Episode list

As I am learning more about antiracism, I began thinking of other words that start with ANTI...which lead me down a biological rabbit hole into a fun game of Weird Science. An antibody is used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects, such as antigens, in the human body. In this episode, I explore how antiracism is the antibody for the HUMANITY BODY - fighting the toxic and imbalanced antigen of racism. Come play this strange social biology game with me so we can all come together and attack the DIS-EASE of our country and world - the destructive cancer of Racism. And now look at that. Science helping society. If you believe in Science, that is. ;)

As I dive into our criminal (in)justice system, I am learning about the racial disparities of BIPOC - not only in arrests, pretrial processes, and convictions, but also in the severity of their sentencing - compared to their white brethren. For example, 70% of the 367 DNA exonerees to date were non-white. When I went beyond looking at the heavily Black and brown colors of our correctional system, I saw the horrors of what is going on behind the walls and bars of our prisons and jails. It is hauntingly familiar to the factory farm videos I watched years ago-videos that immediately turned me vegan. This led me to see that American prisons are the new factory farms. The similarities between factory farms and prisons are many but I start here with the main 3 that I recognize. Just a head's up, there are some slightly disturbing photos included, but I hope they help you realize the inhumanity that we are creating - and allowing - in our country.

Let's talk about White Privilege, shall we? White privilege is something I have been oblivious to my entire life and have only recently started to understand. In reading Peggy McIntosh's essay, "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack," I began to see the unearned advantages I, as a white person, have walked around with daily. Advantages that BIPOC did not, and do not, have. I learned why I was oblivious for so long and why some want me to stay that way. But I am no longer ignorant and am taking off my invisible knapsack of white privilege. I'd love for you to join me.

Now that we know the definition of white privilege, I want to really show you what it looks like in our daily lives. In Peggy McIntosh's essay, "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack," McIntosh creates a list of 50 of these daily conditions that we white folks enjoy, solely from the color of our skin. This list fascinates, mortifies, and challenges me - to really stay awake in seeing where my white privilege lurks - daily - and to be better in not allowing it to continue. I picked 12 conditions from this list to share with you so you can see what a sneaky and brilliant adversary we are dealing with. I was oblivious to these simple "perks" that are actually just normal life for white folk...but not for anyone else. It was shocking to me to really see how these unearned advantages are hidden in so many parts of my life. Please share any Daily Effects you think of or experience so we can continue to check ourselves - and our privilege - and dig it out of the culture we have unconsciously allowed to be the "societal" norm.

I wrote this poem for my fellow white folk to better understand the harm that is done when saying "All Lives Matter" in response to Black Lives Matter. This movement, this meaning, is not that white lives don't matter, it's that Black lives don't matter ENOUGH, and certainly not equally. When we, as a society, are able to end the poverty, control, and surveillance of Black people, every person in this world has a better chance at getting, and staying, free. When Black people get free, everyone gets free. When Black people matter, then all people matter. So, white folk, "let's break some things down so you really can see and stop offending all with your idiocracy."

Who's hungry for a yummy slice of Racist Pie? Come join me on "Cookin' with Crackers" as I make my great great great Grandmamma's 400-year-old recipe. The ingredients can be a bit temperamental and hard to work with as they are based in hundreds of years of discrimination and intolerance, but that's the beauty of Southern tradition. Let's get Cookin'. You might be shocked to see how it turns out.

Let's talk White Silence in under 90 seconds. Silence of any kind can be painful; being seen or heard is a basic human need. Yet when we white folks are silent in our actions, in our words, in our lives, and on social media, we cause pain to People of Color. Silence hurts but our silence can actually kill. It's time to bring sound to the silence.

Silence from a friend or colleague can not only be harmful, it can cost you your job and definitely your friendship. Now imagine if that silence can actually cost someone their life...because it can. Silence is complicity in allowing the systems of violence, inequity, and suppression to continue. White silence of any kind makes you a Karen-so don't be a Karen. Here are just a few examples of white silence in action: -Staying silent when you see your colleagues of color being discriminated against at work. -Staying silent by choosing not to engage in any conversations about race because of your white fragility. -Staying silent by not attending protest marches against racism like Black Lives Matter or protests for immigrants at risk. -Staying silent by not sharing social media posts about race and racism in your spaces because of the way it might affect your personal or professional life, or simply reposting the posts of BIPOC but not adding your own voice or perspective. -Staying silent about your antiracism work for fear of losing friends and followers. -Staying silent by not holding those around you accountable for their racist behavior. -Staying silent when you witness other white people use their white privilege, white fragility, or tone policing against BIPOC. (examples of white silence are from "Me and White Supremacy" by Layla F. Saad)

Welcome to Whintervention - or White Intervention - a new rehabilitation center for white people who need a racial intervention. If you or anyone you know could use a nice, white intervention, stop watching Fox News, get off Parler, put down that "All Lives Matter" sign, and call now. We offer many perks here at Whintervention and will happily rehab each and every white folk - One (Antiracist) Day at a Time.

Defund the police is not a "snappy slogan," it is a demand for policy change. Billions of dollars are allocated for police budgets each year to fund the abuse and over-policing of Black and brown neighborhoods. Besides wanting to remove police as responders for "non-criminal" calls (homeless services, traffic enforcement, mental health emergencies, substance abuse, public transit and other areas of social service that do not merit armed law enforcement responses), defund the police is a demand to take the billions given to police and sheriff departments and put them into resources and the actual communities themselves. Beyond wanting to end police abuse and the excess amount of city and state funds allocated to law enforcement, abolition is truly about imagination. Imagining what life could be if these resources WERE put into these communities. Into services. Into care. Into programs and health and wellness. Truly imagining what could be. If we had all the resources that go into these "blue lives," just think what we could actually do for Black lives. We don't know what a world without police looks like and it is hard to imagine. But we have to try and we have to begin somewhere. Let's daydream and imagine and create it together - a world without police abuse and a world where everyone actually has what they need. This is the world I want to live in. What does your world look like?