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White people: How to talk to your family about #blacklivesmatter - Rhiannon Thomas
In the current climate of Covid-19, police brutality and the protests taking place globally, there are a lot of “tough” conversations taking place with family members around the subject of the black lives matter movement.
Many people may have genuine concerns about the lack of social distancing in place during the protests, and may be experiencing feelings of concern over rioting and looting taking place within their community; however these are often thinly veiled attempts at belittling the BLM campaign are detrimental to the movement.
Many of you may be wondering how best to approach these tricky conversations with family members who don’t share the same views as you. As uncomfortable as these conversations may be for you over the next few months, these barely scratch the surface of the feelings of discomfort that black people, the BAME community and other minority feel on a daily, lifelong basis.
Here are some tips on discussing why the protests are important, and how to address specific use of wording in order to educate and not patronise which often sparks argument rather than discussion.
Author Patrick Wayne Benjamin-Lang has laid out some really great pointers here, with some conversational starters that you may face when discussing the #BlackLivesMatter movement with friends and family. You may even hear yourself using these, which is an ingrained racist behaviour in yourself which is vital to recognise and eliminate.
1. “It’s awful but...” - No. No buts. In the English language, the word “But” is often used to deflect or to justify a behaviour. Police murdering black people in the street is awful. Period. End of discussion.
2. “I support the movement but not these disruptive protests...” - No, you don’t. Right now the movement is taking the form of disruptive protests. They’re the same thing. You either want police to stop murdering black people in the street, or you don’t. If you do, then support the protests — even if you find them disruptive and frustrating — because that’s black people fighting for their lives.
3. “All lives/White lives matter too..” - no one said they didn’t. The conversation is specifically about black lives right now because police are murdering them in the street. Until police stop doing that, and White people stop dismissing it, it’s not “All lives Matter”, it’s “MOST lives matter.” It’s not “ALL Lives” until Black Lives Matter too. Stay focussed.
4. “There are good cops...” - No one said there weren’t. There are three categories of cops; Good cops, bad cops and complacent cops. Good cops are marching with the protesters. They’re sharing the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. They’re trying to change the system from within the system. There are many levels of Bad cops. The most obvious one are those officers that are murdering black people in the street. Bad cops are also sharing the hashtags “blue lives matter”. Bad cops are trying to shift the focus. Bad cops don’t stop their colleagues when they murder black people in the streets. Complacent cops just show up, follow orders and try not to take sides. Complacent cops are bad cops.
5. “I don’t support the looting and destruction...” - no one says you have to, but please stop acting like looting nullifies the entire protest. And definitely stop acting like looting is “just as bad”. That’s like comparing someone steeling your car to someone murdering your child. They’re not equally bad. Stop pretending they are. Police murdering black people in the street is definitely worse than robbing a Target.
6. “Just because I’m white doesn’t mean my life has been easy...” Of course not. Everyone struggles. But being white has never been one of those struggles. Being poor has been a struggle. Being a woman has been a struggle. Being gay has been a struggle. But being white has never been a struggle. The same can’t be said for people of colour. I could go on and on about white privilege but it would be so much easier if you educated yourself instead. This isn’t about how you, a white, cisgender, straight man has suffered in your life. This is about police murdering black people in the street. Stop trying to make it about you.
7. “I really wish they would protest peacefully...” - of course you do. They’re easier to ignore that way. People of colour have been peacefully protesting for hundreds of years. It hasn’t been all that successful. The reason riots and violent demonstrations work is because it makes people — especially white people — uncomfortable. We can’t ignore them when they’re waving torches in our faces. It scares us. It puts us on edge. Which is exactly where we need to be. People only pay attention to the extreme. If you have trouble recalling a single one of the hundreds of peaceful protests that BLM held across North America last year, but you can still recall, with crystal clarity, the 1992 Los Angeles riots, then you’ve just proved my point.
8. “I don’t see colour...” — Congratulations, you’re lying to yourself. Of course you see colour. And that’s good! Black people want you to see their colour. Their colours are beautiful and the very foundation of who they are. If you don’t see their colour, then you also don’t see their culture. If you don’t see colour then you erase their very identity. If you don’t see their colour, then you also can’t see the pattern of violence they’re confronted with everyday. If you don’t see colour, then you’re blind to more than just racial injustice. You’re blind to the world.
9. “They shouldn’t have committed a crime...” A boy who steals a can of pop from a 711 does not deserve to be shot in the back three times. A man illegally selling CD’s on a street corner doesn’t deserve to be shot to death in front of a record store. A man who runs a red-light, does not deserve to be shot while reaching for his registration. This isn’t about their crimes, this is about bad policing. Stay on topic.
10. “Black people kill white people too...” yes, murderers exist in every race and walk of life. But, that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking police brutality, and the reality is, black officers are not murdering unarmed white men in the street. That seems to be almost exclusively white officer behaviour. Stop gaslighting.
This final point finds us at the end of Benjamin-Lang’s discourse on the subject. There are hundreds of other micro aggressions that black people face on a daily basis. The very least we as white people can do is learn to accept that we all have ingrained racism within us, and the system that we profit and benefit from, and then help to dismantle it. Have conversations, difficult ones, read books, listen to podcasts, watch films and documentaries and above all listen to the black community to understand, not to respond.
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Future Fabrics Expo: London (Annually)
Tucked away down a side road, in the glass-walled, airy IRIS studios, was the location for the 6th annual Future Fabrics Expo. The event was hosted by the Sustainable Angle and featured seminars from multiple guest speakers including Johan James van Breda from Sustainable Apparel Coalition and Liesl from Textile Exchange.
The room was filled from wall to wall with rails of cloth, from extravagantly patterned fabrics to more traditional woven materials. The Expo is an integral part of the sustainable fashion community as it provides designers and students with the opportunity to have a first hand view of the innovative new fabrics available and soon to be available on the market.
The initial idea behind the event came from when founder and director of The Sustainable Angle Nina Marenzi was completing her dissertation on organic cottons named ‘Organic Cotton: Reasons Why the Fashion Industry is Dragging its Heels’ for her MSc in Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development at Imperial College.
Nina began to wonder why there weren’t more fashion designers using organic materials in their production of fabrics and clothing. She was also interested in how the production process of the manufacturing of clothing was also a factor in how the fashion industry was harming the environment. Thus, The Sustainable Angle was born putting hard work into researching and presenting high quality fashion fabrics which are produced with the goal of reducing impact on the environment throughout the fashion and textiles supply chain.
The Sustainable Angle choose fabrics for the Future Fabrics Expo by making sure that they are suitable for fashion and of a high quality. They are also marked against four environmental criteria, water, waste, energy and biodiversity.
Water: the reduction of water waste in the production process of textiles.
Waste: the reduction of solid waste through the production process, for example through recycling.
Energy: reducing the carbon impact throughout the supply chain.
Biodiversity: reducing the dependency on raw unsustainable materials, and focusing on more diverse textiles fibres.
The expo was clearly well at home in the beautiful studio and the natural lighting flooding in allowed us to be able to appreciate the different fabrics in all their glory. The fabrics were set out on rails depending on type. From luxe to patterned, silky fabrics to sportswear, and innovative new ideas for creating fabrics from things other than cotton plants (cotton) and cow skin (leather). Each fabric was hung upon a sustainably printed, custom made digitally printed hanger made by Avery Dennison RBIS. Each hanger gave us information about how the fabric was made, what from and where.
Fashion students to fashion designers, buyers to bridalwear experts and more made their way around the event. Many of the people attending were glued to their phones, taking photo after photo of the innovative fabrics and swatches. Not only was the event important in getting people involved with more sustainable ways for the fashion industry to develop and use textiles, but it was also a beautiful display of colour and texture.
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1.“Swishing” - AKA Clothes swap parties.
The perfect night in. A get together with friends. Put on some music, make some snacks and fruity cocktails and get everyone to bring along their old clothes. The dictionary definition means to swish fabric, but swishing in this instance means to swish clothes from your mates. The term was brought about by Futerra, who are leading the way with swishing parties. It’s an easy and free way to find new outfits without having to spend tons of money as well as having a really fun time. Best of all you won’t be contributing to the tons of waste of clothing put out into landfills and the amount of textile waste involved in the fast fashion industry.
2. Charity shopping.
Like Macklemore said, you can pick up some amazing cheap finds in charity shops. Most of the clothing you find in charity shops is under a fiver, and it's a really great way to find retro or vibrant clothing that is a blast from the past. A lot of friends of mine told me they originally headed in a charity shop to pick up something for fancy dress, and ended up grabbing some other bargains along the way! Coats are an especially good buy from a charity shop as they usually are much much cheaper, they last for ages and they are a vital purchase especially in this cold, wet and windy UK.
3. Vintage fairs.
The ever popular vintage kilo sales. Pay for the weight of what you buy, nothing more, nothing less. What more could you want? Judy’s affordable vintage sale, the Weigh ‘N’ Pay, all of this vintage sales are an amazingly easy way to up your style game. You can literally get a whole new outfit for less than a fiver. You simply just pay for the weight of the plastic bin liner that you fill with clothes and accessories. You will often know when you see people returning from a vintage fair because there will be swarms of people migrating from the nearest hall/ student union building clutching onto a plastic black bin liner full of clothes.
4. Customization.
The best way to revamp your wardrobe for free! Get out your shears and sewing machine and get creative. If you have an old pair of Levi’s that you aren’t too fussed on anymore, why not turn them into a pair of denim shorts? You can then turn the leftover pieces of denim into a small drawstring bag or shred up the pieces and add some tassels to your shorts. An old pair of flamboyantly patterned leggings from a dance class you never took? Cut off the top, shorten the legs and you can wear them as a crop top. Customizing clothing is always fun, and you could even get together with some friends and turn it into a catch up session.
5. Ebay/Depop/Etsy etc.
Like an online charity shop, depop is an app where you can buy and sell your old clothes and buy things from your friends and people you follow on instagram too. This means you can steal the style of your girl crush, aka the friend of a friend who’s clothes making you jealous. Ebay is so good for second hand clothing and is where I found my all time favourite piece of clothing, my signature style item, my lone star cafe denim jacket. I got it for ten pounds. I litterally would have paid about six times that amount if I had bought it from it’s original store. Etsy is an online shop where you can buy clothes and jewellry that has been handmade by people from arround the country and even around the world. The fact that these items and garments have been lovingly handmade by their sellors means that you know that they will be fully ethical.