positive, there is no racism playing out here. In fact, as dr. Miller was naming, it is the policies, the institutions practices that end up creating harm. So part of it is understanding the analysis. We need to understand there are multiple pathways to entry. The best thing you can do at the start is to reach out to the antiracism interests that exit. A lot of resources on the web page, the alliance everywhere. That is a group of white individuals who have been working for 16 years. All grassroots, all volunteer. It is dedicated to doing that level of selfreflection so we can show up when we need to. Can i just add one thing to that . It is so important for allies to do their own work. And to do in it solidarity. I want to emphasize that there are black indigenous, people of color organizations that have been doing this work for generations. We want our allies in some ways to follow the lead of our communities of color. And i dont want that point to get lost. It is so critical to support the indig us in and blackled organizations on the ground as well. So be an allyship and be in solidarity with those organizations waiting and waiting and working on it. We want to get our viewers into the conversation and then bounce it back. Perhaps you can even tackle this conversation. We have one person saying dome speak. Just listen. William saying, i love. This i want to get to a xom can hopefully spark some conversation. We need to stop putting color into the situations and analyze the perm. White, black, his panel issic, gay, lesbian, who is that person . Is it a bad cop or a good person . Notice no mention of race. I have to say as a black man, which i am, i can never shed my race. And i can never walk into a room as just a person. I will always be seen as a black man. What is your response to that . Well, if i could, none of us walk into a room raceless. We walk into a room with all the identities that we have in society. It is nice to say race shouldnt have mattered. It shouldnt have mattered 400 years ago but it did. I am. Just a man, till, who happens to be straight, white, a tall man. Like all of that stuff effects the way i experience america and the way that i experience society. It doesnt mean that it determines all of it but i have to be accountable for that it. What that means with criminal justice, to be black and brown, on the receiving end of criminal justice. We cant wish it away or ignore it. As the late great said, to be blind to color is to be blind to the consequences of color. And especially being the wrong color in america. This was such a good conversation. A halfhour goes by so fast. Unfortunately, we are out of time for this first part of the conversation. We want to thank you for joining us today. Such a great conversation. Thank you, guys. Outstanding. We have another group of panel i haves coming up in a few minutes and well continue this imrtt conversation. Lets talk about it in a different way. The relationship with black and asianamericans is often overlooked. There is a lot to unpack there as well and we dont want to ignore thore onha you do know black people have been beating up asians for years, right . It is normal to act racist toward black people. The difference is asian people dont,ly confront people and noublgs their views and opinions outloud so it is not as well known. People are protesting for black lives. Now theyre using this as an excuse to target the Asian Community. We dont think theyre infear i dont remember humans. We have a fair skin obsession that shows caste presence. Those are some of the comments weve received illustrating the tension between the black and asian communities. These are highlyscon and vio weve reported in recent months. When the black lives Matter Movement has been reignited, as black people continue to die at the hands of Police Officers at disproportionate ways, the anger and frustration between the communities tends to be ignored. We wanted to explain how we could combine forces and make positive change that benefits us both. First we must understand our long and complicated history. While there is sometimes antiasia thoughts, that is very different from the antiblack, multigenerational systemic she is an and says ing. Historical context is key. It is helpful. These is and thats how these systems and these white supremacist leaders want us to think. American black history is different because of slavery. As we move further up americas time line, she said black and asian communities often found themselves in interconnected struggles. The stereo time from when asians first started emigrating to this country for labor and the gold rush. That asians are dangerous. That theyre dirty. They carry diseases with them. She says black communities wrote letters and sent food to japanese people in internment r and, filipinos. The model minority stereo time emerged and was even used by president ronald reagan. He wanted to defund social welfare programs. To disman affirmative action. So what was convenient for him to use was the model minority stario type which is the stereo type that because asianamericans have a strong work ethic, or good family values. That they are somehow better. That harmful rhetoric helps fuel divisiveness today and did in the following cases. 1982, 27yearold vincent chin is beaten to death. 1991. Finalyearold natasha is shot in the back and dies. 2014. Nypd officer peter lang shoots and kills gurley. 2017, an 81yearold woman is pushed on of a muni platform. 2019 into 2020. The asianamerican elder abuse spikes in San Francisco. 2020, facing intense back lash amidst reports of racist comments. Where do we go from here . Already were seeing shows of ig here in the bay area. Untry. In chicago, more than 1,000 march from a Chinese Church to an historically black one. A show of communities that have suffered in different ways. There are sites about how to talk to friends about the black lives Matter Movement. Whatever the method, the systems de black and asianamerican communities is still the same system. Now its time to take a look at the solutions and how you can really get involved in earnest. So lets bring in our second group of analysts. Lisa bennett, showing up for Racial Justice. And joining us, we have erica, cofounder, and make noise today contributor. We have mark warren, an author and professor at the university of massachusetts, boston. I do want to start this off going off that story that we just watched. You are with the organization, make noise. Thats about fighting racism. In light of all the killings weve seen, youve found now is the time for the Asian Community to stand in solidarity with the black community. What does that allyship look like . What does it mean from your perspective . Well, lets start with what it means from my perspective as someone who is both asian and black. My father is asianamerican. He grew up in the 1960s where he frequently heard the n word from his classmates. My mother is from osaka, japan. She came to the u. S. In the 1980s to marry my father and i was raised in sacramento, near San Francisco, in some ways. So my perspective is very much informed by my identity here. I recognize how important it is for the asian communities to acknowledge the racism that we are facing. But also, acknowledge the racism and how, it is actually vex rooted in antiblackness. And racism is a spectrum of violence. The the racism, the black community all stems from this new source which is the power structure of White Supremacy. So having that as a foundational understanding will when the olympics approached, analyzing experiences of race. I think it is important to remember language and keep in mind, there is a difference between racism. It is very important to acknowledge the violence perpetrate in the San Francisco area. Elderly asian folks, sometimes, sadly often by other people of color. That is technically not racism. That is definitely bigotry, prejudice and bias. But racism is a system of power that can only believe impacted by those in power. In our society, that is White Supremacy. So just rooting of racism, antiblackness and White Supremacy. And so from there, as part of the make noise today campaign, we acknowledge and want to raise awareness of the racism and bigotry in the Asian Community during covid. In both material and personal ways. And at the ame time, we can do that work while standing up for our Black Brothers and sisters. And there are five steps that the make Noise Movement has come up with during that time. One is to check in with your community. Get approximate to the issue that your friends, family and community are facing. Educate yourself about the history of the Asian Community in america and our various journeys here. But also that of the black community. And how the traming ekt started. How we still have replicated systems of slavery such as in the prison system and the school to prison pipeline. So education is key here. Third, donate. There is sadly a hierarchy in terms of access to resources that we noticed across racism with blacks, indigenous folks and latin x folks at the bottom in terms of pain, equity, disparity, in terms of general wealth with white folks at the top and asians next. So especially in light of what the Asian Community can do, it is to donate and redistribute the resources. And there are so many wonderful organizations that are deserving of support. Especially those let me ask to you get to the last two quickly so we can make sure all the guests can talk. That at all. The fourth is to support that ties into donating with organizations. And the fifth is to vote. That is a responsibility that we all share, sadly, asians sadly are underrepresented with the vote. So i like the encourage the asian communities to step up and vote. Thank you for that. Let me ask you, alexandra, the cofounder of youth activists. You focus a lot on young people, of course, but you also say this fight, this allyship, being an accomplice, cant end or begin with young people. Youre encouraging young people to have Difficult Conversations with older folks. Talk about that. It is great that young people are loud and here and standing up. The Civil Rights Movement was not too long ago. Some of our parents had to use separate bathrooms and couldnt sit at the same table with our friends. So we have to have those Difficult Conversations with our friends and then their parents and maybe even our cousins, grandmas and grandpas, they were alive and well during that time. Some people are rooted in that everyday lifestyle as we see today. Absolutely. And i want to bring you into this. As people are sitting and listening to what erica and alexandra are saying, i know youre in marin. A lot of conversations people have, well intended people who want to be allies, still get a little defensive. They feel like mabel theyre being attacked. Or it will lead to reverse racism. How do you respond to that . Thats the essence of white fragility. To be defensive when it comes up. As an activist myself, someone devoting myself to this work, to bring white people into the conversation and bring them into pallyship. I think you have to start with yourself and do introspective work and then you have to learn to show up in a way that isnt causing harm. We try to educate folks how to do that and then call them into action. I know erica was cut off. If she would like the continue, i yield my time. She finished. We will turn it over to mark now as weve been discussing, we are all conditioned to understand. You said a big part of. Is learning history. The basics of learning history. Tell us about how learning history can lead us to the path forward . Sure. Ive studied a lot of the history of antiracist struggles, and i think it was mention that had there have been white allies in the struggle all along. Whatever term you would like the use. I think it is a varied history. If we are thinking about White Supremacy, racism, systems of power, the way history is presented to people in this country is in support of. System of power. It deny grates people of color but also white solidarity. I think it is important for those of houston are white today to understand that were part of a long history of participating in this struggle. We have role models to look at. And its been true in many of the struggles, white allies have tried the take over movements and theres been a struggle around them. I think stwau mentioned, the struggles led by people of color are very important. White people need to follow that leadership or look to that leadership and not to replicate the hierarchical within the own movement. It got to the point, people may be aware in the 1960s, the black power movement, they were actually kicked out the white members because of struggles over who would control the movement. So we have positive role models to learn from but also we have negative history. I think many white people in fact do not have much of a history and experience in this country of working on an equal Playing Field with very powerful black leaders and leaders in communities of color. Thats that an experience many white people have in this country. So i think part of a learning about history is also learning through doing today. Building those relationships, participating in these struggles in ways the both follow leadership but also bring as white people are authentic talent, and experiences to the struggle, too. Everyone is valued but it is about learning from those experiences. Also, what motivates white people not just to get involved but sustained participation. Ive actually studied white people who become activists in Racial Justice struggles over the last 30 or 40 years. Oftentimes, anger and moral revulsion at the kinds of racist violence weve seen by police gets people started. I think thats very important. Coming to understand our common interests, as i think was mentioned. It is also participating in the struggle itself. Building authentic relationships with people who are different from us. That many. Us never had the chance to have and looking at ourselves in a new light. Those kinds of relationships and that experience of solidarity also seen thes people in the struggle. Thank you very much. Erica, let me ask you bouncing off what he just said about white people being involved, the necessity of white people to be allies and accomplices in this fight. And there is historical precedent form. This tricky issue of how much is too much . How much should white people be involved . Should they stay out of the way and allow groups of color to lead this fight and not just step on them and take over. Well, i call it knowing when to step up. If youre not black, or a person of color, it is your responsibility to wield your privilege on behalf of people of color and other marginalized folks. It is also your responsibility to give up those privileges. If the opportunity to benefit from those privileges can be given to black people or a person of color. And a really great example of this that ive seen recently is with the release of nicole handa jones piece on recommend ragss for the 1619 project. She talks about what many people dont realize, going to marks comment, and other folks comments, the real benefits are material. When slavery was ended, slave owners were actually compensated for the loss of their slaves. When we opened up, specially this western part of the country, where we are mostly all based, free land was given away to white settlers on the backs and bodies of endig us in folks and others, and free blacks. My friend has been analyzing with her family lands they own in the midwest. They are returning that land to nativeamerican tribes in the area. So thats one very strong material way that you can show up and be an ally. There are so many other ways. It is likeliesta demonstrate earlier by offering to cede her time. They felt a black woman on this panel was cut off. And there are other opportunities to demonstrate this in the work place. If people of color are not being promoted, do you have some relative capital in your organization to push for their promotion, to push for the amplification of their voice in a meeting . It is in everyday situations like that that i think we have to reframe the scope of white folks responsibility toward their privilege. For sure. I want to bring you in on this. Social media has clearly paid a huge role in moving this movement forward. Especially in the last few weeks. Wakeup danville. So talk about the role social media is playing in this. Social media is huge. Were the first people to post about a new album that artists, or political debates, you name it. It is also your platform and people are commenting and liking it. So why not educate . I think of it like this. Right . When you go on vacation, we research climate. And we ask our friends, have you stayed at this hotel . What did you pack . What did you wear . Sometimes we Even Research other languages so we can fit. In we can learn how to navigate. And then we post about it and we recommend it. Same thing about black culture. We research about it. Understand it so we can use our voices the right way. And social media is huge. Were all doing it. Why not use it for a good purpose . At the same time, i know that youve said posting a black square is the minimum. Youre told, you post the black square, youre doing it wrong or youre remaining silent. The black square. Oh, the black square. That was great for hoot second. It looks like a todd letter took your phone and posted something. Is that really ending racism . Is that really standing up for whats right . Its cool that we all blacked out our time line. But educate yourself. Dont just post about your life. Black out your life and post about black education. Black businesses. So thats great that you posted a black square but were in the same place. You have to do better. A great transition to the next part of the discussion i want to touch on here. I want to talk to lisa because of the surge in ma rrinmarin. Those who want to get involved. They want to do something but not the wrong thing. They dont want to offend. That might e a barrier to folks you deal with every day in your work. How do you tell them, youre going to mess up. Its okay. But mostly it is about correcting yourself and moving forward. We stated, often in the work shops that we lead. The facilitators, we talk about ways we have messed up. And how we have survived. Were still alive. And a couple. Our workshops, we talk about how to make an apology thats not all about you but about the situation and the harm youve caused. So we learn it. A practice. Allyship is a lifelong process. Not something you take a work shop for and leave. It is something you devote your life to if you want to become an ally. You wont get it truly right but you have to build resilience and do it in community too. How important is it to do with it other folks who are doing your work with you . It is really hard to do alone. If i can very quickly follow up there. How do you tell someone, for example, going off lizs example, if someone might have gotten the smackdown on social media because they posted the black time or didnt. And they say i dont know had a to do now. How do you get them on board . How do you have the dialogue with people doing the work to motivate others to join them . Right. We try to call people in. Not call them out. So it starts with that sort of approach. If you call people out, theyll shut down. If you spend time with yourself, prepare yourself, you can approach people. You can often connect with them and come to an understanding of what just happened. What really happened and then how to deal with the ramifications of that. Erica, youre doing this work for a long time. Do you see anything different happening this time . As a result of George Floyds tragic death and Going Forward . Have things changed in substantive ways . Absolutely. I think it is important to remember the time line and remind ourselves of how black lives matter started. It was actually in many ways, rooted in the bay area in 2012 with the first wave of deaths of black people by the hands of white people and those in authority and with guns across the country, showing up on social media in 2012, and three black women. Some from oakland, starte this and this movement. So this movement isnt new. And of course, it builds on the stream of abolition work that has existed since the inception of shavory in this country and beyond. So it is important to remember that. But what is different about this moment, i think, is covid and the pandemic, and the stillness in some ways in which we have been able and forced to sit with ourselves, to not be distracted by socializing outside, by rushing around, and ill sure there have been so many stressors for so many people in this very precarious time. But i think were all fed up with the extremity of our fryman the political situation to the inequities across the board. When we talk about racism, we cannot not talk about capitalism and our Economic System as well. And covid has exacerbated all these situations. And as a black woman, my perspective was, were in a pandemic. We shbl worried about peoples Public Health and getting them benefits so they can survive and not evicting folks. Why are cops sitting on peoples necks and killing them over 20 counterfeit bill. Where are your priorities when were facing a Public Health crisis . How low have we gone . So many good points. We have, can we give you 30 seconds . I think were almost out of time. Im sorry. Were out of time. We want to let you know to take action and find your ally. You can log on to our webb. Abc7news. Com take action. This has ben such a great discussion west could do this for hours. It is hard to believe our one hour with the experts is almost up. We want to thank our panel of experts for taking time out of your busy schedules for talking with us. As we end this hour and give our final thoughts on the discussion weve had, i want to go back to the title of the program. Allies in action. Thats it right there. Thats what it is all about. Words matter. When you added the black title to your instagram. All of. Matters. If youre going to talk the talk, you have to be ready to walk the walk, too. Being woke is exhausting. Thats a text i got from one of my white friends after he spent days protesting the killing of george floyd by police. I responded, being black in america is even more exhausting. That may sound harsh to some but this work is far from a sprint. It is hard. Difficult. We have to rebel anything less is performance. We donal need performers right now. We nidalize. We , we need allies. As we learn today, even small actions can make a difference. Ive recently been trying to reread a lot of history. I was reading about black sufficient suffer togethers. We can change it. We just have to do it together. A privilege to be with my colleagues today. The word ally comes from the latin word that means to bind to. To unite. To enter into an alliance. Nd pr one another. Weeed allies together. We should all be allies and accomplices. George freud didnt have anyone who could save him that day. He did have an ally. A 17yearold girl with the courage to record what was being done to him on her cell phone. That allyship sparked protests and hard conversations across the nation and around the world. It is why this the Racial Justice and equality so long overdue in our great country. So well said. And we are continuing to follow stories and well keep you connected to resources. You can watch this town hall and our others on the abc7 news app and anywhere that you stream. For all of us, we appreciate your time here. Abc7 news. We are the thrivers. Women with metastatic breast cancer. Our time for more time. Has come. 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And there has never been a summer when its mattered more. Wherever you go, summer safely. Get zero percent apr financing for up to five years on select models and exclusive lease offers. Next at 5 00, the covid crisis at san quentin and why family members of inmates are demanding the governor visit the prison. Also the new testing site thats making it easier for members of a hardhit community to find out if theyre infected. Plus an east bay city approves major budget cuts that will Impact Police and a lot more, and your town may want to take know. Santa clara county gyms get the green light to reopen but with restrictions including no cardio. The news at 5 00 is next. Governor gavin newsom, you are speaking to a mother who has no fear. Im a mamma