Hi, Everyone,
I’m addressing the group of us at the Zoom happy hour inspired by James Shapiro’s new book, Shakespeare in a Divided America: What His Plays Tell Us About Our Past and Future, but I couldn’t single our small group out, so I hope no one minds getting this email.
What can I/we do? was a question several people at the happy hour asked themselves aloud. The question reminded me of a moment in a PBS News Hour Special "Race Matters: America in Crisis,” aired in early June, that knocked me out.
Moderator Judy Woodruff, toward the end of her interview with Black filmmaker Ava DuVernay, asked what DuVernay would say to white people about what they could do. DuVernay's answer gave me, and I hope all viewers of the program, just what I hadn’t quite figured out I had been profoundly longing to hear:
"I have a lot of white people calling and texting me, great
friends of mine, people that I love dearly, asking me, what do I do? And my
answer is, Educate yourself.
There have been white allies throughout the history of
America who have gotten together and come up with muscular strategies for
change. And many of them have worked. I feel like this “What do I do? What do
I do?” …. really is asking for Black labor— in this moment—to help you think
through what to do. Trust me: there’s something to do, right where you are.”
The whole segment, which includes an introduction to the program and another impressive interviewee, Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, is about 14 minutes long and is, to my mind, a must- watch. Here’s the link:
Thank you for letting me drop by your Sunday afternoon!
Alice