our allies have had enough. >> marchers took over the golden gate on here went worldwide. >> i was just looking for someone to lead. we need someone from the black community to represent the movement as a whole. that was going to be an amazing protest. what better place to lead? >> look at the new faces joining the protest. they are playing an increasingly important role. >> if i get it, you can get it. >> levels of micro aggressions and levels of implicit bias that black people deal with every day. >> mississippi says the current state flag will be a thing of the past. >> this no longer officially represents the people. >> a number of companies have begun to rethink the messages that some of their products may send. >> the branding of long time food brands. it's long overdue. >> it's about time. >> you can do something every day to support anti-racist

policies and anti-racist behavior. >> you are either with us and with the black community or you are against. there is no way you can straddle this. >> allies in action. a bay area conversation. >> thank you so very much for joining us for this special edition of abc7 news. i'm dan ashley. over the past several weeks, the issue of race relations shas exploded into the headlines, into the streets and into the national consciousness. >> it has. instead of our 4:00 p.m. newscast, we'll spent an hour engaging experts and you in an abc7 listens virtual town hall on allies and racism. this has been on the backs of our friends of color and it is time to step up. >> we'll have a very frank conversation including questions from you. this is a very important one-hour virtual town hall

airing on tv. you might be watching it right now on youtube and facebook. >> we're glad you're here. if alliship is a new term for you, it is someone who cannot fully understand what oppression fels like but can tea that struggle as their own. to stand up in solidarity and support. >> allies are vital in the fight for social justice, equity and equality. they're not new but the term has taken on new meaningful here's >>eporter: in the weekceeo fyd,e seen sneikth. seets demanding an end to brutality. these ladies organized this one that shut down the golden gate bridge. >> there were more white people out there than black people. more of every culture than black pople.

it was crazy to see how many people supported it. >> reporter: beyond protests and posts on social media, what does it mean to be an ally in. >> it requires a common cause and a common theme. >> reporter: the history professor points to one. united states' earliest exams. john brown, a white abolitionist who was hanged after an effort to start an armed slave revolt and destroy the institution of slavery. >> it really underscores what true sacrifice looks like. >> reporter: from co-founding the naacp to fighting in the civil rights movement, white people have been allies throughout american history. but dr. brown pelham argues, it hand gone far enough. >> if a person is responsible for having built the system of oppression, those persons should also be responsible for dismantling that system. >> reporter: that's where carlo wallace comes in. >> those of houston are white, when we say what can we do, what

can we ? thwork we have to do is move other white people. >> she found showing up for racial justice or surge. a national group of individuals organizing white people for racial justice. >> i think some white people get stuck in the idea, if we just israel go develop a good heart, good intentions, that's enough. while that's a critical part of the journaly as our own journey of change, if we are not pushing against structural and institutional racism, then we're just better hearted people and things will not change for people of color in this community. >> the east oakland activist john jones iii gives people this advice. >> start with organizing in your own community, in your own neighborhood. organize your family members, your co-workers. use your privilege. they have a level of assets that we as black people and people of color do not have. >> she trains people how to be allies and says the key come possibly is action.

>> we have to figure out what we're going to do. what we're going to incorporate in our lives. what we're going to change. in particular, we need people who are not part of oppressed groups. we need people who are white. who historically held power. what folks really want to see realize, they as individuals have a role to play. >> taking action in defining what allyship means for you. abc7 news. >> our thanks to kumasi for that. action, the operative word. here's another example. a waitress did not hesitate when a tech company ceo targeted other guests in an angry ran at a restaurant in carmel. watchful. >> [ bleep ]. >> you need to leave. >> you do not talk about guests like that. you need to leave. >> [ bleep ]. >> get out of here!

get out! you are not allowed here. >> i already -- >> do not talk to our guests like that. they are valued guests. >> the waitress you heard kicking the man out of the restaurant told abc7 news in an exclusive interview, she had no other choice. >> did i what needed to be done. i think i did what anybody else should or would do in that situation. i felt very protective of them. you know? you don't come in here and say those things to people. if you see something, do something. stand up against racism, hatred any time you can. >> with all of that as a back drop, there is a lot to discuss. so much that we have put together two great panels for you today. the first panel will discuss what it means to be an ally. our second group will look at solutions. we have a diverse group of community leaders focused on everything with it and allyship.

>> so let's get right to it. we'll introduce you to them. we have theo miller, jessica murphy, also joining us live, we have dr. shelly, author of witnessing whiteness, and timothy wise, an anti-racist writer, educator. >> let's begin with theo miller. let's tart with this could not semiof allyship. why are allies so vitally important in this struggle? >> so it's a tremendous queflt nowadays, we're so focused on these visible acts of racism. the horror of george floyd. the example you showed us in the restaurant. what i want to talk about, the disparities we see in income here in san francisco. the wealth gap. the way in which covid-19 is raf communities of color.

so allyship is critical not just as a form of compassion and sympathy but also, what has been called racial empathy. it requires allies to look deeply. to self-sacrifice. to have generosity and try to put themselves in a position for people of color that are literally facing a war in this country. >> as we start to explore these issues, can you talk about the terminology? that's critical here. especially the term, anti-racism. what does it mean to be anti-racist as opposed to saying i'm not racist? >> sure. it means you're actively working against the system of racism, which is embedded in our everyday culture. it is not enough to say i'm not racist. you're not really doing anything to ends racism. you are inherently benefitting

from being white or light skinned or whatever it might be. you may feel i'm not a racist person. if you're not doing anything to work against the racist structures around, to take it a step further, if you're not unpacking it and taking time to have self-awareness about ways you have internalized racism, implicit bias against people in the community, then you're not living up to what you feel in your heart anyway. so i think being anti-racist is much more effective. >> i want to turn the discuss to dr. shelly. you said in an interview, par of unpacking this is knowing all the nukes and crannies that it has gotten into us, so we can stop and it name it on the spot. i imagine that's what you talk about in your book witnessingssg whiteness. how do people unpack these

things? >> the idea of witnessing whiteness goes back to a sense justice. if we think about someone who has been victimized. there's a perpetrator and way too often, bystanders. for white people, what i am trying myself to do, and trying to support other white people to do, to become witnesses who can take a stand and call for justices. i know what it is. i understand what it is. that's not easy for a group of people who was told not to see myself being a race being. someone conditioned by my whiteness. that was completely foreign to me when i got challenged to see myself differently. to see our world differently. it did take a complete and utter shifting of my world view. and it took a number of steps and aspects of learning. i had to learn a bunch of new knowledge. i needed to learn a lot of new

skills. i needed to develop the emotional capacity to do things differently, to hold myself together when i became frustrated or defensive. and then quite frankly, i needed a community. and i think that's an extremely important aspect of continuing allyship. to work with people in an organized fashion to make sure that we stay on the path toward deepening our skills and making use of them. >> let me go back to you. white people seem to have the luxury of not having to think about their race very much. they don't. we don't, i don't. we're not confront with it on a daily basis the way people of colorful are but we have been confronted with it in reason weeks because of these terrible incidents captured on cell phone video. george floyd, others around the country. the incident we showed at the karlel restaurant. i often think, thank goodness for cell phone video.

it has pushed something to the public consciousness that a lot of people either denied or didn't really think was happening. but people of color have said it has happened for generations. your thoughts. >> that's right. it is the daily experience for people. we can't forget class status that matters. there is a loss of community here. a lot of humanity. truth and reconciliation commission. i would pause it here. we have an opportunity with george floyd and breonna taylor and others, not to focus on truth and reconciliation but truth and restitution. it is the truth, the neil that has beenpe longstandi, multigenerational,

to so many. police brutality. sit in that truthful before you move to reconciliation, there must be restitution. allies that come in with only sympathy and compassion, but not willing to look at the material disparities that are at work, george floyd, and what society do we live in in which a police officer can have his knee on the back of a black man for eight and a half minutes, that's not an individual act. but that's about a system that allows this thing to keep going. so we move from truthful we sit in this discomfort. then we move to restitution before we can get on to reconciliation and liberation. >> a great point. define for us restitution so people understand what you mean. >> sure. so restitution, and this is my lawyer background, to say that we acknowledge a harm that has been called. and shelly mentioned this

earlier, as well as my colleague jessica. there are material benefits afforded white people. we see it through red lining, through mortgages, through credit. we have this in the city of sfrap. loss of businesses, potential the people of color. what restitution would say, we look at the systemic benefits afforded white folks. and black people say i don't want to participate in a system in which i get unjust benefits. in which i get the privilege just for being white. so restitution would say, let me acknowledge the disparity. let me acknowledge the burden put on black, indigenous community, people of color. and then let me have a systematic redress. housing, education. so this moment of revolution, rebellion, is powerful. for those of us doing this works

we wonder, it will be more than a sound bite? more than a few people getting a few implicit bias, will it result in a redress. in a systemic look at segregated communities. the way our families in pacific heights have benefited from the system. will we redress it? will we have real restitution? >> i want to you jump in here. you talk a lot about motivation which theo mentioned as well. you say, is it from shame? gilt about my institutional oppression? you say it is. chair. it is solidarity work. can you explain that a little bi? >> well, i think the thing that white folks need to ask ourselves in this moment, it is fantastic to see such a broad base of white americans. not only in the streets but asking these questions of what do we do, what do we do, even though those of us who have been in the work do that. there's that tendency to say, where have you been? better late to the party than never to the party.

so it's fine and everybody needs to be part of the work. i do worry that if the motivation is i feel such shame over not having known about this. or i feel such shame over the przybilla. i don't think shame is a very good motivator for human action and i don't think it is sustainable of now guilt over a system of oppression is a decent vacation destination but i wouldn't bull a house on that sand. moral revulsion. even that is hard to sustain. i don't expect white folks to remain optimistic in our fight for justice. what i think is for to us understand, racial inequity, even though we're not the targets of it, we are the collateral damage of it. think about the war on drugs. for years, the vast majority of white americans said very little about the fact black and brown bodies were being sent to prison

disproportionately, even though the use and sale were virtually identical. we didn't do anything. we were locking people away, mostly black and broum. here we are, and we have an opioid crisis for white america for which there is not enough rehab and treatment. we have all these white folks would understandering, where is the rehab? where's the compassion? that's a great question. the reason we don't have that is because we criminalized drug use when we thought it was those people. now it has come back to bite us. so everything with it, not allowing that, was in our interests. think about covid. we know that black folks, for instance, are dying at a rate, two, two and a half times the rate of white folks. we have millions who are indeed at risk. and i'm wondering what they see when they see some other white folks who maybe they have voted

like. maybe they're in their own family. let's reopen everything. i'm not wearing a mask. screw that. i don't want to wear a mask at the costco because that's tyranny which is another whole situation about, what white people think teernly is. but you have millions of white people looking at other whites thinking we just rolled the dice on their grandma. on their immuno compromised child. on their recoveing spouse who had cancer. millions of white folks who might have thought they were on that team. now they've got people in their own family and community willing to gamble. not just black life, poor life, disabled life, pre-existing conditions life, elderly life. that's a lot of us, too. we all benefit from a different mentality. when you allow a mentality of hurm disposability, and hierarchy, which is what white supremacy did. we think it will only get them.

we learn that they don't love us either. the folks who benefit most don't love most of us. so maybe if we understood the commoniality of interests. derek bell used to talk about it from a legal perspective. if we understood that, we would see this is our fight. >> i love these examples. this is racial empathy. what covid-19 has shown, the air we breathe, our own health, is inextricably linked to each other. we can play a foolish game and take our country down if we believe that allyship is not critical to our own future. >> so we do want to remind everyone. this is an interactive conversation. everyone watching at hole. on tv right now, facebook, we are monitoring those comments.

so please leave one there and we will ask it of our panelists. we want you to be part of this conversation. we have a baseline understanding of what it means to be an wanf also y make som distinction between what we all. break it do you mean. what's the difference in. >> sure. so basically, ally for me is a great entry point. we've been using the word ally and allyship for decades now. in a lot of ways, it has become watered down for the communities that i'm working and the communities that we're working to dismantle. accomplice for me shifts the

narrative into something much more action oriented. an ally is someone who would notice their privilege, be aware of it but maybe not take those steps to work actively against it. and so we talk about bringing in the word accomplice. looking at what it is supposed to be. making the phone calls. or london breed, if you are able to, go in and shut down the 580 or the bay bridge. if you're not able to do that, having the difficult conversations within your family, within your community, educating yourself. it's not so much of a transactional experience as sometimes allyship can be. i do consulting. we often do ally training. you would think with all the ally trainings that i've double in last final years,ering would be great.

the issue that we undocumented students. or i did the lgbtq training so i'm good with that. or the black lives matter training. whatever it might be. it's not a check box. there is no end point to the destination. a lifelong process and accomplice helps to identify that more than ally does. and it is more action oriented direction toward it. >> i love this. >> go ahead. you want to jump in? >> i was saying the idea of a co-conspirator. your own skin is in the game. your own lie bill is in the game. i keep emphasizing, protesting is credible. we have real material disparities here. the opioid crisis.

the covid-19 crisis. the question for me is what extent will you be an accomplice? will you actually step in and maybe lose some material benefi benefits. it is 400 years. you cannot be 92 ral it has been there 400 years so neutrality is not an option. you're complicit or dismanning it. >> it seems like the locomotive has been gathering some steam the last few weeks and there is perhaps a renewed determination to effect some real change. let me go quickly to the author of witnessing whiteness. as we bounce off about

you talk about self-investigati self-investigation. there are people watching, maybe they've been sympathetic. how do they begin with self-reflection? what should they be asking themselves? >> well, i think a couple of pieces are important. what you started talking about were barriers. what are the barriers to entry? one major barrier for people just coming to this conversation is just a sense of overwhelming confusion. so one thing i think is really helpful is to understand that there are four different levels of how racism or bias take place. there is the interimized work. that's how my own psyche has been condition in the ways i didn't invite. i might not even cognitively understand how my entire interpretation of my world experiences are shaped by race. so that's an important part to

explore. that can be done on that sort of healing journey. you can read a lot. watch a lot. there are things that you can do. it moves to interpersonal. how is it that i inact in the world in a way that causes harm. that's its own exploration. then we have the institutional work and this is where we move into the systemic. we could walk through corporations, institutions, thinking if my intentions are positive, there is no racism playing out here. in fact, as dr. miller was naming, it is the policies, the institutions practices that end up creating harm. so part of it is understanding the analysis. we need to understand there are multiple pathways to entry. the best thing you can do at the start is to reach out to the

anti-racism interests that exit. a lot of resources on the web page, the alliance everywhere. that is a group of white individuals who have been working for 16 years. all grassroots, all volunteer. it is dedicated to doing that level of self-reflection so we can show up when we need to. >> can i just add one thing to that? it is so important for allies to do their own work. and to do in it solidarity. i want to emphasize that there are black indigenous, people of color organizations that have been doing this work for generations. we want our allies in some ways to follow the lead of our communities of color. and i don't want that point to get lost. it is so critical to support the indig us in and black-led organizations on the ground as well.

so be an allyship and be in solidarity with those organizations waiting and waiting and working on it. >> we want to get our viewers into the conversation and then bounce it back. perhaps you can even tackle this conversation. we have one person saying dome speak. just listen. william saying, i love. this i want to get to a xom can hopefully spark some conversation. we need to stop putting color into the situations and analyze the perm. white, black, his panel issic, gay, lesbian, who is that person? is it a bad cop or a good person? notice no mention of race. i have to say as a black man, which i am, i can never shed my race. and i can never walk into a room as just a person. i will always be seen as a black man. what is your response to that? >> well, if i could, none of us walk into a room raceless.

we walk into a room with all the identities that we have in society. it is nice to say race shouldn't have mattered. it shouldn't have mattered 400 years ago but it did. i am. just a man, till, who happens to be straight, white, a tall man. like all of that stuff effects the way i experience america and the way that i experience society. it doesn't mean that it determines all of it but i have to be accountable for that it. what that means with criminal justice, to be black and brown, on the receiving end of criminal justice. we can't wish it away or ignore it. as the late great said, to be blind to color is to be blind to the consequences of color. and especially being the wrong color in america. >> this was such a good

conversation. a half-hour goes by so fast. unfortunately, we are out of time for this first part of the conversation. we want to thank you for joining us today. such a great conversation. thank you, guys. >> outstanding. >> we have another group of panel i haves coming up in a few minutes and we'll continue this imrtt conversation. >> let's talk about it in a different way. the relationship with black and asian-americans is often overlooked. there is a lot to unpack there as well and we don't want to ignore thore onha >> you do know black people have been beating up asians for years, right? >> it is normal to act racist toward black people. the difference is asian people don't,ly confront people and noublgs their views and opinions

outloud so it is not as well known. >> people are protesting for black lives. now they're using this as an excuse to target the asian community. >> we don't think they're infear i don't remember humans. we have a fair skin obsession that shows caste presence. >> those are some of the comments we've received illustrating the tension between the black and asian communities. >> these are highlyscon and vio we've reported in recent months. when the black lives matter movement has been reignited, as black people continue to die at the hands of police officers at disproportionate ways, the anger and frustration between the communities tends to be ignored. >> we wanted to explain how we could combine forces and make positive change that benefits us both. first we must understand our

long and complicated history. >> while there is sometimes anti-asia thoughts, that is very different from the anti-black, multigenerational systemic >> she is an and says ing. historical context is key. it is helpful. these is and that's how these systems and these white supremacist leaders want us to think. >> american black history is different because of slavery. as we move further up america's time line, she said black and asian communities often found themselves in interconnected struggles. >> the stereo time from when asians first started emigrating to this country for labor and the gold rush. that asians are dangerous. that they're dirty.

they carry diseases with them. >> she says black communities wrote letters and sent food to japanese people in internment r and, filipinos. the model minority stereo time emerged and was even used by president ronald reagan. >> he wanted to defund social welfare programs. to disman affirmative action. so what was convenient for him to use was the model minority stario type which is the stereo type that because asian-americans have a strong work ethic, or good family values. >> that they are somehow better. that harmful rhetoric helps fuel divisiveness today and did in the following cases. 1982, 27-year-old vincent chin is beaten to death. 1991. final-year-old natasha is shot in the back and dies.

2014. nypd officer peter lang shoots and kills gurley. 2017, an 81-year-old woman is pushed on of a muni platform. 2019 into 2020. the asian-american elder abuse spikes in san francisco. 2020, facing intense back lash amidst reports of racist comments. where do we go from here? already we're seeing shows of ig here in the bay area.untry. in chicago, more than 1,000 march from a chinese church to an historically black one. a show of communities that have suffered in different ways. there are sites about how to talk to friends about the black lives matter movement. whatever the method, the systems de black and asian-american communities is still the same system.

>> now it's time to take a look at the solutions and how you can really get involved in earnest. >> so let's bring in our second group of analysts. lisa bennett, showing up for racial justice. >> and joining us, we have erica, co-founder, and make noise today contributor. we have mark warren, an author and professor at the university of massachusetts, boston. i do want to start this off going off that story that we just watched. you are with the organization, make noise. that's about fighting racism. in light of all the killings we've seen, you've found now is the time for the asian community to stand in solidarity with the black community.

what does that allyship look like? what does it mean from your perspective? >> well, let's start with what it means from my perspective as someone who is both asian and black. my father is asian-american. he grew up in the 1960s where he frequently heard the n word from his classmates. my mother is from osaka, japan. she came to the u.s. in the 1980s to marry my father and i was raised in sacramento, near san francisco, in some ways. so my perspective is very much informed by my identity here. i recognize how important it is for the asian communities to acknowledge the racism that we are facing. but also, acknowledge the racism and how, it is actually vex rooted in anti-blackness. and racism is a spectrum of violence. the the racism, the black

community all stems from this new source which is the power structure of white supremacy. so having that as a foundational understanding will when the olympics approached, analyzing experiences of race. i think it is important to remember language and keep in mind, there is a difference between racism. it is very important to acknowledge the violence perpetrate in the san francisco area. elderly asian folks, sometimes, sadly often by other people of color. that is technically not racism. that is definitely bigotry, prejudice and bias. but racism is a system of power that can only believe impacted by those in power. in our society, that is white supremacy. so just rooting of racism,

anti-blackness and white supremacy. and so from there, as part of the make noise today campaign, we acknowledge and want to raise awareness of the racism and bigotry in the asian community during covid. in both material and personal ways. and at the ame time, we can do that work while standing up for our black brothers and sisters. and there are five steps that the make noise movement has come up with during that time. one is to check in with your community. get approximate to the issue that your friends, family and community are facing. educate yourself about the history of the asian community in america and our various journeys here. but also that of the black community. and how the traming ekt

started. how we still have replicated systems of slavery such as in the prison system and the school to prison pipeline. so education is key here. third, donate. there is sadly a hierarchy in terms of access to resources that we noticed across racism with blacks, indigenous folks and latin x folks at the bottom in terms of pain, equity, disparity, in terms of general wealth with white folks at the top and asians next. so especially in light of what the asian community can do, it is to donate and redistribute the resources. and there are so many wonderful organizations that are deserving of support. especially those -- >> let me ask to you get to the last two quickly so we can make sure all the guests can talk. >> that at all. the fourth is to support that ties into donating with organizations. and the fifth is to vote. that is a responsibility that we all share, sadly, asians sadly

are underrepresented with the vote. so i like the encourage the asian communities to step up and vote. >> thank you for that. let me ask you, alexandra, the co-founder of youth activists. you focus a lot on young people, of course, but you also say this fight, this allyship, being an accomplice, can't end or begin with young people. you're encouraging young people to have difficult conversations with older folks. talk about that. >> it is great that young people are loud and here and standing up. >> the civil rights movement was not too long ago. some of our parents had to use separate bathrooms and couldn't sit at the same table with our friends. so we have to have those difficult conversations with our friends and then their parents and maybe even our cousins,

grandmas and grandpas, they were alive and well during that time. some people are rooted in that everyday lifestyle as we see today. >> absolutely. and i want to bring you into this. as people are sitting and listening to what erica and alexandra are saying, i know you're in marin. a lot of conversations people have, well intended people who want to be allies, still get a little defensive. they feel like mabel they're being attacked. or it will lead to reverse racism. how do you respond to that? >> that's the essence of white fragility. to be defensive when it comes up. as an activist myself, someone devoting myself to this work, to bring white people into the conversation and bring them into pallyship. i think you have to start with yourself and do introspective work and then you have to learn to show up in a way that isn't

causing harm. we try to educate folks how to do that and then call them into action. i know erica was cut off. if she would like the continue, i yield my time. >> she finished. >> we will turn it over to mark now as we've been discussing, we are all conditioned to understand. you said a big part of. is learning history. the basics of learning history. tell us about how learning history can lead us to the path forward? >> sure. i've studied a lot of the history of anti-racist

struggles, and i think it was mention that had there have been white allies in the struggle all along. whatever term you would like the use. i think it is a varied history. if we are thinking about white supremacy, racism, systems of power, the way history is presented to people in this country is in support of. system of power. it deny grates people of color but also white solidarity. i think it is important for those of houston are white today to understand that we're part of a long history of participating in this struggle. we have role models to look at. and it's been true in many of the struggles, white allies have tried the take over movements and there's been a struggle

around them. i think stwau mentioned, the struggles led by people of color are very important. white people need to follow that leadership or look to that leadership and not to replicate the hierarchical within the own movement. it got to the point, people may be aware in the 1960s, the black power movement, they were actually kicked out the white members because of struggles over who would control the movement. so we have positive role models to learn from but also we have negative history. i think many white people in fact do not have much of a history and experience in this country of working on an equal playing field with very powerful black leaders and leaders in communities of color. that's that an experience many white people have in this country. so i think part of a learning about history is also learning

through doing today. building those relationships, participating in these struggles in ways the both follow leadership but also bring as white people are authentic talent, and experiences to the struggle, too. everyone is valued but it is about learning from those experiences. also, what motivates white people not just to get involved but sustained participation. i've actually studied white people who become activists in racial justice struggles over the last 30 or 40 years. oftentimes, anger and moral revulsion at the kinds of racist violence we've seen by police gets people started. i think that's very important. coming to understand our common interests, as i think was mentioned. it is also participating in the struggle itself. building authentic relationships with people who are different from us. that many. us never had the chance to have

and looking at ourselves in a new light. those kinds of relationships and that experience of solidarity also seen thes people in the struggle. >> thank you very much. erica, let me ask you bouncing off what he just said about white people being involved, the necessity of white people to be allies and accomplices in this fight. and there is historical precedent form. this tricky issue of how much is too much? how much should white people be involved? should they stay out of the way and allow groups of color to lead this fight and not just step on them and take over. >> well, i call it knowing when to step up. if you're not black, or a person of color, it is your responsibility to wield your privilege on behalf of people of color and other marginalized

folks. it is also your responsibility to give up those privileges. if the opportunity to benefit from those privileges can be given to black people or a person of color. and a really great example of this that i've seen recently is with the release of nicole handa jones' piece on recommend ragss for the 1619 project. she talks about what many people don't realize, going to mark's comment, and other folks' comments, the real benefits are material. when slavery was ended, slave owners were actually compensated for the loss of their slaves. when we opened up, specially this western part of the country, where we are mostly all based, free land was given away to white settlers on the backs and bodies of endig us in folks and others, and free blacks.

my friend has been analyzing with her family lands they own in the midwest. they are returning that land to native-american tribes in the area. so that's one very strong material way that you can show up and be an ally. there are so many other ways. it is likeliesta demonstrate earlier by offering to cede her time. they felt a black woman on this panel was cut off. and there are other opportunities to demonstrate this in the work place. if people of color are not being promoted, do you have some relative capital in your organization to push for their promotion, to push for the amplification of their voice in a meeting? it is in everyday situations like that that i think we have to reframe the scope of white folks' responsibility toward their privilege. >> for sure. i want to bring you in on this.

social media has clearly paid a huge role in moving this movement forward. especially in the last few weeks. #wake-up danville. so talk about the role social media is playing in this. >> social media is huge. we're the first people to post about a new album that artists, or political debates, you name it. it is also your platform and people are commenting and liking it. so why not educate? i think of it like this. right? when you go on vacation, we research climate. and we ask our friends, have you stayed at this hotel? what did you pack? what did you wear? sometimes we even research other languages so we can fit. in we can learn how to navigate. and then we post about it and we recommend it. same thing about black culture. we research about it. understand it so we can use our voices the right way.

and social media is huge. we're all doing it. why not use it for a good purpose? >> at the same time, i know that you've said posting a black square is the minimum. you're told, you post the black square, you're doing it wrong or you're remaining silent. >> the black square. oh, the black square. that was great for hoot second. it looks like a todd letter took your phone and posted something. is that really ending racism? is that really standing up for what's right? it's cool that we all blacked out our time line. but educate yourself. don't just post about your life. black out your life and post about black education.

black businesses. so that's great that you posted a black square but we're in the same place. you have to do better. >> a great transition to the next part of the discussion i want to touch on here. i want to talk to lisa because of the surge in ma rrinmarin. those who want to get involved. they want to do something but not the wrong thing. they don't want to offend. that might e a barrier to folks you deal with every day in your work. how do you tell them, you're going to mess up. it's okay. but mostly it is about correcting yourself and moving forward. we stated, often in the work shops that we lead. the facilitators, we talk about ways we have messed up. and how we have survived. we're still alive. and a couple. our workshops, we talk about how

to make an apology that's not all about you but about the situation and the harm you've caused. so we learn it. a practice. allyship is a lifelong process. not something you take a work shop for and leave. it is something you devote your life to if you want to become an ally. you won't get it truly right but you have to build resilience and do it in community too. how important is it to do with it other folks who are doing your work with you? it is really hard to do alone. >> if i can very quickly follow up there. how do you tell someone, for example, going off liz's example, if someone might have gotten the smackdown on social media because they posted the black time or didn't. and they say i don't know had a to do now. how do you get them on board? how do you have the dialogue with people doing the work to motivate others to join them? >> right. we try to call people in.

not call them out. so it starts with that sort of approach. if you call people out, they'll shut down. if you spend time with yourself, prepare yourself, you can approach people. you can often connect with them and come to an understanding of what just happened. what really happened and then how to deal with the ramifications of that. >> erica, you're doing this work for a long time. do you see anything different happening this time? as a result of george floyd's tragic death and going forward? have things changed in substantive ways? >> absolutely. i think it is important to remember the time line and remind ourselves of how black lives matter started. it was actually in many ways, rooted in the bay area in 2012 with the first wave of deaths of

black people by the hands of white people and those in authority and with guns across the country, showing up on social media in 2012, and three black women. some from oakland, starte this #and this movement. so this movement isn't new. and of course, it builds on the stream of abolition work that has existed since the inception of shavory in this country and beyond. so it is important to remember that. but what is different about this moment, i think, is covid and the pandemic, and the stillness in some ways in which we have been able and forced to sit with ourselves, to not be distracted by socializing outside, by rushing around, and i'll sure there have been so many stressors for so many people in this very precarious time. but i think we're all fed up with the extremity of our fryman the political situation to the inequities across the board.

when we talk about racism, we cannot not talk about capitalism and our economic system as well. and covid has exacerbated all these situations. and as a black woman, my perspective was, we're in a pandemic. we shbl worried about people's public health and getting them benefits so they can survive and not evicting folks. why are cops sitting on people's necks and killing them over $20 counterfeit bill. where are your priorities when we're facing a public health crisis? how low have we gone? >> so many good points. we have, can we give you 30 seconds? i think we're almost out of time. i'm sorry. we're out of time. we want to let you know to take action and find your ally. you can log on to our webb. abc7news.com/take action. >> this has ben such a great

discussion west could do this for hours. it is hard to believe our one hour with the experts is almost up. >> we want to thank our panel of experts for taking time out of your busy schedules for talking with us. >> as we end this hour and give our final thoughts on the discussion we've had, i want to go back to the title of the program. allies in action. that's it right there. that's what it is all about. words matter. when you added the black title to your instagram. all of. matters. if you're going to talk the talk, you have to be ready to walk the walk, too. being woke is exhausting. that's a text i got from one of my white friends after he spent days protesting the killing of george floyd by police. i responded, being black in america is even more exhausting. that may sound harsh to some but this work is far from a sprint. it is hard.

difficult. we have to rebel anything less is performance. we donal need performers right now. we nidalize. we' , we need allies. >> as we learn today, even small actions can make a difference. i've recently been trying to re-read a lot of history. i was reading about black sufficient suffer togethers. we can change it. we just have to do it together. >> a privilege to be with my colleagues today. the word ally comes from the latin word that means to bind to. to unite. to enter into an alliance.nd pr one another. weeed allies together. we should all be allies and accomplices. george freud didn't have anyone who could save him that day.

he did have an ally. a 17-year-old girl with the courage to record what was being done to him on her cell phone. that allyship sparked protests and hard conversations across the nation and around the world. it is why this the racial justice and equality so long overdue in our great country. >> so well said. and we are continuing to follow stories and we'll keep you connected to resources. you can watch this town hall and our others on the abc7 news app and anywhere that you stream. >> for all of us, we appreciate your time here. abc7 news. we are the thrivers. women with metastatic breast cancer. our time for more time... has come. living longer is possible - and proven in postmenopausal women taking kisqali plus fulvestrant. in a clinical trial, kisqali plus fulvestrant helped women live longer with hr+,

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. next at 5:00, the covid crisis at san quentin and why family members of inmates are demanding the governor visit the prison. also the new testing site that's making it easier for members of a hard-hit community to find out if they're infected. plus an east bay city approves major budget cuts that will impact police and a lot more, and your town may want to take know. santa clara county gyms get the green light to reopen but with restrictions including no cardio. the news at 5:00 is next. governor gavin newsom, you are speaking to a mother who has

no fear. i'm a mamma