It’s been a Long. Freaking. Week.

We’re all redefining our identities right now. 

Whether it’s Black voices who are being amplified for the first time (a bittersweet by-product of circumstances), Non-Black POC navigating the biases that are ingrained within our cultures and behaviours, or White allies recognizing privilege for the first time, our identities are drastically changing and being pulled apart and re-created. 

And that — bittersweet as it really is — is also powerful. 

This week, in the process of unlearning, I have asked myself a lot of questions. 

Questions like: 

↪ As a South Asian Womxn what can I do to be a better ally to the Black Community?

↪ Where is White Supremacy ingrained in me, as someone born in North America? 

↪ How do I show up and speak out without centring my voice right now? 

↪ How can I unpack my own Racial Trauma* while centring Black Voices & efforts? 

↪ Am I tone-policing* myself to fit into the expectations of the model minority myth*?

And so I sit here, at the edge of my keyboard, as a Non-Black Person of Colour, with more pressing questions: 

What is actually being done?  

What risks am I taking to dismantle the system that I am so tired of? 

How am I organizing, and how am I challenging those around me to organize themselves? 

And in the middle of all of these frustrations, conversations, and black squares on the internet (that feel like they don’t take the movement or lives seriously), it’s really easy to lose sight of ever seeing change happen.  

In the midst of it all, I hold a tiny spark of hope. 

That we’re all doing better. 

That this won’t just end when this is “done trending.”

That we will finally, collectively, ALWAYS be working to dismantle White supremacy, and amplifying melanated voices will be at the core of everything that we do from now on.

Because as I remind myself often: 

It is not the first thought that counts, but the second. 

With Love, Power, and Solidarity,

Jenny Jay 

P.S. Just wanted to recognize that this email does centre me in this conversation — as a tiny small corner of the internet where I speak what’s on my heart. That being said, everything I do right now is only to centre the conversation on Black Lives & in Solidarity with my Black community. 

P.P.S. If you’re a Womxn of Colour reading this email, I highly recommend heading to this resource page and checking out the links under “Healing for WOC”.

P.P.P.S. If you’re an ally, you can do some of the free readings from this list, or check out this pretty exhaustive list by my dear friend Cheryl to help you through your unlearning journey. 

P.P.P.P.S. If you’re Black, I hope you know I love you, and I see you — and I will always stand in solidarity with you, with every ounce of my energy being virtually sent your way.

Okay that's all. Sending my love to you, always. 

| #BlackLivesMatter |

Tone Policing: a conversational tactic that dismisses the ideas being communicated when they are perceived to be delivered in an angry, frustrated, sad, fearful, or otherwise emotionally charged manner: It’s condescending to shut down an argument through tone policing. Tone policing can silence the narratives of oppressed populations.

Model Minority Myth: the myth created by intentional immigration policies in the 60’s and 70’s in America that sought immigrants from East-Asia/South Asia with high levels of education, then created propaganda and media to paint them as high-achieving model minorities and that other minorities should follow suit. 

Racial Trauma: The Idea that individuals of color who experience racially charged discrimination is registered as traumatic, and often generate responses similar to post-traumatic stress.