This post has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with humanity and living our yoga practice off of the mat.
Last Monday I (Brittany) was listening to an NPR news interview on my way to the studio to teach. I knew I was listening to a white male interviewer and didn't realize that I was assuming the person he was interviewing was also a white man because of the way he spoke and because he was introduced as being an author and professor at Yale. The moment the interviewer asked a question along the lines of "What is it like as an African American man raising an African American son in the world today?" Because of deeply embedded racism, my mind did a loop-ti-loop to reassign the image I had pictured of the author and professor at Yale. It's not that I think authors and Yale professors are all, or should be, white. And yet that was my mental default. This is not okay and this is how obvious, and not so obvious, racism can be as a privileged white woman that has lived most of my life in a culture that values whiteness more than other skin colors and I am committed to spotting it, and weeding out the racism, so that I don't continue to unconsciously pass it on to Isaac, my 2 year old white child, and everyone else around me. As a small business owner that claims "Yoga is for Everybody." I see many ages, body types, genders, sexual preferences, among our community yet now, more than ever, I see where we have gotten a big huge "NO PASS" for inclusivity. I am committed moving us towards the day where we can truly say, "All Lives Matter". In the meantime, below are some resources that I am using to increase my awareness in what I can do to ensure that Black Lives Matter. SCHOLARSHIPS I am giving away scholarships to aid us in providing and cultivating diversity in our community and trainings. LISTEN TO 1619 - A podcast from the New York Times Hear To Slay At The Intersection Still Processing - A podcast from the New York Times Code Switch by NPR READ Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates How to be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi Writing about Slavery? Teaching about Slavery Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? WATCH When They See Us by Ava DuVernay I Am Not Your Negro by Raoul Peck 13th by Ava DuVernay FOLLOW and SUPPORT Denver NAACP Branch Anti Defamation League- Fighting Hate for Good Southern Poverty Law Center Campaign Zero Black Visions Collective The Conscious Kid WE ARE HIRING Teacher's and Team Members who's race/background is underrepresented in the western yoga world and especially our current community. Resources for Kids and Teens If you are a parent/aunt/uncle/grand parent/cousin/brother/sister, join me at: https://www.patreon.com/theconsciouskid Follow them on Instagram and Facebook. Here is an excerpt from their recent email:
Listen:Watch:
in love and light, Brittany
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