What is white privilege, where may have it come from, and how to best navigate your understanding going forward is what we discuss on part one of today's podcast with Katie Pierce.

On the back of George Floyd's, death and the Black Lives Matter Riots, now is the time and when the world is ready to get uncomfortable. 

For the first time in history, we are still enough to join together and approach an issue that has been facing indigenous people all over the world.

I wanted to understand what white privilege is, how I can better discuss it, and what we can do to help in making a change.

This subject has been at the top of my podcast list since I started and one of the reasons The Talking Stick came about.

The lack of acknowledgment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the Australian constitution as the first peoples really opened up my interest in this subject and how in 2020 this is still the case.

Join me as Katie lets us know her understanding, times when she has felt her privilege and her extensive experience from immersing herself in different cultures all over the world.

Whether George Floyd was a good man, whether the incident happened or not, whether more white or black people die a year, or whether you agree with the protests or not, the overarching issue is racism in this world and our responsibility to approach and make a change.

There is no going back from this. there is a change coming and I'm sure you, like myself, are proud to be a part of it and I am ready to feel uncomfortable. 

Please find below some resources put together by Katie. Thank you endlessly. 

MOVIES: 

1. Whose Streets? 

A non-fiction account of the Ferguson uprising told by people who lived it -- an unflinching look at the murder of 18-year-old Michael Brown and how it inspired his community and the world to fight back

 

2. Do The Right Thing

A quintessential movie about police brutality. Spike Lee joint that highlights the choke-hold, murder of black people at the hands of the police, and mirrors much of what we're still fighting for today.

 

3. Fruitvale Station

Gut-wrenching to watch called a modern-day "Do The Right Thing". About a 22-year-old black man shot to death by police at a metro station. 

 

3. When They See US

Based on the Central Park Five case, where 5 black teens we're trapped by police after being accused of a brutal attack in Central Park (very famous in the US + NYC)

 

4. The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson

As she fights the tide of violence against trans women, activist Victoria Cruz probes the suspicious 1992 death of her friend Marsha P. Johnson, who is a black trans woman credited with starting the gay rights movement

 

5. Moonlight

Express the wholeness of black men. Grief, trauma, and black LGBTQ experience

 

6. The Glass Shield

Story of a Black police recruit in L.A., examining several incidents of racist behavior amongst the cops and within the legal system

 

7. The Black Power Mixtape 1967 - 1975

Looking at the people, society, culture, and style that fueled an era of convulsive change, this film utilizes the mixtape format in a cinematic and musical journey into the Black communities of America. 

 

8. Malcolm X 

Another Spike Lee joint, basically Malcolm X's biography put to screen. "If you're serious about being anti-racist and an ally, consider this the foundation of your history lesson. You have to know what we've gone through and what we've overcome and what we still need to knock down to understand what's happening today," Arienne Thompson

 

8. Burn Motherfucker Burn! 

An in-depth look at the 1992 L.A. riots exploring the roots of civil unrest in California and the relationship between African Americans and the LAPD

 

9. 13th 

A documentary from Ava DuVernay about the prison industrial complex from the 1800s through Trump's presidential campaign

 

10. The Hate U Give

Based on Angie Thomas' young-adult novel, this is the story of a black girl growing up in a black "inner-city" community and go