Bearing witness to Black life only when it ends in a death is a white tradition. It is lynching, but now it is digital. White people, statistically less likely to be in diverse friend groups and more likely to know only other white people, have been searching for the language for this moment, and have been reaching out for the much-coveted Black Friend (of “well, my Black Friend says it” fame). Stuck at home with nothing but the news, they’ve been called to do something, anything. So they’ve sent messages, DMs, texts, e-mails and more. These stories are meant to tell me who they are: a good person who is on my side. But what white people never mention in their anecdotes is what they have done. It’s because, in every instance, they have done nothing. They witnessed racism and reported back to me, seemingly the stenographer of racism.

I truly thank you for wanting to understand what you are having a hard time understanding. Coincidentally, over the last few days I have been thinking about sharing some of the incidents of prejudice/racism I’ve experienced in my lifetime—in fact I just spoke with my sister Lesa about how to best do this yesterday—because I realized many of my friends—especially the white ones—have no idea what I’ve experienced/dealt with unless they were present (and aware) when it happened…

Racism and xenophobia are not new. And yet, this time, something feels different. We seem to have crossed a tipping point, one where enough of us, of all colors, nationalities, religions, occupations, and even political parties are saying, “ENOUGH. We will NOT let this continue to happen. We will do what is needed to transform this country and become a model of justice for our children and for the world.”

Many of us are working to discover what we can do right now to end systemic racism. One thing is to put our financial resources

Daily Good offer this compilation of resources as a starting point with the recognition that the work extends far beyond what’s included here and happens over the course of a lifetime. They share these resources as an invitation to join together in learning, taking action, and working toward individual and collective change.