Resources
Ask ARC. If you have a question about how to handle racist situations or want to learn more about what you can do to support racial justice, you’re not alone! Most of us find ourselves feeling uncomfortable and not sure about what to do in a lot of situations these days. Use the link to ask your question or describe the situation, and we’ll do our best to come up with some suggestions to help.
Articles/Books
What you can do to fight violence and racism against Asian Americans
As Asian American communities reel from an uptick in violence and hate spurred by racist rhetoric about the coronavirus pandemic, advocates are urging Americans to be allies in actionable ways that go beyond words. Asian American community leaders shared advice with the PBS NewsHour about ways Americans can help.
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh https://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/mcintosh.pdf
Written almost 30 years ago, Dr. Peggy McIntosh’s article is still as relevant today (unfortunately). The listing of 50 ways in which White people experience privilege in their everyday lives helps make the concept of White privilege come alive. Which of these privileges do you experience? … What, if anything, could you do to extend these privileges to all people?
Organizations
Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice, working to support social justice activities undertaken by UU churches in the greater Northern Virginia and Washington DC.
UU the Vote Around the country, Unitarian Universalists are organizing to #UUtheVote. Find events near you or host an event in your community!
Black Lives UU Expanding the power & capacity of Black UUs within our faith. Providing support, information & resources for Black Unitarian Universalists. Justice-making and liberation through our faith
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, advancing human rights and social justice in the United States and throughout the world.
UUA Love Resists Activation people of faith and conscience to resist the harm inflicted by criminalization
Allies for Racial Equity, building an antiracist movement of White Unitarian Universalists.
Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, interfaith organization based in Richmond, working to advocate for just causes in the VA state legislature
ACLU of Virginia Support our effort to guarantee the right to vote, hold police accountable, and bring about criminal legal reforms in Virginia!
Virginia NAACP To secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.
Coming to the Table Working together (through monthly cross-race meetings) to create a just and truthful society that acknowledges and seeks to heal from the racial wounds of the past, from slavery and the many forms of racism it spawned.
Virginia General Assembly and Legislators
VA General Assembly Research Tools will help you research anti-racism legislation at the Virginia General Assembly. It includes (1) a bill tracker for pending legislation, (2) tools to find legislative committee meetings, (3) links to read and submit public comments, and (4) tools to track issues on which your legislator is working.
The Who’s My Legislator? service is an online tool where the public at-large can determine what legislators represent them. Users can enter their home address or use map based navigation to see their Virginia House and Senate representatives, as well as those in the U.S. House and Senate.
Videos
21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge, Debby Irving
Have you ever made a successful change in your life? Perhaps you wanted to exercise more, eat less, or change jobs? Think about the time and attention you dedicated to the process. A lot, right? Change is hard. Creating effective social justice habits, particularly those dealing with issues of power, privilege, supremacy and leadership is like any lifestyle change. While this resource is designed to have you do one thing each day for 21 days, you can approach this in any way that you would like. This link includes an abundance of resources just waiting to empower you to be a more effective player in the quest for equity and justice.
YouTube video: Racism is Real, Brave New Films
This 3-minute film does an excellent job of highlighting the fact that systemic racism is real and that it is a very destructive force in our society by comparing the experiences of a young White man and a young Black man in several everyday life events.
TED Talk: Verna Myers: How to Overcome Biases? Walk boldly toward them
Verna Myers, a wise and warm-hearted African-American Diversity advocate helps us take a look at how we can overcome some of our subconscious attitudes, especially our biases toward Black men, in an impassioned, thoughtful, humorous and inspiring TED Talk. 18 minutes
YouTube: Fusion Comedy, How Microaggressions are Like Mosquito Bites
A two-minute animated film that does an outstanding job of explaining what microaggressions are like for those in various marginalized groups of people in a humorous and impactful way. Be aware that there is some coarse language used near the end.