WAYS to LEARN ABOUT and WORK AGAINST RACISM

“University Expansion” is the latest episode in WUOT-FM's series Losing Home, about the impact and
legacy of urban renewal on Knoxville, Tennessee. 4 minute listen and trancript here:
https://www.wuot.org/post/losing-home-university-expansion

Actor, writer and comedian Anna Akana offers guidance for what to do When Your Friend is Kind of
Racist.

Black farmers will start receiving their first payments this month under the Emergency Relief for Farmers
of Color Act. Sponsored by Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, it was part of the latest COVID-19 stimulus
and has been called the most significant legislation for Black farmers since the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
https://www.facingsouth.org/2021/06/institute-index-debt-relief-way-black-
farmers?fbclid=IwAR0nTXM9lWc9cwebSUsPhqgq-AewTWNDlkikPCPms7jySLWM30K53xLt4IY

A look back at images of demonstrations and public outcry one year after the killing of George Floyd,
through 9 separate 'photo essays' depicting the racial justice movement in the past year.
https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/george-floyd-one-year-anniversary

Take a break from reading and listen to teen punk rockers the Linda Lindas perform their song “Racist
Sexist Boy” https://www.npr.org/2021/05/21/999058293/whats-more-punk-than-teens-screaming-in-a-
public-library?fbclid=IwAR0t9nZ1cL0gEHef_U1D5qejoA_Z9noe1uwr7AM-deAzmEhZQVCFXCzt6aI

From white anti-racist educator and author Tim Wise, a short essay about why expressing white shame
isn’t helpful. Wise reminds us instead to take action. Note: language maybe offensive to some.
https://aninjusticemag.com/white-shame-isnt-helpful-ba0e83421a83

Levar Stoney, the mayor of Richmond, Virginia,reflects on taking down the Confederate monuments that
“cast a long, dark shadow over our city.”

Scot Nakagawa is co-founder and Senior Partner of ChangeLab, a national racial equity think/act lab
promoting innovation in racial equity advocacy. In this essay he calls in white people to be antiracist.
https://scotnakagawa.substack.com/p/does-the-us-have-a-white-people-
problem?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&utm_source=copy

Looking ahead:

Thursday, June 24, 7pm Monuments, Memory and the Legacy of White Supremacy hosted by Maryville
Huddle. Guest speaker Connor Towne O’Neill is author of Down Along with That Devil’s Bones: A Reckoning
with Monuments, Memory, and the Legacy of White Supremacy. Registration information forthcoming.

Friday evening, July 16 & Saturday 17 Second Annual Virtual Race Relations Symposium hosted by Blount
County United and Alco- Blount County NAACP. Speakers, workshops for adults and youth and more details to
be announced.

Monthly meetings by Zoom:

Tuesday, June 22, 5pm Blount County SURJ Welcome/Drop In Contact blountcountysurj@gmail.com
Saturday, June 26 11:45am Alcoa-Blount County Branch of the NAACP Contact we41602@aol.com
Saturday, June 26, 1pm Blount County United Contact ramaloha@hotmail.com

On Blount County SURJ’s website https://blountcountysurj.weebly.com you can:

 Sign up for our e-mail list (scroll down to the sign-up form).
 Find this publication under the “Take Action” tab (and older issues under the ‘Archive’ tab).
 Read about our values: https://blountcountysurj.weebly.com/about.html

To share comments after reading/watching any of the suggested materials, contact us at

blountcountySURJ@gmail.com

Visit and share our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/blountcountysurj/

A publication of Blount County Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) June 2021