Welcome! This page is for registrants in our Summer, 2020 Study, Support & Action caucus. Please do not share this page with anyone who is not registered for the caucus. You are welcome to share specific study materials, but not the link to the page – which will include links to recordings as these come available.
Study Materials: Study materials for June 21, June 28 and July 5 are posted below. Our goal is to limit expected study to 30-60 minutes, while sharing a few related resources for those of you who would like to take a deeper dive.
Recordings: We will post links to recordings of each meeting at the top of the list of study materials for that meeting by middle-of-the-day Monday after that Sunday’s session. Recordings will be available for one week only (through the end of the day of the following Sunday), and then taken down.
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PARTICIPANT DIRECTORY
You can find links to download your Participant Directory as a pdf or excel file here.
FACEBOOK GROUP – request to join here
- Write us at info@whiteawake.org if your FB profile name is different from the name you used to register. We cross check FB requests with the participant list.
- FB Group norms: Please review the guidelines for engagement on the page and ensure that we approach one another online with the same respect, curiosity and care that we are bringing to our caucus meetings.
COURSE SURVEY – please share about your experience with us!
We learn so much for our participants. If you can help us grow by filling out our online survey, we would appreciate that greatly. 🙂 Entries are anonymous unless you choose to share your name. You can access the survey here.
Study Materials for June 21
Theme: Basic concepts
Recording of video conference is no longer available
Archived chat log can be found here
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Please spend some time with these three resources before our June 21 call:
- What is White Supremacy – Elizabeth Martínez (10-20 min read)
- White America’s Well-Being Depends on this Movement, Too – David Dean (5 min read and/or 7 min watch & read)
- Ep. 90: No More Police State (feat. Alex S. Vitale) – Michael Moore’s Podcast Rumble (listen to first 17 minutes)
Deeper study on related themes, for now or later:
- Birth of a White Nation – Jacqueline Battalora (36 min watch)
- A History of Policing – excerpts from book by Dr. Gary Potter (10 min read)
- Police: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver – (33 min watch)
Study Materials for June 28
Theme: Defund the Police (inc getting involved and taking action)
Recording of video conference is no longer available
Archived chat log can be found here
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This is a longer study assignment (likely 60 minutes total)
Please spend time with the following four resources before our June 28 call:
- Defund Police: Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor Says Budgets Wrongly Prioritize Cops Over Schools, Hospitals – Democracy Now! (listen to all of what Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor shares, about 6 min in total; alternatively, you can read the transcript)
- Ep. 90: No More Police State (feat. Alex S. Vitale) – Michael Moore’s Podcast Rumble (start at 19 min into the audio, listen for about 14 minutes, stopping at 33:30 mark)
- Activity: when you stop the audio make a list of the concrete types of activities Vitale just described, and do a some research into who, in your city or region, is already doing this work; consider what you can do to plug in and organize your friends, neighbors, etc
- Shahid Buttar on Useful Idiots – watch about 5 minutes starting from the point the link takes you to (starting at 45 min in and watching through 50 min)
- Building Accountable Relationships with Communities of Color: Some Lessons Learned – 15-20 min read
- This Pax Christi resource is specific in its focus (it is written for other Pax Christi groups), however we feel that the information in it can be translated to your situation as a white (or non-black) person who has ties and networks with other folks who may want to build relationship and join with (or lend support to) local, POC-led initiatives around policing in your area.
- We hope you will not see anything written in this resources as a hard and fast “rule”, but rather consider the elements of the resource that might be useful for you as you plug into local organizing for the long haul
Deeper study on related themes, for now or later:
- Krystal Ball on the effectiveness of local action (Defund the Police) – Rising, Hill TV
- If you are not familiar with the show, please note the set-up: Krystal is on the “left” and Saagar is on the “right”, but they are both “populists”, meaning that they share a commitment to the well-being of working people
- What does ‘defund the police’ mean? – The Guardian
- I’m a Minneapolis City Council Member. We Must Disband the Police—Here’s What Could Come Next – Steve Fletcher
- Shahid Buttar on Useful Idiots, Interview Only – link takes you 20 minutes into the interview; what follows is most relevant to this caucus, though the entire interview is valuable
Study Materials for July 5
Theme: Political Analysis & Communicating with Others
Recording of video conference no longer available.
Archived chat log can be found here
Mentioned during call:
- Visualization of the wealth of the super-rich shown to scale: https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/
- Rednecks for Black Lives
- Indigenous Land Acknowledgement (also: https://native-land.ca/)
- Alternative link and suggestions for getting past paywall to access Sanders piece (below)
- Useful Idiots link (starting at clip shared in meeting): https://youtu.be/0kFTtR34cek?t=6558
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Please spend time with the following four resources before our July 5 call:
- Solidarity for Survival: an Interview with Ian Haney Lopez – listen to intro (1st 3 min only; transcription also available below audio)
- Democrats can win by tackling race and class together. Here’s proof – 7 min read
- Protesting Police Violence: A Race-Class Messaging Guide – 10 min read
- Bernie Sanders: The straightest path to racial equality is through the one percent – 10 min read
- If you are having trouble accessing the article, try using a different browser or opening a private tab.
- You can also access the same article on the Spokesman-Review here.
Deeper Study, for now or later:
- Solidarity for Survival: an Interview with Ian Haney Lopez – entire interview
- Krystal Ball: A response to our critics – 13 min monologue
- If you are not familiar with the show, please note the set-up: Krystal is on the “left” and Saagar is on the “right”, but they are both “populists”, meaning that they share a commitment to the well-being of working people
Study Materials for July 12
Theme: Organizing for the Long Haul
Recording of video conference no longer available.
Archived chat log can be found here
Mentioned during call:
- The Costs of Oppression to People of Privileged Groups – Diane Goodman
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Please spend time with the following four resources before our July 12 call:
- How to get involved in an activist organization and become a valuable volunteer––starting today – Business Insider (10-20 min read)
- Down Home North Carolina report: “No One’s Ever Asked Me Before” – Conversations with North Carolina’s Rural Communities – (10-15 min to read selection listed below)
- Building the Power to Win – Jane McAlevey (5 min watch)
- The Most Effective Way to Stop Police Terror is at the Point of Production – Jacobin interview with Clarence Thomas (labor leader) / (10-15 min read)
Deeper Study for now or later:
- Oakland has a school-to-prison pipeline. The teachers’ strike is our best hope to end it. – Shane Ruiz
- Reclaiming Populism: We Need a Multiracial, Working Class Alignment / Ted Fertik & Maurice Mitchell for the Boston Review
- The End of Black Politics / Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor: “Our best leaders are organizers and workers — not elected officials.”
- Why the Working Class? / Vivek Chibber in Jacobin
- Matt Stoller: How we MUST reclaim economic power … / Rising
Resources for Action
We will add to this section of the participant page over the next few weeks, while the caucus meets. If you have suggestions, feel free to pass them along via info@whiteawake.org
For educators of youth and children:
Zinn Project “Teaching the Roots of the Rebellion” | Resources for youth & child educators
Donations that can make a difference now:
Support Minneapolis Racial Justice Organizations | Reclaim the Block and Black Visions Collective are encouraging donations to these lesser known Minneapolis racial justice organizations
List of Bail Funds for Protestors across the Country | including: National Bail Fund Network & The Bail Project
National Lawyers Guild | “Human rights over property interests”
Supporting Local Demands:
Support the Breathe Act – Movement for Black Lives / M4BL
Email your local SURJ (Showing Up For Racial Justice) Chapter and ask how you can join the fight to defund the police in your area | SURJ (sign up for their mailing list for updates from national organizers)
Movement for Black Lives Local Demands in Washington D.C., Indianapolis, Louisville, Tallahassee, Minneapolis, and Atlanta | M4BL
Take Action to Defund the Police in Los Angeles | People’s Budget LA
Resources for Accountability & Action for Black Lives | Carlisa of Atlanta Resistance Revival
How to talk about this movement:
Defund the Police Messaging Guidance | The Movement for Black Lives
Protesting Police Violence: A Race-Class Messaging Guide | Ian Haney López
Long-term engagement in positive social change:
People’s Action is a national network of state & local grassroots power-building organizations united in fighting for justice. Check out their website for way to get involved where you live!
Down Home North Carolina (a People’s Action member organization) is a fabulous example of what multiracial, working class organizing looks like in practice – and potential outlet for folks who live in the mountains of Western NC
How to get involved in an activist organization and become a valuable volunteer––starting today – Business Insider
Also consider: Our Revolution, the Sunrise Movement, Showing Up for Racial Justice and other progressive networks with local chapters