We have been completely outraged, upset, shocked and devastated about the horrible murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tamir Rice and so many more, which has brought to light the systemic racism in our nation and throughout the world. We just watched LA92, a film about the riots that erupted in LA after the acquittal of four police officers filmed beating Rodney King. We highly recommend watching this film (and many more listed in this resource).
Although the donation-based yoga classes, additional donations, petitions, books, posts, movies and protests have helped us learn more about the work we have to do to facilitate lasting change, this is nearly not enough, and the efforts need to continue on a global scale.
Jonah and I fully understand that we come from privilege. Frankly, I have had privilege guilt for quite sometime. I know that our lifestyle is not the norm and I know that many people do not live the same way that we do. However, ’seeing’ it and recognizing our own white privilege is the first step in the process. Personally, I know we have all experienced trauma, but I cannot wrap my mind around the trauma that people of color experience everyday and the ancestral trauma that has been carried throughout the generations. We have to help. The time is now. We desperately want to assist in the change and want to see our future brighter, equal and more educated. Here we are including some resources (thank you SheBrand and Christopher Robert, and everyone speaking out right now). We will continue to update this resource page as things shift.
Please know that one person cannot do everything, but as a collective we have power in numbers. Please start with educating yourself on systemic racism and white fragility. Have the difficult conversations with your family. Start in your own home and begin to work outward. We can all make a difference.
If you have any resources you’d like to add, please send us an email at info@bzenwellness.com.
Thank you for helping us make a change!
SPOTLIGHT ON BIPOC INDIVIDUALS:
MLK, Jr.
Rosa Parks
Bayard Rustin
Maya Angelou
Audre Lorde
Angela Davis
Marsha P Johnson
Malcom X
George Floyd -2020 (the tipping point to this years of oppression leading to protests today)
Breonna Taylor -2020 (ER tech. police raided wrong residence during “no knock raid” and shot her in bed 8 times) her partner KENNETH WALKER is set to trial for “attempted murder” for his self defense of firing back at the ‘plain-clothed’ police officers.
Eric Garner – killed 2014 (lack of oxygen by police…)
Michael Brown – killed 2014 (shot inside a police cruiser)
Laquan McDonald – killed 2014 (shot 16 times by police while walking away from the office in ‘self defense’)
Tamir Rice – killed 2014 (12 y/o playing with toy gun shot by officer in Cleveland)
Walter Scott -killed 2015 (pulled over for broken tail light, officer used excessive force)
Freddie Gray -killed 2015 (arrested, placed in transport van w/o seatbelt, body found with severed spinal cord and unable to breathe 45 minutes later)
Philando Castile -killed 2016 (reached for wallet, shot 7 times)
Kendrick Johnson – killed 2013 (body discovered in school gym mat, organs missing, died of blunt force trauma, preliminary autopsy showed he died of suicide…)
Rodney King – assaulted by Police in 1991 (turned into activist, 3 of 4 officers were acquitted and thus started the LA riots in 1992. 6 days of riots which involved the CA national guard)
George Stinney -executed 1944 (wrongfully accused of murdering two young white girls in S. Carolina, sentenced to death by electric chair. 70 years later case revealed he had not committed it.
James Byrd, Jr. – killed 1998 (murdered by 3 white supremecists blatantly, tied to a truck and drug over asphalt for 3 miles, arm and head severed only halfway through drive…) (lead to Us Congress and Pres. Obama to sign the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009)
Trayvon Martin -killed 2012 (shot by George Zimmerman under ‘self defense’ at night).
David Dorn -killed 2020 (retired black police officer trying to reason and deescalate ‘looters’ at a pawn shop in st. Louis Missouri, killer unknown)
Sandra Bland -killed 2015 (found hung in jail cell after traffic violation.)
WEBSITES THAT ARE HELPFUL:
Past Black Killings
Wording and Inclusion Etiquette
Mental Health Awareness for POC
Where Black People are Disproportionately Killed
Petition Site
Locally Owned Black Businesses (Lane County)
NAACP – National
The Color of Change
BLM
US Congressional Black Caucus
The BIPOC project
For Whites Who Want To Be Allies
Email Your State Representatives
Know the Difference Between Actor, Ally, and Accomplice
White Allyship 101 (loads of resources here)
Hidden History in OREGON
Being Black in Bend (TED Talk)
25 New and Established Black-owned Home Decor Brands.
WHERE TO DONATE:
How to Support BLM Protestors in Every City
Advancement Project
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Audre Lorde Project
Black Lives Matter
Black Visions Collective
Black Voters Matter
Campaign Zero
Color of Change
NAACP Legal Defense Fund
National Bail Fund Network
National Urban League
Race Forward
Reclaim the Block
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Loveland Foundation
BOOKS:
The New Jim Crow , Michelle Alexander
White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide , Carol Anderson
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou (Memoir)
How to Be an Antiracist, Ibram Kendi
Citizen, Claudia Rankine
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches, Audre Lorde
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People about Race, Reni Eddo-lodge
White Fragility, Robin Diangelo
Brown Girl Dreaming, Jacqueline Woodson
The Hate You Give, Angie Thomas
Dear Martin, Nic Stone
A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn
Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower, Brittney Cooper
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness, Austin Channing Brown
Me and White Supremacy, Layla F. Saad
So You Want To Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo
Women, Race & Class, Angela Y. Davis
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race, Beverly Daniel Tatum, Phd
MOVIES/SHOWS:
LA92
13th (Netflix) -Very Insightful!
The Death and Life of Marsha P Johsnon
Explained: the Racial Wealth Gap
Just Mercy (free for a limited time by Warner Bros, viewable most places like Youtube)
12 Years A Slave
Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland
Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise
Selma
If Beale Street Could Talk (bawl my eyes out)
The Black Power Mixtape 1967 – 1975
I Am Not Your Negro
Teach Us All
VOTE:
Register to Vote
Request an absentee ballot
Vote Save America
MOTTOS/PHRASES/SLOGANS:
White Silence is Compliance
Silence is Violence
No Justice, No Peace
Color is Not a Crime
“I Can’t Breathe”
SLOGANS AND PHRASES THAT DETER BLM:
All Lives Matter
Blue Lives Matter
White Lives Matter
“I Don’t See Color”/“Colorblind”
WHO TO FOLLOW:
Alicia Garza
Andrea Ranae
Austin Channing Brown
Bernice A. King
Brittany Packnett Cunningham
Desiree Adaway
Ericka Hines
Layla F. Saad
Opal Tometi
Patrisse Cullors-Brignac
Rachel Elizabeth Cargle
Rachel Rodgers
CRISIS RESOURCES IN EUGENE, OR:
Options After-Hours Crisis Line 541-607-4952
CAHOOTS Eugene 541-682-5111
CAHOOTS Springfield 541-726-3714
White Bird 541-687-4000
Suicide Hotline 800-273-8255
Oregon Warm Line 800-698-2392
SASS 541-343-7277; 800-698-2392
Womenspace 541-485-6513; 800-281-2800
Sex Assault Hotline 800-656-4673
Crisis Text Line text “start” to 741-741
Hourglass 541-505-8426
WellMama Support Line 800-896-0410
Station 7 Respite (11-17 years old) 541-689-3111
Child and Teen Crisis Response 24/7 (for parents and providers) 888-989-0410
Trevor Lifeline (LGBT+ youth) 866-488-7386
TransLife Line 877-565-8860 or www. translifeline.org
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