 Good afternoon everybody. It's such a pleasure to have you join us again. My name is Dr. G. Christine Taylor and I serve as the vice president and associate provost for diversity equity inclusion and have the honor of leading the division of diversity equity inclusion here on the campus. We're excited about today's program. This continues in our series one that we began last fall called come sit at my table and it's a series of conversations that focus on issues related to difference in diversity. I just want to give you a couple of housekeeping notes up front. Many people have contacted us about the virtual vigil. It is now currently posted on our website and we invite you to visit there to see it if you weren't able to be a part of the virtual vigil that we had last Thursday and our website is diversity.ua.edu. Also a heads up about another event that's happening later this week and that is on June 11th that's Thursday of this week marks the actual anniversary of the day that Vivian Malone and John Hood became students here at the University of Alabama and we've got a panel to have reflections on the stand in the schoolhouse door by not only Dr. Cully Clark who's written a book about it but also joining us in that conversation will be Dr. Art Dunning who was in the second class of African Americans to attend the University of Alabama. So it's going to be an exciting conversation. It will also begin on this Thursday at one o'clock. All that aside if you've got questions we'll take those at the end of the presentation. We ask you to put them in the chat room. We'll also be replacing in the chat room a list of all the resources that our presenter today has provided and we do encourage you to contact our office if there's additional information that you have need of. Our office email address is diversity atua.edu. Now having said all that it is my absolute delight to welcome our presenter today Dr. Mary Adams Trujillo who is going to be doing a presentation on how to be a good ally and this is just an incredible amount of work. I must say she's been here with us here at the University of Alabama before as a presenter when she presented as a part of the Student Government Association Diversity Certificate and we're pleased to welcome her back again. Not only is she an outstanding scholar and outstanding activist but she's a very very close friend and so without any delay I'd like to pass this conversation over to my great friend Dr. Mary Adams Trujillo. Thank you so much Dr. Taylor. You know my family members are from Alabama so being here always feels like coming home and I thank all of you for being here today and for bringing your whole selves for caring about injustice and righting historic wrongs. Thank you so much. Much of my work centers around the practice of kingian non-violence so spoiler alert this is my perspective this is my viewpoint but non-violence does not mean passivity and as Dr. King pointed out non-violence is for courageous people. Being an ally is one of the ways that you can participate in this global move toward correcting the imbalances of racism and police brutality. So at its core non-violence is embodied practice for putting your bodies as well as your minds your thoughts into action so today we're going to reflect on the deep wound that injustice and racial disparities in particular have left throughout this country and in our black communities especially. So the need for unified action has become abundantly clear today we ask ourselves how can diverse individuals and communities become effective allies that's how I'll begin my presentation asking that question being a good ally next so Alabama as I mentioned let's join people in six continents who are protesting who are out in the streets who are building signs let's listen and let's link yourselves to this movement for justice the murder of George Floyd has become a rallying point for so many people next so in this session today we're going to discuss what does it mean to be an ally why be an ally who can be an ally and how can I become an effective ally next in this moment in time and in this session our context is the racial oppression and violence directed specifically about toward black people however it's important to recognize that we all have power and we have privilege in different spheres of our lives so today we're going to discuss how these skills can be transferred across different different contexts as well next let's take a look first at power and some ways that it's displayed so at the top you see institutional social and individual power and power is the ability to control and influence circumstances or access to resources and or privilege privilege is an unearned advantage given by our society to some people but not to all by virtue of their relationship and access to power so an example of privilege might be the unquestioned ability to apply for a job and have the interviewer assume that you are qualified for that job another word we need to also think about is oppression so oppression can be systemic and today we're focusing specifically on systemic oppression and how allies can be used in that and oppression is systemic pervasive inequality that is present throughout society that benefits some individuals with more privilege and harms those with fewer privilege so in this chart there are those with power and those without those people who are without power are more affected more disparately affected by systemic oppression then an ally is someone who is a member of a social group that has some institutional social and probably individual power and who uses their privilege to end oppression and to understand their own their own their own privilege so allies are people who help those without power by supporting advocating and promotion promoting social justice in order to benefit the society as a whole it's a myth that those without power when they achieve some measure of institutional social or individual power will be in competition with those who have that's a myth there are enough resources for all there is no scarcity of opportunity there is no scarcity of resources in this country next oh the other thing I want to I should have mentioned is the word intersectionality and what that means is that the reality is that people can be subject to multiple systems of oppression that intersect and act interact with each other and that term was coined by legal scholar Kimberly Crenshaw so here you have some police officers kneeling in support of the demonstrators and this is significant for a number of reasons one referring back to the other slide the police have institutional power and yet in this instance they are symbolically offering themselves as allies in this moment we don't know what happens beyond this moment but in this moment they are presenting themselves as allies this is also significant because the this took place in st. Louis where in 1950 I'm sorry 2015 um michael brown was killed by police and sparked the beginning of the black lives movement next one of your questions might be well why would I want to be an ally to marginalized people so see if any of these are things that you can say yes to I have resources knowledge and skills that can help others I want to participate in writing injustices and building healthy communities and thirdly I care about all people if you can answer yes to any one of those um being an ally might be a direction you want to go can you get the next one please so time for a little bit of introspection what are your strengths what are some of your issues as you see the the meme is woker than thou so I want to encourage allies not to be or think of themselves as rescuers or superheroes allies are not saviors allies are not fixers allies are not simply looking for photo ops and it's not simply a hashtag you might think as you are doing this work of linking together with others about this element of performance sometimes people like to be seen sometimes they like to post on instagram or facebook that they were there in this demonstration may I encourage you not to do that may I encourage you not to use the suffering of and struggles of other people to present yourself to your public next so as an ally what would you do in this situation in the ideal world being confronted at a protest would not be the starting point of your action in fact I would say before you're at a protest hopefully you've asked yourself why you want to be an ally you want you've asked yourself when should you be an ally and what do you have to offer here's some tips number one know your level of commitment it's a terrifying thing as you can imagine this this young woman to have some person who's bigger than her staring down into into her face know your own level of commitment including the level of risk that you can handle and off the top develop a self-care plan and by self-care I mean what happens when you are at your limit what happens when you are scared beyond belief what happens when your family members and friends don't want anything to do with you find a way to develop self-care so that you're not taking out your distress in a place where it doesn't belong secondly develop an ongoing support system with others who want to make change do not be a lone ranger I would encourage you to take the conversations that you have with your friends and others the ideas that you have and think about ways to turn those into meaningful actions periodically review your commitment and your self-care plan so that when you're in this kind of situation you know you have an idea of what you will do that we can never totally anticipate what happens in a protest but it is naive to enter into this kind of situation without thinking about what could happen and how you will take care of yourself or possibly those around you you in addition know your own places of power and privilege learn to listen to multiple histories in their own voices examine what's been left out of your own education and part of the way that you can do this is by building authentic relationships with people who are different from you people who are in marginalized communities make a decision about how you will respond to injustice not just in the moment but I encourage you to look at changing the society as a lifelong commitment next so step one Lisa Simpson says get uncomfortable so get used to discomfort black people have been dealing with discomfort for a very long time being an ally requires you to take on some of that burden it requires you to not always have people assume that what you're saying or doing is wonderful and you're you're really smart and you're selfless might not happen get used to being the other next thanks Lisa um this is a hard one but I have to tell you black people are not required to educate you and the truth is no marginalized person should be required to educate an ally so I say this out of love stop asking your black friends what to do stop asking them how you can help they we are tired so figure out some things for yourself you will make mistakes and we'll talk about that if you don't there are lots and lots of books films groups that are doing anti-racist work and right now is a great time to make some of those resources available to yourself and again I encourage you to join and work in groups because the groups can support each other next my hero spongebob square pants encourages us not to be afraid to be embarrassed people will ask you to do things that are not necessarily comfortable for you you may have to even decide in fact you will have to decide I'm going to take a step on this I can be an ally in that area maybe you can only do one step at a time so I encourage you not to judge yourself too harshly but I also encourage you to challenge what you know challenge challenge yourself challenge what you think ask yourself how did I know this was to be true don't be afraid to challenge yourself in your classes in your family gatherings challenge people around you and here's a tip it's often better often better received to offer the facts and not necessarily your opinion next so Alabama action let's step back so that others can talk here's some tips for you and when you do that you provide spaces for voices other than your own and for people like you you get to share opportunities for growth let others get a chance the co-founder one of the co-founders and board members of reddit Alexis Ohanian recently resigned from the board and asked that his space was occupied by a woman so that's an example of stepping back I encourage all of us in this work to monitor our own ego our hurt feelings and to be vigilant about our knowledge gaps take care of yourself do not ask the black person or whatever marginalized person it is as tempting as it is to validate educate or comfort you very tempting don't do that next so in addition to stepping back there are ways you can step up to actively engage and promote diversity equity and inclusion so for example if you if your class has a project a group project and you notice that the group tends to ignore or dismiss the black person or the woman or the trans person or the disabled person how might you be an ally how might you look for ways to support networks and grow encourage to practice vulnerability to encourage other people to practice vulnerability to strengthen the community who cares about others how much you find ways to hold yourself accountable next step up be that person be that person the one who notices whose voice is left out who's ignored who's devalued be that person who knows people's names who talks respectfully or now knowledgeably with friends or family and neighbors about racial injustices don't be afraid I encourage you to lead by example avoid shaming others so and as an example you're head of an you're a leader of an organization that holds an annual event as the leader you automatically get to make major decisions about who's involved how the program is going to run so a question that you might ask yourself is how might you personally increase the diversity and inclusion how might you personally increase the personal involvement of people who are different who've traditionally been left out next so there are lots of different forms of allyship black people can be allies for white people who want to grow and change we're seeing a lot of that now black people can be allies for other black people that is also of critical importance and I want to say that there are times as an ally when you might feel left out by that particular group you might feel like your contribution is not valued or recognized that may be true but it may also be that the people in those communities need to be with other people in their communities for a kind of support that they can only get from that group out some of the other forms of allyship might be with and for lb gtq plus communities some of those kinds of allies might happen between lgbtq and other other folks who want to be allies with with other members of the lgbtq community so that there might be other allies who are members of ethnic or economic communities who want to learn to be allies with across the board with those people with black people with lgbtq people with with other ethnic communities so all of these things that i've talked about these skills are applicable to whatever group you are an ally for the key issue is that you are a person who has power and privilege in some way shape or form and you are lending that to other people who need you in order to build a society for all next so to summarize please do this listen be open and be without judgment practice that acknowledge your bias your privilege your history this takes a lot of work and it is often uncomfortable and if it was easy everyone would be doing it we wouldn't be in the situation that we are now be a reference and a resource think about your network of people what can you leverage and who can you connect to whom next and again please don't do this don't expect others to do the work we have centuries and centuries of evidence that waiting for someone else to do it is not going to change anything choosing to be an ally means that you are accepting responsibility it's on you secondly don't compare struggles this is not a competition for who has it worse ego and solidarity cannot live together thirdly don't get defensive it's very likely that you will be called out at least once and if you're not called out at least once if you're not uncomfortable at least once you're not doing the work that needs to be done we don't grow in situations where we are comfortable we grow because things are asked of us and we rise to the challenge so stay focused and finally don't quit don't quit don't quit we need you here's some resources this is the office of diversity equity and inclusion on campus you all know them they're wonderful people and I thank them for bringing me here and then absolutely finally I have two things to say next slide oh actually I have two other things to say here's the list of resources that should be available to you this is just about allies there are multiple race multiple anti-racist resources available that are you can get from the office of diversity equity and inclusion next so here are my two things one there's more than one virus affecting our lives and our communities so wash your hands and don't be a racist and then the final thing I would say roll tide thank you very much how about some questions doctor here yo I'll I'll ask one um what have you found that is most challenging to people who are wanting to to be actively engaged in being an ally over time because I know you've worked with lots of groups what's been most challenging over time for those who want to be allies who've not been engaged in quote the work before and maybe you'll talk about what the work is for folks okay so let me let me say that the the most challenging thing is just being tired and feeling like whatever it is that you're doing is not making a difference that you you're attending demonstrations you're reading you're studying you're building yourself up and nothing changes so for example when our dear brother was murdered the other week for some people it felt like a continuation of centuries and centuries of abuse and violence so it's very easy to get discouraged because we don't see the change happening um so so some of the work could mean advocating for economic justice it could mean making sure that there are opportunities for people who are different from yourself from ourselves to have access to the things that we do that could be education it could be jobs it could be health services so equality equity access inclusion for the benefit of all okay great looks like we've got a question here uh someone said that they thank you for talking about the paradox of um being asked to speak up and also to be quiet and listen what's your advice on holding people accountable uh in the work without shaming that's so important one of the things just if i can digress for a second about shame is that it silences people one uh most of us don't change because we're shamed in fact we become more alienated from possible sources shame i think that when we see when we see people in protests who are so i'm talking about other protesters counter protesters who are so angry like that man looking over over the young woman um there's some deep hurt and there are some deep wounds there so shaming people does not erase that in fact it enhances that so typically to answer the question what i would suggest is rather than say you should know better than that a question might be if you have a relationship with that individual say a family member say more about how you came to feel this way i'd like to know more about how you think and even if inside your guts are squirming because you don't really want to hear how they think by treating people like human beings and assuming that if we have opportunities we will do better we eventually win over other allies and again it's not a quick fix the world is not waiting for you to come out and change them here's another question um you spoke about social justice do you have suggestions on how we respond to people who are worried that social justice will harm their standing or position how do we help them through equity that is not a zero-sum game okay so you've highlighted the questioner has highlighted the underlying fear a we fear change we all do as human beings but secondly it sounds like um the the persons that the individual is talking about have some fear of loss get them to talk about their fear not necessarily to correct them but in order to change people we have to know who they are and how they think we have to be able to present ourselves to them as change agents as trustworthy again it's a lot of work it's tiring it's exhausting which is why you have to build up your support sources in order to reach out to people who don't necessarily feel that way um knowing the facts for example knowing the and i know knowing the facts has taken a certain amount of negative connotations these days but but for example knowing knowing the facts and figures about unemployment knowing how much was spent on a particular issue knowing what defunding the police system actually means uh i'm pretty sure that people will start to conflate defunding the police with disbanding the police not the same thing at all so it's important to know what it is that you're talking about from multiple sources not necessarily facebook in fact probably not facebook twitter or instagram it occurs to me also that that this questioner really was talking about people who operate with a scarcity mentality if you're empowered then whoa what's going to happen to me right that that's a real challenge for some people as i think about social justice yes it is absolutely we're kind of geared that way um and and i want to be careful how i say this but that that sense of competition for reach resources is built into our capitalist system that's kind of how it is now i'm not at anti-capitalism but i but i recognize that there are some inherent challenges scarcity is is part of that fear of scarcity just as a quick note though i would i would say just as um we saw on the news lines of people uh on the highways and in cities trying to get into food banks we also saw farmers having to destroy crops we saw milk being poured out we saw all of that so it's not even that there was a scarcity of resources there was a problem in getting those resources to those people there was a way a problem in compensating people for for those resources so i'm i'm saying that to say let's also educate ourselves all right here's another question and this is what i call the oppression olympics essentially so the question is what is your advice for people who compare struggles for example group x has headed worse in group y and many times for for folks that do this what we call that the oppression olympics so what are your recommendations i have so i'm not sure if the person is asking if the recommend if my recommendation for how to stop that or how to respond to it so if we're talking about and you know i had this example i had this experience once and i'll make it a quick story i was working on this project that was designed to focus on women and uh the woman that i was in conversation with was a Caucasian woman and she said you know there's talk about race issues and there's talk about gender issues but i think genderism is a bigger deal than races and and i retorted to her um well i have been and will be black all my life and in the words of my beloved shiro sojourner truth i must ask you a woman too we're talking about intersectionality and i'm gonna ask her under what authority do you have the ability to talk about who has it worse and i don't even think that really legitimizes or empowers the conversation about who's got it worse we're talking about how do we build for everybody not who's got the worst deal going yeah and i think that's probably natural or human nature or capitalist natural i don't know what to want to compare your struggle i i think fundamentally when we rank oppression we are really saying i need somebody to care about what i'm going through and i'm not feeling any sense of power about that you think you got it rough let me tell you about my life so it's a way of negatively feeling powerful in in in one sense but it also represents a lack of understanding of intersectionality and how power is distributed who distributes power how oppression works some of us have have advantages in some situations example we hardly hear about native american struggles with coveted and it's absolutely devastating on those on those reservations that does not diminish the fact that there are disproportionate numbers of black and brown people who are affected by coveted it says that there's not a way for or there's not an accepted means to talk about coveted across racial cultural lines okay here's another question it seems that confronting our own biases and racial reality can trigger significant discomfort and people may avoid this topic altogether because of that any recommendations on how to help people get through the discomfort that that is often inherent in looking at yes yes so one of the reasons that i like examples like lisa simpson and spongebob squarepants is is precisely that those are those are folks those are cultural icons not folks cultural icons that we can relate to and the truth is and laugh about the truth is you cannot escape discomfort you cannot um trigger means triggering says there's something beneath here that needs to need to be explored maybe i need to get some work on have some work done with myself with um professional others or friendly others around particular issues it's virtually impossible not to get triggered doing justice work it's virtually impossible not to feel uncomfortable so here's a here's another very interesting question how do you suggest handling speaking with an individual who is a victim who is victim shaming marginalized people by saying that they're bad people because they had a criminal record and therefore don't deserve to be glorified and and and this is a constant pattern that we've seen in the media that whenever there has been a person that has been unarmed and murdered the first thing they do is go back and say what is your rap record as as if the life is less valuable yes because they had some challenges in their past so what recommendations do you have for those folks i the recommendation that i would have is that this is where groups of people can be helpful where for example um this is a roundabout answer but where for example citizens can um talk to the television stations and say you know i've seen this this and this portrayal and i want to object to it they have to television stations media outlets have to keep records of who calls and what they are complaining about so i would say begin to document um those things that are systemic injustices those things that are uh individual biases and prejudices we have less control over except to present information in a way that uh contradicts the narrative and uh and that's one of the reasons we've been very deliberate in this office of talking about mr florid and identifying him as an american comma who was black and it was very purposeful and it had lots of political connotation so this idea of thinking about the words and the words that we choose are really important another person in our group is asked a lot of us in higher education you know it's a hierarchical organization and those above us may not really get it and the question the essence of the question is what approaches do you recommend regarding challenging up uh when there could possibly be real repercussions for employment and professional reputation and the quickest answer i would say is this is where numbers are important this is not a lone range changing institutions is not a lone ranger activity you need groups of people who are committed to a particular action or a particular set of actions building coalitions with similarly minded people and slowly but surely moving the needle you just had a situation at alabama with your with some confederate statues removing yes okay can you can you share that um and as a matter of fact we've got a person who's just asked a question about that but uh the board and the president um were in agreement and have decided to remove the plaques of confederate soldiers that were affiliated with the university from in front of our library and then there's going to be a larger committee that's going to begin to look at some of the names of the buildings that are attached to people that are known and documented as white supremacists or who were slaveholders and this is not only happening on our campus but lots of campuses that i know for sure in the sec and so one of the questions that um the person asked is with the history of complicit relationships and ongoing role of perpetuating systematic racism um in PWIs predominantly white institutions how do we ensure that our efforts as allies do not come across as insincere and adequate and get preceded as capitalizing on the situation and present a false image uh about the university and that's a really input that's come up a lot uh in conversations i've been having with groups we're serious at heart we want to make a difference but we don't want to seem like we're just um faking it or as the students have said to me we're chasing clout uh that we sincerely want to do right and so what would be your advice for people who who are wanting to make an impact and wanting to make a change but feel like there's a potential that people might see it as just a quick fix okay so um i just want to reiterate that nothing about changing our social world is easy comfortable welcomed um most of the people that we label as heroes we don't do it until after they're dead probably after they've been assassinated Martin Luther King example so um part of it in order to be an activist requires cultivating a thicker skin in terms of needing the approval of other people to do what god has laid on your heart to do and maybe god didn't laid on your heart maybe it's a deep sense of calling that you have to move in a certain direction to offer that to be committed so um yes we always run the risk of of looking stupid jumping on the bandwagon being naive or being or being idealistic that's always a possibility again i think the support of the group of a group of supportive others can help us through these times one of the things is that even though activism has happened forever we've never been in a space like this this is brand new we've never been in this moment before so we're learning some things by doing it requires patience it requires trial and error when we're wrong we say i'm sorry and we keep it moving you know and let me also add to that that um in my work i've found that there are probably three pieces uh and dr treville you and i have talked about this that transparency is important it's okay and that's sometimes hard to do in an uh an academic environment it's okay to say i don't know it or i don't know everything but to be willing to learn the second is to be um consistent over time transparent authentic and to be consistent over time i think part of what and i think the nation is really asking this question what so they're actually getting ready to to um lay mr floy to rest the runs this has happened when the protest in then what uh really working as allies this signals that you're just beginning the work yes because as we look around you will see injustices everywhere if we just even look at cobit 19 and the disparate impact that's had on people in this state in the black belt there are lots of opportunities for us to be engaged i think you got to find your niche you got to find your niche whether it's in and and being an ally isn't always just about being out on the streets well sometimes it's saying i'm gonna give resources to organizations that are focused on making change we see the opportunities for allyship in lots of different ways but this issue of being transparent being authentic and being consistent over time i think is one of the greatest gifts that you can give if you're willing to be an ally so that means you show up amen you show up all right let's see if we've got another question oh and i'm i'm told that the boulder in front of gorgons is being removed even as we're speaking so here's a person who has the opportunity to supervise students and they want to have recommendations on what they can do as a white person supervising and supporting black students okay the first thing that i say to white people who want to be supportive and helpful is make sure that you are talking to other white people not only talking to black students um get us do reading do watch movies um have some understanding of what the issues are that your students are experiencing and then be willing to present yourself as an authentic human being flawed as we all are who doesn't have the answers um but who's willing to step out of their comfort level be willing to learn we have a tremendous opportunity right now to remake ourselves as individuals and as a nation that's challenging it's uncomfortable but it's an awesome opportunity there are no i don't have a formula for how black people should or i'm sorry how white people should make black people feel comfortable quick story i was in a the dollar store once and um a woman a white woman signaled me to come over and she had um she had in her basket some orange pop and um and some flaming hot and she said to me i'm i'm going to have a group of of young african-american teenagers come over to my house and what do you think about this i was horrified and but i said to her don't do that don't do that let's have some nutritional food and she said but this is what they like and i said but you know better would you eat this quick story right so so i'm hearing you say in part that um there's been a fit in getting in groups and doing this work not as a solo artist but in groups uh really resourcing ourselves with information yes around things and and and if we see something happening in the moment there's some ideas about how we might want to deal with that there are some occasions that we might need to be the backup person who calls 911 okay there might be a time that we might serve as a person who provides a distraction or sometimes people are involved in things uh and you might want to come up for the instance that the picture that you used earlier in your presentation where the guys towering over this young woman being an ally might be coming up to them to say that looks uncomfortable to me cannot assist you or provide support and i'm glad you said that because that's the that's very important to ask the person if if you may be of service not to if you're a part of a the power group it's important not to just jump in and assume again that you're the savior ask that woman would you like some assistance would you like some support um another very common example um you're in the you're in the bathroom if you let's say your woman i don't know um you're in the bathroom and a trans person comes into the bathroom there's another and i only know this goes women i don't i don't go in men's bathrooms um someone someone else comes in and and gives the trans person a hard time about being in the bathroom um while my gut response might be to say something to rescue that person being asked out of the bathroom that does not empower them nor does it speak very highly of me it's actually rather disrespectful so being we don't get to be allies just because we say we're allies we get to be allies because we are invited into situations right so we do have a question we have time for a couple more questions if you've got them please send them to the to the chat box i do know that this event is going is being recorded and it will be placed on our website as all of our events are going to be and all the resources that we've been having here can be placed there dr taylor one of the things that comes up frequently is is it ever okay to say no and and i would say yes yes this is we're in this for the long haul change is not an overnight it's it's not a that's not an event it's a process it's a process so it is wise to know your strengths know your limitations know your triggers know your support be strategic about what you're doing not simply react and when you have reached capacity just say i can't do it today i'll give you a call tomorrow great or maybe so and so can help so here's another question injustice and oppression is universal and it is more apparent now as we see protested activism globally as sparked by the black lives matter movement what's your advice for someone who's a foreign national that wants to be an ally here in the us especially when there might be legal repercussions and their voice yeah around political concerns yes yes and that's that's real and i would encourage that person to do what they can legally always with as with any ally assess your own risk assess your own commitment i am not calling anyone to martyrdom we're not martyrs martyrs are symbolically effective but um as far as accomplishing specific goals being a martyr does not necessarily guarantee that so know what know your limitations know what you can do there are people we have stories from the immigration movement of people who are undocumented who do very brave very courageous work despite their undocumented status that's a calling that's a decision that they make i respect them for it but that is a decision that they make one of the questions in the box and i'll give this just as an fyi for the group they're asking if we're going to continue these conversations and discussions in the fall the answer is absolutely yes because we anticipate that our students and many students already have made um statements they want to be involved they want to be engaged and we want a system in doing that so we'll absolutely continue these types of conversations in the fall uh but we'll also be having things throughout july and again throughout the summer rather again if you go to our website you'll see all the events that we have planned throughout the rest of june and we'll be starting ah we're going to read collectively white privilege and we're now organizing how we're going to have those conversations our fabulous library has uh been able to secure an electronic copy of it so i can read for a couple days and then pass it on to the other person i understand it's a very difficult book to get at the moment but white privilege is a book that we're going to be doing as a campus read and we invite you to join us in that process dr to heal you i know in your work that you're not only a scholar but you're also an activist and that you in every community that i've known that you've lived in you've gotten out and i mean literally into the streets where there's been conflict where there've been problems where there have been challenges and i've always admired you for your commitment and your willingness to do what i'm sure at times must have been uncomfortable for you because it's hard to go to a place where a group has just lost a loved one reflecting on that because i perceive that also as being your calling an allyship uh what what words would you give us um as guidance uh that perhaps you've not already shared about first identifying what we want to be involved in and second how to see that thing through and i've watched you do it from afar for many many years i believe it's parker is it parker palmer who talks about where your great passion meets the world's need that that intersection is is talking in terms of calling might be that place um but i i do want to say this isn't exactly your question i want to say this i want to stress that um being an ally does not mean you have to do this ginormous um public big thing i would encourage most people to start with whatever's in front of you wherever you are there's there's some need that you can join with it's there there's there's something that anybody can do and we get better the more we do it we get stronger the more we do it uh in in terms of learning together um i i'm so glad that you're you're going to be doing these groups because people support each other we have again we have an opportunity to make a new society that's built on respect for all human beings never been done before i am so proud of young people and students like at alabama that you're doing what are what my generation failed to do so good on you that's delightful uh one one final um uh comment i i i just like to say to to those who have joined us that as secretary really has said there's many opportunities to be involved and to be engaged and as i often talk about um the Wizard of Oz we have to keep in mind in terms of being an ally that number one it is a thinking program process you know dorthy first met the scarecrow who needed to bring this is about information so we've got to information ourselves we've got to have information about the issues that we're concerned about second from reputable sources yes from reputable sources thank you second is she was me she ran into the the the ten man who needed a heart and these issues are about people and potential and opportunity and we want to make sure that we can do all of that and probably the most important one as it applies to allyship is when they met uh the cowardly lion that this is going to take our ability to be courageous and the courage might just be when you're having coffee with somebody you hear them say something that's not that's not appropriate because what we saw in the death of um mr floyd probably started with someone being around someone who accepted perhaps the ideology that we believe that may have been operating at the time of his death and so we need to stop those things where we can remembering that we need the information that we're talking about empowering lives and that it's going to take courage on our part any concluding comics for us dr helio no i i think you have said it all i'm grateful to be here um you will have my contact information and if any students faculty staff anybody wants to continue this conversation or wants anything that i can offer i'm here right well i can't wait to welcome you back to sweet home alabama i can't wait to come back come on back soon love it to our participants every bit of resource around this topic is going to be located on our website all the resources that dr helio has sent and those that we're collecting if you have some things you'd like to add to our collection please send them to diversity at ua.edu and we invite you back on thursday at one o'clock to have some reflections on the infamous stand in the schoolhouse door thank you so very much and roll tide good evening