Anti Racism Discussion Group
Several of our members have asked that we start a discussion group on Anti-Racism Work.
We are forming a monthly discussion group, where we will study on our own a video, essay, book, etc. and then meet to discuss what we have learned and how we can apply it to creating a more inclusive industry.
For our first discussion we will watch
Ibram X. Kendi’s Lecture on How to be an Antiracist, at UC Berkeley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxa43H8m034
We will discuss key questions from the How to Be an Anti-Racist Book Club
And explore and share our experiences within the industry.
If you want to read the book we encourage you to do so. You can order How to Be An Anti Racist directly from the publisher here or from your favorite Independent Bookseller. Consider ordering books from a black-owned bookstore find one here.
This discussion group will be in a safe space and we are working on rules to keep all members safe. We will be sending these out with the Zoom Link.
August 9th at NOON-2 PM PST – 3 to 5 PM EST.
This discussion is planned for 2 hours.
Register here
Why Anti-Racist work?
Using an anti-racist intersectional frame
An anti-racist intersectional frame recognizes all the different ways people and communities experience racism with respect to their identities. An anti-racist frame also recognizes that racism both in the United States & abroad is grounded in and motivated by anti-Black racism. Therefore, an anti-racist intersectional frame provides a conceptual tool to examine institutional and systemic oppression that Black, Indigenous & People of Colour (BIPOC) face because of both their race and identities while providing a guiding approach for working with and in communities and systems to create a more just and equitable society.
How does anti-racist work intersect with sexism and misogyny in the music industry? Intersectional theory asserts that people are often disadvantaged by multiple sources of oppression: their race, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, and other identity markers.
An anti-racist intersectional frame is an action-orientated frame. It critiques society’s structure and its treatment of people and communities while providing a guiding approach for how to work towards a more just and equitable society.
Definitions
Central to using a frame is developing a shared language. The following breaks down individual concepts as a means to better understand what an anti-racist intersectional frame entails.
Anti-racism is the active process of identifying and challenging racism, by changing systems, organizational structures, policies and practices, and attitudes to redistribute power in an equitable manner.
Anti-Black Racism is any attitude, behavior, practice, or policy that explicitly or implicitly reflects the belief that Black people are inferior to another racial group. Anti-Black racism is reflected in interpersonal, institutional, and systemic levels of racism and is a function of white supremacy
A racist idea is any concept that regards one racial group as inferior or superior to another racial group in any way.
Intersectionality is a concept and frame coined by Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989, to describe the ways in which race, class, gender, and other aspects of our identity “intersect” overlap and interact with one another, informing the way in which individuals simultaneously experience oppression and privilege in their daily lives interpersonally and systemically. Intersectionality promotes the idea that aspects of our identity do not work in a silo. Intersectionality, then, provides a basis for understanding how these individual identity markers work with one another.
Resources on Anti-Racist Work and Intersectionality
Kimberlé Crenshaw: What is Intersectionality?
Intersectionality Matters: A Conversation with Kimberlé Crenshaw