Episode 017: Justice, Hope, & Action

In this episode, we took time to hold some space for a conversation about what's going on in our community here in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. We checked in with our friend and former co-host Shanna to talk through what we've been experiencing, feeling, and doing after George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police on May 25, just a month ago. We got into some tough things like feelings of grief, fear, and anxiety, feeling like we're not doing enough, how we find credible news and deal with social media, and the scary idea of society getting used to seeing violence and how it felt when it was happening around us. We talked about how everything is heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic, feeling guilt about not feeling like we’re doing the right things, and how hard it can be for those of us in white bodies to have conversations about racial justice with our white family members and friends who might not be in the same place as us or have the same perspective. We also talked about having to figure out how to avoid toxic messages on social media where we're seeing things like virtue signaling, white people targeting other white friends, and people trying to prove who's the best ally. These posts aren't an effective way to bring each other along on our journey toward racial justice, and can sometimes even bring us in the opposite direction. But through everything that has made us feel sad and disheartened, there’s also a lot of hope for moving forward. We talked about what that means for each of us. If you're looking for ways to help and things to do, you can find anti-racism resources and ways to take action on the Girl Scouts River Valleys Takes Action webpage. Keep listening, learning, and doing, and take care of yourselves and your friends, families, and neighbors.