Becoming Woke
I first watched Ava DuVerney's 90-minute documentary 13th - titled after the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution - when it aired on Netflix in October 2016.
The film was riveting, sick, and it blew my mind.
Near the beginning of the film, there was a picture of a 'black' man behind bars. I saw it, and thought: ooo- scary guy. The exact same picture flashed a second time, near the end of the film, and my reaction was completely different. I looked at that dark-skinned man - born into circumstances a white woman like me can not relate with - stuck, probably for the rest of his life, behind bars, without rights, without compassion - and cried "poor man".
Ava DuVernay would be pleased, I think, to know that, in 90-minutes, her movie affected that much change.
The fact that the film offered information I did not already know inside and out - was embarrassing. Embarrassed or not, a door had opened, I stepped through it, and now... there can be no turning back. I can't unknow what I've learned. And, I can’t stop wanting to know more.
Ava DuVerney had credited material from her documentary to research taken from Michelle Alexander's book The New Jim Crow, so... I read that. To be accurate, I listened to that (while driving back-and-forth to Boston).
BONUS TIP: listening to books-on-tape/CDs is a helpful way to fit-in a comprehensive book like The New Jim Crow and enjoy driving in Boston ;).
Then I watched Raoul Peck's film I am Not Your Negro - material by James Baldwin.
In the film, there's footage of James Baldwin speaking. If you have never seen footage of James Baldwin speaking, I highly recommend you do. You can listen to James Baldwin for hours on YouTube. I certainly can, and have, and will again. To get you started, you might watch Baldwin on Dick Cavett here.
After watching I Am Not Your Negro, I found myself walking on the sidewalk to the Farmer's Market, step-by-step, realizing - for the first time - just how broken our world is.
It was an awakening that was necessary. And with it, I began to understand what being 'woke' means.
The most recent recommended book I'll add to this list (I'm inadvertently giving you) is Debby Irving's Waking Up White.
I get how White people need White people - for support - while becoming woke. Debby Irving speaks well to WASPy ways and how they come across as micro-aggressions to those of color. I'm not altogether a WASP; I'm not protestant or catholic or Christian of any order. But I am White. very White. And I most definitely deal out micro-aggressions, without realizing it.
And… I want to learn not to.
...with peace, and love...
Ami