Awareness isn’t enough. Transformation is what’s needed.

As I’ve watched and listened and despaired these last few weeks, I’ve thought of something I’d written here on the blog after reading Austin Channing Brown’s I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness

I learned a lot from this book. I found corners of my heart and mind that I didn’t know existed, corners that need examination and change. Awareness isn’t enough. Transformation is what’s needed. 

I still have a long way to go. There’s more listening and reading and examination ahead. My prayer for our country (and myself) is one of transformation.

Here are some links that have been meaningful to me in light of this current moment — as a reader, a writer, a mother, and a human being:

Tiffany D. Jackson’s letter to young Black women :: Cosmopolitan

Being Nice is Not Going to End Racism :: Robin DiAngelo

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream: The Duty of the Black Writer During Times of American Unrest :: Tochi Onyebuchi for Tor

Do I Need to Write Children’s Books Right Now? :: Laura Purdie Salas

Books to Help You Talk About Racism with Your Child :: Read Aloud Revival

31 children’s books to support conversations on race, racism, and resistance :: embrace race

A Liturgy for a Time of Widespread Suffering