How useful are they really?
Let’s be honest; white racial justice leaders are experts at performative allyship.
When you forge a fulfilling career out of being a great ally, public image is everything. You must appear to know all the current and classic anti-racist literature, you don’t have to read them, just know about them. You must quickly adapt to all the new rules about socially acceptable jargon. You must ensure that you are surrounded by black or POC executive staff who are willing to take a bullet for you at any given moment. And you must always, always appear completely oblivious to the fact…
She is acutely aware that they pay her less than she deserves, and has learned to bargain for every inkling of fairness or favor that she is owed
With a star-studded cast and equally impressive names behind the camera, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom was one to watch. It debuted on Netflix in December 2020 to much less fanfare than deserved, but made waves all the same, with flawless performances and a narrative both timely and timeless.
A group of black male musicians gather in a room to rehearse, and immediately their personalities jostle for space. Watching them interact is like sitting in a barber shop; witty banter, teasing and storytelling abound. Levee, played by Chadwick Boseman, enters the scene dripping with swagger, adamant that he doesn’t need to…
I recognize myself in my grandmother’s eyes.
My cousin showed me an old picture of her that they had just found. She looked so strong and serene and beautiful and fierce. I missed her. I missed that I never got to know her as I got older. I knew she would have been proud of the woman I had become. We had the same look in our eyes, her and I. The same determination.
I remembered the nights she fed me rice and butter as a child. She had a shadowy little house on the hill, wore a black slip…
Many people were eager to read Former President Barack Obama’s statement on the Capitol riots when it was posted on Wednesday evening. A well-phrased condemnation of the attack, expertly weaving both political blame and political praise, it could perhaps be described as “presidential.” However, his statement cleverly avoided mentioning the elephant running a rampage in the room — the fact that this was white power on full display. It was a missed opportunity for him to show an inkling of solidarity with the anti-racism efforts that have characterized the past year, and even the elections themselves.
Hint: It’s Not Rocket Science
A woman found my email address and emailed me after my second article was published in Nonprofit Quarterly.
She didn’t strike me as the writing type, but still, she picked her words very carefully, “thanking” me for my “opinion” piece that she happened across.
This person lived in Chicago and wanted to ask my advice on how to fix the violent crime there in the urban communities (my summary). So basically, “I’ve read your views on false white allyship in the nonprofit industry but…what about black on black crime? What are your views on that?”
I laughed at the thought…
I can’t do this anymore.
I can’t live my life trying to ignore this glaring problem, just because processing it would mean facing the pain.
Mindlessly scrolling through Tik Tok last night I stumbled upon a video of a man in the passenger’s seat of a car, a female companion recording him from the driver’s seat. A few seconds in, he is calmly asking the camera “Is it lawful for police to ask for ID of the person in the passenger seat?” or something along those lines. He barely gets out the point he is making when suddenly the two…
Black employee, white workplace, recipe for disaster
My Linked In profile could use some serious revamping.
I have the same old photos from when I was a Languages Intern at the UN, the highlight of my life back then. Me looking intelligent as I give a presentation — the cover photo. Me smiling warmly with my face a little too close to the camera — my profile photo. I realize my best bet is to take a hint from all those professional accounts out there and post a proper photo. One that says “I am a successful professional who loves my job”. Except I’m not. But it’s…
The white community, however, desperately needs you
If there’s one thing I’ve come to notice about white liberals in the 5 short years I’ve known them, they love to “fix” us, they love to “help” us.
They get fancy social work degrees and decide to take their expertise to the black community, where they are obviously much needed. They love to educate and mentor black youth. They love to eradicate all the “toxic masculinity” from black men. They love to provide black women and girls a healthy outlet for their anger. …
It may go down as one of the most devastating verdicts of our time
It may go down as one of the most devastating verdicts of our time.
On the chilly afternoon of Wednesday 23rd September 2020, we did not receive justice for Breonna Taylor.
We anticipated it, when we saw that Daniel Cameron, the Attorney General of Louisville, Kentucky, was a proud Trump supporter, and was given the opportunity to speak at the Republican National Convention. We expected it when we saw that it took several months to get to this decision. …
The Kenosha Killer who was almost a police officer
Kyle Rittenhouse haunts me.
The 17 year old made national headlines when he illegally crossed state lines armed with an AR-15 and shot 3 people at a protest in Kenosha. Two of them died, the last got their arm blown off.
I saw the pictures of him, how young and zealous and misguided he looked. I saw the video footage of him shooting at those people, how they tried to disarm him but failed. He walked triumphantly toward the police with his arms up, the enormous gun swinging against his chest, and multiple police cars drove past him even as…
Anastasia Reesa Tomkin
Writer, Visionary, War Strategist ;) If you like my writing here, you will loveee my poetry collection “Delusions of Grandeur”, now available on Amazon!
