Links I Loved Last Week 7/10/16

I’ve taken a few weeks off from my weekly Links I Loved feature, and I am sad to be back with another edition focused exclusively on readings about race and police violence.

Phil Nel’s blog post title captures my feelings about this week: Again. And Again. And… ENOUGH.

Chris Lehmann reminds us that white teachers absolutely have to take a role in addressing racial inequality and oppression. He shares ideas for how we might do this as well.

John Metta’s piece, I, Racist, is one of the best things I read this week. Written a year ago after the Charleston Church killings,  it’s a perceptive and powerful analysis of why his conversations about race with white people tend to break down and become unproductive. A really important analysis for white people to read, reflect, and act upon.

Kara Brown struggles with how to continue writing about the murder of black people by police in  Am I Going to Write about Murdered Black People Forever? 

Paddy Gilger (my former colleague!) and Matt Spotts also ask What Can Words Do? in the wake of more murders.

In a piece from 2014 focused on #NativeLivesMatter, Johnnie Jae explains how the #AllLivesMatter movement “hijack[s] the conversation” and erases the narratives of people of color.

Jess Lifshitz reminds us that when we feel powerless to effect change, we can still share stories.

Books are a great way to initiate and focus conversations, and a Minnesota librarian has created a solid #BlackLivesMatter reading list for teen readers.

I also had to revisit Clint Smith’s powerful TED Talk, How to Raise a Black Son in America, this week.

Rafranz Davis frames Another Night, Another Shooting from the perspective of being the mother of a black son and wonders what the new rules are that will keep our sons safe and alive.

As the mother of a son who “interrupt[s] injustice at every opportunity,” I found some comfort and hope in Sabrina Stevens’s words about how we have to parent our children from a place of love and joy, not fear, and her reminder that “nothing can save us from state violence, except ending state violence.”