It’s difficult to think of or write about anything other than the protests going on right now. I hope that everything going on is a necessary step to get the United States to accept its sordid treatment of Black people and into a more fair and equal world. The past few weeks have made race come to the foreground as a topic that must be discussed. In the past I shied away from discussing anything race related; especially coming from my privileged background and despite my intent I was worried about the language I used and concerned about being misinterpreted. Given how pervasive and obvious Black mistreatment is it’s not something that anyone can be silent about. It’s critical for those of us that don’t know about what’s going on to educate ourselves and have the real and honest and often painful conversations. Those in turn will spur action which will lead to us finally tackling the nearly 500 year history of Black oppression.
At work I send a weekly note to the engineering team and this week was focused on resources that can help those unfamiliar with the challenges of being Black in the United States to get educated and I wanted to share them here as well.
- Trevor Noah shares his thoughts on the breaking of the societal contract: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4amCfVbA_c
- conversation between a former police officer and a criminal justice reformer that covers growth of the police state: https://a16z.com/2020/06/03/what-we-cant-reveal-we-cant-heal-transparency-technology-media/
- Short post on showing empathy in these times: https://link.medium.com/MhxpMexYX6
- Interactive series reframing 1619 as the birth of the US and the implications of building the nation on top of slavery: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html
The following are all books that came recommended. I read the last two and am going through the others on the list.
- How to Be an Antiracist (I just started reading this)
- So You Want to Talk About Race
- Algorithms of Oppression
- The Warmth of Other Suns
- The New Jim Crow