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Tag : BLM
January 19, 2021 by admin
Freshman Year in a Pandemic
MAKEDA ZABOT-HALL, 18
My freshman year of college probably looks quite different from yours. I have to wear a mask while I use the bathroom. I’ve never seen the mouths of the people who serve me lunch every day. And my friends and I yearn to see invitations to events in our inboxes, that—just this once—won’t include a Zoom link, but instead will have a physical address, like the flyers that used to hang on the light posts where I grew up.
We often get asked if we feel like we’re missing out on the true experience of our first year in college. How can you miss something you’ve never experienced before? We only know college with Covid, so we’ve adapted—and learned how to find joy even if we can’t see each other smile. We still gathered to watch the debates and comment on the white men who express stronger enthusiasm for limiting reproductive choice then they do about disavowing white supremacy. We still argue and form relationships, some intimate and some not. And although we can’t gather in large groups, we still find ways to laugh over Zoom.
I’m glad to be here. I never got my ending of high school, or the chance to hug my best friend before I left for college. I spent a lot of the summer in my room, alone and unable to understand why I wished for the days to end as soon as they started. It wasn’t just the pandemic. Each day brought with it a new reason for why my brother sat at the diner table, anxious, or why my throat swelled up every time my parents asked if I was okay, or if I wanted to unpack the violent death of another human being whose name I couldn’t remember. Activists say “say their names,” but my mind shut down because I didn’t want to fathom the idea that this list of Black people cut down by the police would keep growing.
In the blur of the summer, these are the parts I remember. And then August 20th came, and my grandmother waved goodbye as I sat in the back seat of our rented car, and I prayed that God would keep her safe from those things that made my throat swell.
As my first few weeks on campus flew by, I finally understood what my mom had been telling me, and what her father had told her before she left for college: when children leave their home, they no longer see their parents as superheroes, but instead as people who make mistakes. I didn’t talk to my parents a lot my first few weeks on campus. I was bathing in the freedom, and I knew as soon as I picked up that phone I would be flipping the pages back to the previous chapter of my life. I missed my parents terribly, but I was determined to thrive in this new environment, and learn how to navigate this next chapter of my life that existed within a world that was falling apart.
The night of Yom Kippur, instead of attending the Kol Nidre service, I joined the circle on campus gathered together for a vigil that mourned the loss of Breonna Taylor. I listened as many young Black women spoke out about injustices they’ve faced and still face on campus. I watched tears stream down the faces of the very Black women that get up every day and fight for themselves, for their right to live and breathe.
Now, I keep replaying the vigil in my head. This Yom Kippur was different. I didn’t rid myself of my sins, because I still carry the guilt and pain of having not been able to fight hard enough for the names of the Black and brown beings who deserved so much more. But that’s okay. Because I also carry the names that shouldn’t and won’t be forgotten.
Makeda Zabot-Hall is a former JGirls editor, now a freshman at Brandeis and a Lilith blogger.
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September 23, 2020 by admin
Reflecting on the Protests in Portland
Portland is one of the whitest cities in America, with an extremely racist history. So who would have ever thought we would be the city to watch during the modern-day civil rights movement?
The murder of George Floyd changed our country, and it changed Portland. So much so that this week, along with Seattle and NYC, we were designated an “Anarchist jurisdiction” by the Attorney General just this past Monday.
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July 27, 2020 by admin
Who Shall Die…
Friday would’ve been the 65th birthday of my first wife and her yahrzeit is this week. As I thought about the beauty of her laugh and the pain of her end, so different from those on whose behalf we cry out, the words of the Unetaneh Tokef—a prayer that inspires fear and awe during the High Holidays—came to me.
Both the Unetaneh Tokef and the impact of this list of killings of Black Americans (compiled by an unknown community member) inspired “Unetaneh Tokef for Black Lives”.
Each day we hazard our Black lives in the Court of the White World
We know our worth
Yet the white world is judge-self-appointed
We pass before you to be counted
12.5 million bodies stolen
1.8 million mercifully avoided your shores
Stolen shores, stolen land
10.7 million arrived unsafely
…times 401 years
…times infinite human indignities
…times ⅗ of a human being
We now number 47.8 million
In the morning it is written and by curfew it is sealed
Who shall die while jogging (#AhmaudArbery)
Who shall die while relaxing in the comfort of their home (#BothamJean #AtatianaJefferson)
Who shall die while seeking help after a car crash (#JonathanFerrell #RenishaMcBride).
Who shall die while holding a cellphone (#StephonClark).
Who shall die while decorating for a party (#ClaudeReese).
Who shall die while leaving a party (#JordanEdwards #SeanBell)
Who shall die while enjoying music (#JordanDavis).
Who shall die while selling music…trying to make a way outta no way (#AltonSterling).
Who shall die while sleeping (#AiyanaJones)
Who shall die while worshipping the Lord (#Charleston9).
Who shall die for a traffic violation (#SandraBland).
Who shall die while coming from the store (#MikeBrown and #TrayvonMartin).
Who shall die while playing cops and robbers (#TamirRice).
Who shall die while lawfully carrying a weapon (#PhilandoCastile, #FreddieGray).
Who shall die while on the shoulder of the road with car problems (#CoreyJones #TerrenceCrutcher).
Who shall die in the first hours of the new year (#OscarGrant)
Who shall die while shopping at Walmart (#JohnCrawford).
Who shall die while cashing a check in peace (#YvonneSmallwood).
Who shall die while reading a book in their own car (#KeithScott).
Who shall die while taking a walk with their stepfather (#CliffordGlover).
Who shall die while reaching for their wallet (#AmadouDiallo).
Who shall die while running away (#WalterScott).
Who shall die while asking a cop a question (#RandyEvans).
Who shall die while begging for their life, their breath (#EricGarner #GeorgeFloyd).
Who shall die by the effects of supremacy, greed, and apathy
…who by beast, indeed
“But repentance, prayer and charity temper judgment’s severe decree”
“But repentance, prayer and charity avert judgment’s severe decree?”
But turning, connection and giving, these return us to our Gd?
Whose repentance? Whose prayer? Whose charity?
Temper, please temper
Temper already! Temper…
For sins against God, the Day of Atonement brings forgiveness; for sins against one’s fellowman, the Day of Atonement brings no forgiveness till he has become reconciled with the fellowman he wronged. (Mishnah Yoma 8:9)
“The Day of Atonement brings no forgiveness
till he has become reconciled with the fellowman he wronged.”
When will you atone? How will you atone?
For you, like us, will be judged.
You, like us, will return to dust.
Imani Romney-Rosa Chapman is one of the co-founders of Romney Associates, Inc. She has more than 25 years of experience organizing, educating, and developing curriculum for social justice. Her writing about racial intimacy and anti-racism at her Brooklyn synagogue can be found in the chapter she co-authored in UnCommon Bonds: Women Reflect on Race and Friendship (Peter Lang).
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June 9, 2020 by admin
Unetaneh Tokef for Black Lives
Friday would’ve been the 65th birthday of my first wife and her yahrzeit is this week. As I thought about the beauty of her laugh and the pain of her end, so different from those on whose behalf we cry out, the words of the Unetaneh Tokef—a prayer that inspires fear and awe during the High Holidays—came to me.
Both the Unetaneh Tokef and the impact of this list of killings of Black Americans (compiled by an unknown community member) inspired “Unetaneh Tokef for Black Lives”.
Each day we hazard our Black lives in the Court of the White World
We know our worth
Yet the white world is judge-self-appointed
We pass before you to be counted
12.5 million bodies stolen
1.8 million mercifully avoided your shores
Stolen shores, stolen land
10.7 million arrived unsafely
…times 401 years
…times infinite human indignities
…times ⅗ of a human being
We now number 47.8 million
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June 4, 2020 by admin
Black Lives Matter: Read, Learn, and Act
In the wake of this most recent horrific moment of racist violence and white supremacy, the Lilith staff would like to share the articles we’ve been reading and rereading–the organizations we’ve been following, and resources we’ve been turning to.
We also want to hear from you: what have you been reading, asking, wrestling with, learning from, supporting? Because we’re in this with you- committing to listen, deepen our anti-racism learning & act in solidarity with Black communities, Jews of Color, Indigenous people, & communities of color for racial equity and a just world.
Read
- We are Dying Because of the Fears of White People by Dena Robinson for Lilith Magazine.
- It looks like Amy Cooper, the white woman in the viral Central Park video, is a liberal. That’s important. By Nylah Burton for The Independent.
- As the George Floyd protests continue, let’s be clear where the violence is coming from. By Rebecca Solnit for the Guardian.
Watch
- Ask Yourself by Lauren Whitney.
Donate
There are so many organizations doing incredible racial justice work. We wanted to highlight the following organizations that are run for and by women of color.
- Sister Song is a Southern-based organization with a purpose to build an effective network of individuals and organizations to improve institutional policies and systems that impact the reproductive lives of marginalized communities.
- The Loveland Foundation is an organization that provides financial assistance to Black women and girls seeking mental health support.
- #FreeBlackMamas is an annual campaign by National Bail Out seeking to raise awareness about the human and financial costs of money bail and emphasize its impact on Black mothers and caregivers.
Learn
- The Anti-Racism Resources List is a comprehensive list of resources to learn and engage in anti-racism work.
- 26 Ways to be in the Struggle Beyond the Streets is a list designed to celebrate all the ways that our communities can engage in liberation.
- Your Kids Aren’t Too Young to Talk About Race: Resource Roundup is a list of resources that are targeted at parents who want to teach their children to be anti-racist.
- The 1619 Project is an ongoing initiative from The New York Times Magazine that began in August 2019, the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.
Act
- #JusticeforFloyd: Demand the officers who killed George Floyd are charged with murder is a petition demanding the along with Derek Chauvin, the other three officers be arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
- NAACP: We Are Done Dying is a petition with 4 main demands. These are to arrest the remaining 3 officers involved in George Floyd’s murder, demand appointment of an independent special processor to lead the government’s full and impartial investigation of the murder of George Floyd, demand reinstitution by the Department of Justice of consent decrees on police departments and municipal governments across this country that have demonstrated patterns of racism towards and mistreatment of people of color, and demand for sweeping police reform, including federal legislation mandating a zero-tolerance approach in penalizing and/or prosecuting police officers who kill unarmed, non-violent, and non-resisting individuals in an arrest.
- Black Lives Matter: #DefundThe Police is a petition that calls for the end to the systemic racism that allows this culture of corruption to go unchecked and our lives to be taken. They call for a national defunding of police and investment in Black communities.
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