Day 13: Anti-Racism & Allyship

DAY 13 Of YWCA Spokane’s 14-Day Racial Equity & Social Justice Challenge

We hope this challenge provides you with an opportunity to better understand concepts related to race, power, privilege, and leadership.

DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 | DAY 5 | DAY 6 | DAY 7 | DAY 8 | DAY 9 | DAY 10 | DAY 11 | DAY 12 | DAY 13 | DAY 14

Thank you for taking this challenge! If this is your first day of joining us for the 14-Day Racial Equity & Social Justice Challenge, welcome. If you are returning after previous engagement with the challenge, nice work! We are glad you are here. Each weekday from Tuesday, June 8th through Friday, June 25th, YWCA Spokane will send those who sign up for our challenge emails prompting you to make time to learn about racial equity and social justice.

We encourage everyone to talk about what you are learning with friends, share on social media with #ywcaequitychallenge, and take time to reflect on your personal insights after each challenge using this reflection log. Consider joining our Racial & Social Justice Facebook Group to continue the conversation online and connect with others.

DAY 13: anti-racism & allyship

As you approach the end of the challenge, you’re probably starting to wonder what comes next. Have I fulfilled my duties as an anti-racist by digesting this content for 14 days? The answer is no. While this challenge may have been your first step to engaging in racial justice work, there is a lot of work to be done to dismantle systemic racism, and we need everyone, in every space, to do it.

Systemic racism exists in every corner of our society. To put an end to this it is not enough to not be racist. Each of us is responsible for using our privilege to address racism when it shows up and be proactively anti-racist in the spaces we inhabit like our job, school, religious institution, family, or neighborhood. What does that mean? It doesn’t require that you always know the right thing to say or do in any given situation. Anti-racism asks that you take action and work against racism wherever you find it, including — and perhaps most especially — in yourself. It is an active way of seeing and being in the world, in order to transform it including the recognition that racism is complicated and reinforced by other forms of oppression.

This is critical because we often inhabit monolithic spaces where diverse perspectives aren’t heard. Often, being actively anti-racist will require us to give something up — our comfort, a relationship, a job opportunity, or a policy that benefits us — in order to dismantle racist systems. If we really want to eliminate racism, we must commit to being active accomplices even when it’s hard, rather than engaging in performative activism.

If you have…

5 Minutes	and	20 Minutes	and	1 hour
	and		and
Watch this conversation  that explores how white people can turn performative support into true allyship.	and	Read this article or listen to this podcast that provides four tips for working towards anti-racism in your life.	and	Listen to this podcast that unpacks what authentic allyship means.

daily Reflection

Once you have completed today’s challenge, take a moment to reflect on any insights you experienced. How did the challenge make you feel? What is something you learned? Did you notice anything about yourself after taking the challenge? Consider sharing this new awareness with a friend or group to help deepen your understanding of the information. Consider tracking your reflections on the below daily log or joining our online Facebook group to encourage daily sharing with each other about the challenge topics.

Challenge Reflection Log

Share each challenge online with #YWCAEquityChallenge

DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 | DAY 5 | DAY 6 | DAY 7 | DAY 8 | DAY 9 | DAY 10 | DAY 11 | DAY 12 | DAY 13 | DAY 14

Do you have resources you think we should share? Any insights you would like to share with us? We welcome you to leave your comments here. Thank you!