I remember when Noah was first sentenced to prison, he told me that segregation in prison was not only prominent but encouraged. And with segregation comes racism. I couldn’t believe it! I remember being baffled and thinking, how is that even still a thing?! How, in a place like prison, can there be any judgment? Thinking…you are not only not going be able to progress with the world, but you are going to regress by being surrounded by this hate for the next 10 years?? This cannot be possible within our system. Seven years ago, my eyes were AWAKENED to what was really happening in the world through countless stories, not only Noah shared with me, but by being more aware of what was actually happening within my surroundings, within our own community. 

I also got pregnant with Greyson the year Noah went to prison and one of the first thoughts that crossed my mind was, how am I going to talk to my kids about this entire situation?

As I mentioned in one of my first letters, To My Greyson, My Promise to You when undergoing this experience…

“The reality is life isn’t sugar coated, it’s imperfect and the choices I make today as your mom will help mold the choices you make as you grow older. I want to do everything in my power to protect my babies. I want to hide you from this broken world, from every bad person and thing. But the reality is, I can’t and I won’t.” 

That year, Jamie and I decided that we won’t hide the truth from our babies then nor ever and we made a promise to have those tough conversations when they were just weeks old. I wasn’t going to hide the truth about where their uncle was and what exact choices he made that led him there, just like we’re not going to hide the truth about the senseless deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others due to racism and not being treated equally. 

And as of last year, we made a commitment to instead of complaining about the system be a part of the change of the system and that is what we’re doing at resilience2reform. And because of this past week, it’s reminded us of how we need to get LOUD about anti-racism just as much as we are about mental health and addiction. ⁠

Our nation is broken, our cities are broken, our backyard is broken, our community is heartbroken. And although there is so much sadness in the world right now, through the crowds, we’ve been seeing so much good, hope and love. 

As we have white privilege, we’ll never know or understand how it feels to be treated unequally but we can and we will continue to stay educated and bridge the gap.

So today we wanted to round up some of our favorite resources, books, podcasts, and ways to give back. Some we’ve tuned into and others that are new to us that you have all shared. And we’ll keep adding to the list too. So please leave a comment below of any valuable resources so we can check them out and add them to this list. 

Listen | Podcasts

• Raising White Kids
• Pod Save the People
• Sooo Many White Guys
  

  

Watch | Movies

• When They See Us | Netflix
• 13th | Netflix
• American Son | Netflix
• See You Yesterday | Netflix 
• Dear White People | Netflix
• The Hate U Give | Hulu
• King in the Wilderness | HBO

Read | Books

• White Fragility, Why it’s so Hard for White People to Talk about Racism
• Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race
• Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor
  

  

Children Education

• Little Legends: Exceptional Black Men in History 
• Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race
  

  

Give | Donate

• Black Lives Matter
• George Floyd Memorial Fund
• Midtown Global Market Mend
• We Love Lake Street

Get Involved | Food Drives

• Alchemy
• Augsburg
• Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
• 

Show Support | Black Owned Businesses

• Afro Deli & Grill
• Soul Bowl
• Angie’s Hats
• Breaking Bread
• Angelea’s Soul Food Kitchen
• The Fitz
• With Love, Cleo Print

Mpls Magazine has a full, great resource of so many more be sure to check out.

A huge thank you to our girl Chelsie Lopez for capturing all of these moments for us to share on c2s.