Wake-Up America!  Part II

Healing Racism

by Dr. Kim McMillon, Professor & Author

https://www.narrativepathsjournal.com/guest-column-wake-up-america-part-ii-healing-racism-by-dr-kim-mcmillon-professor-author/

Dr. Kim McMillon, author, historian, activist, over twenty years of experience producing theatre

The Conversation 

1. How do you become an ally to those experiencing racial oppression?
2.  The public has not protested the atrocities that have been taking place in our country, but yet during a pandemic, people are taking to the streets to protest the death of George Floyd, why?
3.   How do you believe we can change the world for the better?
4.   As a poet, how would you like to be remembered?
5.   What line or stanza of poetry best describes you?

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Author Teresa Jade LeYung says:  The tagline in Dr. Kim McMillon’s poetathon is: “If not NOW, WHEN?” I believe that that mantra plus the ability to document incidents with our personal electronic devices (especially cellphones) plus the speed in which to broadcast content through social media add up to a World Town Crier galvanizing people to protest the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and other victims. Here we are, fighting a global enemy named Coronavirus – people old and young risking their lives to save lives – folks making sacrifices by staying home to reduce the spread of infection – friends and neighbors sharing resources . . . yet, all the while, the hideous monster named racial injustice looms across our past and present. What can I do after protesters have gone home? How do I confront apathy and denial? I pledge to get more training from www.ihollaback.org: “We’re on a mission to end harassment—in all its forms.”  The folks at Hollaback! (in 16 countries) have developed new programs, including “Bystander Intervention to Stop Police-Sponsored Violence and Anti-Black Racist Harassment” and “Stand Up Against Street Harassment.” I pledge to not wait to read voting material right before elections but to routinely visit websites of my legislators to communicate to them what laws I want changed, so that I stand with fellow Americans to fully exercise our rights to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” http://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration

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Author Teresa Jade LeYung says:  How can we change the world for the better?  While I have no answers, questions weigh on me as a U.S. citizen.

• Education – “Why do zip codes influence how much money a child receives in public schools?  Do ballot measures show this inequality?” https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tale-two-zip-codes-covid-19-exposes-deep-disparities-u-n1227646
  
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• When the media brag about lowest unemployment rate, I want to know: “How many of these jobs actually pay a living wage?” “Who are selling and buying ‘cheap labor’ and where are the human beings toiling?”https://livingwage.mit.edu/articles  and https://livingwage.mit.edu/articles/61-new-living-wage-data-for-now-available-on-the-tool and https://www.worldhunger.org/  and  https://www.worldhunger.org/hunger-news/united-states/
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• When groups blame immigrants and migrant workers (all tax payers by the way) for “taking away” jobs, I ask  “Why are we denying the fact that U.S. companies send millions of jobs overseas?”  and “What happened to the companies who had urged us to be patriotic by buying products made in the U.S.A.?”  https://www.thebalance.com/how-outsourcing-jobs-affects-the-u-s-economy-3306279
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• Why are we afraid to look at “ugly”?
• Abject Poverty https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/poverty/
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• Hate and Bigotry https://www.splcenter.org/what-we-do
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• Modern day Slavery also known as Human Trafficking https://www.acf.hhs.gov/otip/partnerships/look-beneath-the-surface
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Do we have a chance of becoming our better selves? Yes! We can wake up! Perhaps if we continue asking lawmakers these and other questions, our united voices shall change the world for the better.

https://www.ihollaback.org  Hollaback!  in 20 cities globally!

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https://www.standup-international.com/fr/fr  Agissons ensemble contre le harcèlement de rue.

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 https://www.standagainsthatred.org/   Stand Against Hate

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https://www.asianpacificpolicyandplanningcouncil.org/stop-aapi-hate/  Stop AAPI Hate

I wish you and everyone around you safety, kindness, excellent health, clear water, blue sky, delicious foods, and sweet laughter!

Bonne journée!

Sincerely,

author Teresa Jade LeYung, mask by Emily O, July 2020 COVID-19 pandemic

Author and Theme Consultant Teresa Jade LeYung

“To help prevent spread of COVID-19, I wear face-covering AND keep at least 6-foot distance with people who don’t live with me.  No blaming No shaming; I protect myself and everyone else.”

Teresa Jade LeYung, American naturalized citizen of Chinese ancestry, is a manuscript-theme consultant, author of Love Made Of Heart (archived at the San Francisco History Center), Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days, and Talking To My Dead Mom monologues, and, advocate for public libraries and public schools. Teresa speaks out and offers resources through her Blog: http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog/