These last few weeks, we’ve done a lot of listening, reading and reflecting. We’ve been re-examining a social framework we thought we knew, but see now that we did not understand fully. We see that our fundamental beliefs in equality and justice have not automatically made us advocates – that we’ve been sitting down more than standing up. While we certainly don’t have the answers (nor always know the right things to say), we do know that we cannot stay silent or idle about the injustice against the Black community. To our Black peers, friends and clients: we stand with you.

In digging deeper, we’re seeking to better understand our own white privilege and implicit bias. Equally important, we are imagining the ways we – even as a small business – can move beyond good intentions and create impact.  We, like all businesses and allied voices, carry an obligation to act.

In the push for our own continued education, and in the spirit of accountability to one another, we are extending an invitation – stand up with us. Together, we can spread the conversation.

Come join us in “The Great Un-Learn”. We are committing to Rachel Cargle’s (@rachel.cargle) “The Great Unlearn” (@thegreatunlearn) curriculum so we can not only further our understanding, but share knowledge with one another and to take action. A preeminent voice in activism and anti-racism, Rachel Cargle authored The Great Un-Learn (https://www.patreon.com/thegreatunlearn), a self-priced and self-paced learning community.

We look to authoritative voices because we know we are not experts nor facilitators. In fact, we have more questions than answers. Despite this (in fact, because of this) we must sit in our discomfort, question our assumptions, and expand our knowledge.

If you’d like to join the conversation, let us know HERE by Friday, June 26. We’ll help organize an ongoing small group space to work through her curriculum and determine what comes next. Neighbors of all walks are welcome; together, we must learn from one another and raise our voices.

We acknowledge that ally is a verb not a noun, and we know that a revolution has many lanes. So, whether you join us by protesting, donating, educating, voting, lobbying, or other actions tbd from our group, we believe together we can move beyond discussion to have meaningful impact.

We hope you’ll join us in The Great Un-Learn.

– Jen, Adele & Liz 

PS: In addition to “The Great Un-Learn”, if you’re interested in other resources for even more learning and listening, here are some TDG picks…

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Below are resources and organizations we support and admire.

Books we’re reading
(online order available from local-business Semicolon Bookstore & Gallery):

White Fragility by Robin Diangelo

How to be Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi

Check Your Privilege: Live into the Work by Myisha T Hill

More self-guided learning:

“Justice in June”: become more informed as step one to becoming an active ally to the black community

Voices we’re following (Instagram links): 

Rally+Rise: Redefining what it means to be an activist

Ibram X Kendi: NYT Bestselling Author and director at Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University

ACLU Nationwide : nonprofit, nonpartisan, legal and advocacy org

Official Millennial Black: a manifesto and tool kit for black working women

Black Lives Matter: Official IG for the #BlackLivesMatter Global Network. BLM is a call to action & response to anti-Black racism

Black Lives Matter Chicago

Rachel Cargle : public academic, writer, and lecturer

And  The Great Unlearn: building an intellectual legacy through teaching, storytelling & critical discourse

And The Loveland Foundation: committed to showing up for communities of color in unique and powerful ways, with a particular focus on Black women and girls

Layla F Saad: author of Me and White Supremacy

Check Your Privilege: courses, podcast and book by Myisha T Hill

Jaymal Green: Chicago-based civil rights activist

NAACP: the nation’s first and largest grassroots–based civil rights organization

Movement for Black Lives: national network of over 150 leaders and organizations creating a broad political home for Black people to learn, organize, and take action

Chicago- Based Organizations:

The Bloc: youth mentoring, tutoring and boxing. Also check out the Two Door Group Blog Post here.

Assata’s Daughters: Black woman-led, young person-directed organization rooted in the Black Radical Tradition. AD organizes young Black people in Chicago by providing them with political education, leadership development, mentorship, and revolutionary services.

Brave Space Alliance: the first Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ Center located on the South Side of Chicago, dedicated to creating and providing affirming, culturally competent, for-us by-us resources, programming, and services for LGBTQ individuals on the South and West sides of the city.

Chicago Community Bond Fund: supports individuals whose communities cannot afford to pay the bonds themselves and who have been impacted by structural violence

National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression: organized action against  unjust treatment of individuals because of race or political beliefs

My Block My Hood My City: provides underprivileged youth with an awareness of the world and opportunities beyond their neighborhood

Westside Justice Center: seeks to empower and re-power individuals and communities to demand and attain accountability and greater access to systems of justice.

Additional Resources:

Chicago Reader: A comprehensive guide to donating your money to fight white supremacy and police brutality (June 5, 2020)

Shop and Support Black Owned Businesses