Black Lives Matter is not just a hashtag

First, to our black community: we see you, we hear you, we love you, and we're with you.

UNRWA USA stands with our black beneficiaries, colleagues, supporters, partners, friends, and loved ones and echoes the call for justice and an end to systemic, institutionalized racism so that all people can live free.

As individuals and as an organization, UNRWA USA commits to anti-racist principles and action so that Black Lives Matter is not just a hashtag. We're starting by reading and discussing Dr. Kendi's "How To Be An Antiracist" as a staff.

To our non-black supporters: we join you in listening, learning, unlearning, engaging, and acting -- just as we have done all these years for Palestine refugees. We cannot and will not remain passive.

Our staff has found the following resources useful:

1. Educating ourselves on racism in America 💡

Books

• How To Be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi 

• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander 

• White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD 

• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou 

• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates 

• Why I No Longer Talk To White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge 

• Stamped from the Beginning by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi 

• On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope By DeRay McKesson

Films

• 13th (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix 

• King In The Wilderness — HBO 

• The Force — Netflix

• Whose Streets? — Hulu

• Let The Fire Burn — Netflix

• Harriet — Amazon

Podcasts

• Code Switch (NPR) 

• Intersectionality Matters! hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw

• Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast

• The Read 

• The Nod 

• Pod Save the People

• 1619 (NYT)

• The Stoop

2. Getting comfortable with uncomfortable conversations️ 🗣️

Talking about racism may be hard, but dealing with racism is harder. In our office, we've been having conversations on how we can actively be anti-racist, listen, and use our privilege to amplify black voices, both through our work for Palestine refugees and as individuals. Here are some tips we've used and want to share 

3. Donating to support black communities and the fight for equality 💰

Individually, we're donating to organizations involved in the Black Lives Matter movement, to funds that help the victims, and to local black businesses and community organizations. Here's a list of links

Let this be a turning point for our country and the world.

In solidarity and commitment,
Mara Kronenfeld
Executive Director
UNRWA USA
@marakronenfeld