Photo via Euronews

Written by Jackson Bird. 

This week we’re holding white people accountable and reflecting on how we can be better progressives.

What we’re checking out…

FRESH Co-Founder Courtney Martin wrote an excellent piece this month for speaker Sarika Bansal’s magazine BRIGHT. The article, about the unfortunate trend of optics over genuine inclusion in white-led companies, kept whirring in our minds as the week went on.

Animation by Calum Heath for BRIGHT Magazine

We recommend following Martin’s piece up with Sady Doyle’s analysis of the Effortless White Woman.

While Doyle illustrated the short-comings of the Effortless White Woman through the example of Ivanka Trump, Ivanka’s father was out there this week displaying the Clueless White Man trope when he revealed that he actually has no idea how people buy groceries.

Speaking of Trump (sorry), Alex Wagner wrote for The Atlantic about how Trump’s supporters have officially abandoned family values for white nationalism.

To round out your reading for the week, you can’t miss Doreen St. Félix’s piece, “The Very American Killing of Nia Wilson.”

And finally, our reFRESHing Talk of the Week is T. Morgan Dixon and Vanessa Garrison’s “The trauma of systemic racism is killing black women. A first step toward change…”

The latest from our speakers…

August 1 – 7 is World Breastfeeding Week so we want to highlight the work on maternal health being done by two of our speakers, Zubaida Bai and Miriam Zoila Pérez:

Read Bai’s recent piece about why she founded Ayzh, her organization providing clean birth kits and more to women in low-resource settings.

Listen to last month’s episode of Tonic, in which Pérez and her co-hosts provide advice to a mother who struggled with breastfeeding.

Stepping away from World Breastfeeding Week, Tiffany Dufu’s latest epiphany encourages us to say no, especially when it’s difficult.

Animation by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya

Quartz has a wonderful profile of Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya and her ‘Beyond Curie’ series.

Sarika Bansal has a must-read in her BRIGHT Magazine about the power of language to dehumanize and control people.

Samhita Mukhopadhyay appeared on Manrepeller’s podcast The Call to dish on her new gig at Teen Vogue, Zillennials, and finding the job that’s right for you.

Storytelling platform Hey Umami created a beautiful animation of Bisi Alimi’s powerful story.

via Hey Umami

Jamil Smith has been on fire since the last installment of the reFRESH. He’s covered LeBron James’ new I PROMISE School, the new Trayvon Martin documentary, and why we all need to keep our eye on former Georgia House minority leader Stacey Abrams.

And finally, don’t miss Jamia Wilson and FRESH CEO Vanessa Valenti at Woke Women Rising in Rhinebeck, New York this September at the Omega Institute!

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