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In the wake of recent #BlackLivesMatter civil unrest, protests, and uprisings 540WMain (like so many other Black led organizations) received a deluge of training, workshop, and consultation requests. The following letter is an edited version of a correspondence I recently shared with one of the white led organizations that reached out to 540WMain. As an equity, justice and antiracism educator it crucial for me to work within a framework of integrity and ethics and not treat this work as merely transactional. This work is complex, and emotionally intense. Talking about racism is not political but a public health crisis. Dismantling structural racism is a matter of life or death. Perhaps now more than ever how I enter and engage in this work and these conversations is just as important as having the conversation. It is my hope in sharing this letter that all white led organizations carefully reflect on the messages contained within and lead themselves to do better as they embark (in many cases for the first time ever) on equity and justice work at the institutional level.
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“Racism is a public health crisis and therefore cannot be a list to check off as done or a one off discussion”
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It is essential to engage in this meaningful and essential pre-work before reaching out to 540WMain or any other Black led group or person. In your haste to jump into these conversations you can recreate systems of oppression, harm, and toxicity that have long been tenets of white supremacy and detrimental to Black professionals and non-white people of color. It is also important to recognize that Black staff, groups and others have the right to choose whether or not they want to engage in this work with you and have every right to decline.
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This is a call for you to do the work and do better as you do the work.
P.S: We are working very hard behind the scenes as an organization to develop a training protocol for antiracism facilitators at 540WMain. As our work grows it has become increasingly imperative that facilitation of 540WMain programming cannot fall on the shoulders of one person but needs to be a collective effort. This fact is one that I have long been aware and I am holding myself accountable to change this. Stay tuned for some soon to come announcements.
(he/his/him) Calvin Eaton is a community educator, content creator, and social entrepreneur, whose area of expertise includes antiracism education, instructional design, and program development. In 2016 Mr. Eaton founded 540WMain a non-profit online and community-based organization for accessible education and events that promote justice for all.
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While the past four years have been filled with wonderful moments of community engagement and enrichment, we assert that much more must be done and we need you on board to support. We want to make Rochester a more equitable community, but we cannot do it alone.
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Are you unsure of how to help or where to start when it comes to anti-racism and social justice?
THESE are important first steps.
1) Help us reach 100+ sustaining monthly members for as little as $3 a month (we are only 15 away!) HERE: www.patreon.com/540wmain
2) Donate to our fundraiser HERE: facebook.com/donate
3) Follow along on Facebook and Instagram for highlights of the past 4 years, anti-racism resources, blog posts, and giveaways from local vendors.
mailing address P.O. BOX 10011, Rochester, NY 14610 • info540westmain@gmail.com
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Is it OK if I paste this to my FB page? I realize that, as a subscriber to 540WMain, I see content that others cannot access. Thanks!
Of course. This blog post is available to the public.