Women Will Get It Done
Women have always been instrumental in solving personal, communal and global issues. In your desire to build a strong, intentional community, the women of She Unites Iowa have an opportunity to rise to the occasion as I discuss the delicate and crucial issue of racism.
Racism is still here and women have always played an important role. We are either combating it, or we are consciously or unconsciously contributing to it. Similar to human trafficking, racism is a huge, complicated issue that has a language and systems to which we are often oblivious. As intelligent women who accomplish amazing feats every week, we can educate ourselves on how racism has evolved and how and with what tools we can combat it.
Being colorblind and ‘nice’ isn’t a solution to racism that has lasted for centuries.
Thank you, 1970’s-present day, for the solid effort, but pretending we don’t see color is actively harmful. We have to intentionally acknowledge color and racism. We cannot hope that the next generation will magically be anti-racist, we have to build an anti-racist culture brick by brick. That construction project starts with women. We are tías (aunties), counselors, sisters, mamas, doctors, teachers, CEOs, lawyers, grandmothers, receptionists, daughters, pastors, photographers, bakers, financial advisors and more! Women are our communities’ glue and we have so many avenues of influence. Let’s not let racism continue without a fight.
Historically, women have not always had the platforms, but we were, and are pivotal in solving issues of injustice. Women have been marching, building, organizing and uniting people all throughout history. For the White women reading this, it is important for us to recognize that very few White women have taken the time to fully understand and combat racism. Let’s change that, shall we?
So, what can we do about all this racism happening on our watch?
First up, we have to gain a common understanding and language. Please do not go ask your Black/Indigenous/People Of Color (BIPOC) friend or family member to teach you about racism. No man should say, “Hey, you’re a woman, can you please tell me how sexism, misogyny, or patriarchy have hurt you?”. Where would we even start? And honestly, that question forces us to describe all the painful instances where we were belittled, ridiculed, or even abused. Let's not ask our loved ones to relive their pain for our educational gain.
Every profession has terms and systems that are confusing to the uninitiated. In order to understand a problem we are trying to solve, we need to learn the terminologies, history and systems that created the problem in the first place. In this case, that means learning about racism from the vantage point of BIPOC. BIPOC professionals have been working against and teaching about racism for decades and many of their ancestors taught them how to do anti-racism work (ie: The NAACP, Bernice King, Latasha Morrison).
You can learn terminology and history in a two-for-one way: autobiographies! They tell the history and give an account of their own experience in it. I did not know that Rosa Parks wrote an autobiography, did you?! We miss a lot when we read about someone instead of reading from them.
Women from The Little Rock Nine wrote their own stories, too.
Latasha Morrison and Austin Channing Brown have given us insight into their experiences as Black women in America today.
Julissa Arce has written about being an undocumented woman who was brought here as a child.
Kaitlin B. Curtice wrote about her Indigenous experience.
Cathy Park Hong addresses being Asian on American soil.
All of these women (and so many more) have been brave and vulnerable enough to teach us if we come to the work with an open heart that is ready to learn and to be changed by what we learn. This isn’t to say that we can’t learn from White women, too. Check out the documentary, “ An Ordinary Hero: The True Story of Joan Trumpauer Mulholland”. To recap, first we listen and learn, then we act. None of us got through high school or college by watching others do it. We had to get in there and go to class. Our education did not happen overnight, but each year we gained more knowledge and wisdom. Once we had that diploma/degree...we still lacked experience. We can read all the anti-racism books and attend all the classes, but if we lack experience, then it is all for naught. It’s like reading about going to the gym, but never actually going. Our anti-racism muscles may be weak, but we can pay for some classes, listen to the trainers and start building our muscles by following their lead.
Here are a few tips from my experience in anti-racism work:
Pace yourself.
Think of the gym metaphor, going to the gym everyday of the week ends with injury. Going once a month, lacks results. Anti-racism work requires our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual intentionality. It’s ok to take a day off, but not years.
In order to start educating myself, every month for one year I:
watched one documentary by BIPOC
listened to one podcast series by BIPOC
read one article by BIPOC
read/listened to one book by BIPOC.
Be the minority in spaces.
“Get comfortable with being uncomfortable” - Latasha Morrison
Expect to feel some culture shock. Similar to going to another country, you will feel out of place and have to take a hard look in the mirror at your ideologies, lifestyle, and racism. Hence, why most women don’t do this work. It’s hard, but we are fully capable of combating racism, first in ourselves and then in our circles.
Posture is everything.
BIPOC do not need my arrogance or pity.
When I’m working on something, I don’t want someone coming in and telling me how I’m doing it wrong or giving me their pity. I need a sister and a genuine friend who thinks I could maybe teach her something. This is true for us in anti-racism work. BIPOC have been doing this work for centuries and it is best to learn from them, but not at their expense.
Anti-racism work is not convenient.
○ If it were, we wouldn’t have all this work to do. I make room in my schedule to be inconvenienced. No one can do everything, but I make time at least 1x a month to be intentional with anti-racism in my city.
Expect to mess up. No one is perfect. I’ve messed up BIG time, but being antiracist requires that I do not throw in the towel and give up. Being anti-racist means that I keep going and learn from my mistakes.
Use Be the Bridge (BTB) Resources.
○ BTB has been the single most influential resource in my life. Their Facebook page is packed with helpful threads, anti-racism resources, and their website contains webinars that are a.m.a.z.i.n.g.!
○ Attend a course for beginners called BTB 101 this fall. This is an online, entry-level course to start your education of the language, history, and systems of racism.
I believe you at She Unites Iowa are needed, valuable and capable. We can learn from men and women of color on how to start building trust and work towards a less racist future. Nothing will change without women, so let's get rolling and do what we do best - women will get it done!
Tana Padilla
Tana is a Bridge Builder, holistic thinker, catalyst, entrepreneur, wife, mother, and full-time student. Tana was born and raised in Iowa, the daughter of farmers, and has resided in Montana and now Colorado for the last 8 years. She married her bi-racial husband fourteen years ago and they have three beautiful children, two living and one already in heaven. She is a full-time student of Sociology and volunteers her time with Be the Bridge. Tana primarily works with educating white people and facilitating discussions as they work through Be the Bridge anti-racism courses on the journey towards health and wellness in anti-racism.