You may purchase “White Fragility” for curbside pickup at Books on the Common at 404 Main St, Ridgefield, by emailing or by calling (203) 431-9100. Read the book summary or purchase online at Books on the Common’s online store.
A quick roundup of things to say to Saltine Americans clutching their pearls over rioting and looting:
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Author’s Note: I’m writing this in hopes that it can be used to lighten the load of marginalized folks, keeping in mind that not all marginalized people want to engage in the ally conversation, and that is perfect as well. For those who do, my prayer is that when someone asks you the question, “how can I be a stronger ally?” you might choose to save your breath/energy and send this in its place.
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By President Barack Obama
Five simple graphics illustrate the differences between Authentic Allyship, Performative Allyship, White Fragility, Weaponized White Fragility, and Whitewashing. Easy to grasp and quick to communicate — take a look and share with your family, children, and friends.
Join our virtual ‘What Can I Do? What Can We Do?’ event beginning at 1 pm on Sunday, June 7, 2020, at Ridgefield Allies Facebook page. Our featured event speakers:
Today in “Hidden” History is a daily listing of important but little-known events illustrating the range of innovators, contributors, or incidents excluded from formal history lessons or common knowledge. Hidden history is intended not as an exhaustive review, but merely as an illustration of how popular narratives "hide" many matters of fundamental importance. Bookmark this page and check daily to quickly expand your knowledge. Suggest entries for Today in “Hidden” History by clicking the Contact Us link. Entries for August 25:
| Date | Type | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1860 |  African-American elocutionist, dramatist, impersonator, and activist Henrietta Vinton Davis is born. In addition to being "the premier actor of all nineteenth-century Black performers on the dramatic stage", Davis was proclaimed by Marcus Garvey to be the "greatest woman of the Negro race today". Davis has come to be considered the physical, intellectual, and spiritual link between the abolitionist movement of Frederick Douglass and the African Redemption movement of the UNIA-ACL and Marcus Garvey, the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association. At the first international UNIA convention in 1920, she was elected as International Organizer. She had increasingly responsible roles and, after Garvey was deported to Jamaica in 1927, Davis was elected and served as President-General of the UNIA, Inc. from 1934-1940. Learn more. | |
| 1925 |  At a meeting in Harlem, NY, 500 Pullman company porters decide to make an effort to organize a union, secretly launching their campaign and choosing A. Philip Randolph, not employed by Pullman and thus beyond retaliation, to lead the effort. The union chose a motto to sum up their resentment over the working conditions: "Fight or Be Slaves". The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) was the first labor organization led by African Americans to receive a charter in the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The BSCP gathered a membership of 18,000 passenger railway workers across Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Beginning after the American Civil War, the job of Pullman porter had become an important means of work in the Black community in the United States. As a result of a decline in railway transportation in the 1960s, BSCP membership declined. It merged in 1978 with the Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks (BRAC), now known as the Transportation Communications International Union. Learn more. | |
| 1927 |  American tennis player and professional golfer, and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis, Althea Neale Gibson is born. In 1956, she became the first African American to win a Grand Slam title (the French Championships). The following year she won both Wimbledon and the US Nationals (precursor of the US Open), then won both again in 1958 and was voted Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press in both years. In all, she won 11 Grand Slam tournaments: five singles titles, five doubles titles, and one mixed doubles title. Gibson was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame. In the early 1960s she also became the first Black player to compete on the Women's Professional Golf Tour. At a time when racism and prejudice were widespread in sports and in society, Gibson was often compared to Jackie Robinson. Learn more. |
