We at Town and Mountain Realty condemn racism in all its forms. We believe black lives matter. We recognize the systemic racism embedded within our society and offer to stand in solidarity with the black community in battling it. We pledge to speak out against racial discrimination when we encounter it in our lives and in our business. We will seek guidance from leaders of the black community for steps we can take to help defeat racial discrimination and create more equity in our community for people of color.
We pledge to do more. We pledge to do better. We pledge to encourage others to do the same.
Enough was enough a long time ago.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF:
- What can you do to support POC in your community?
- What are your local politicians' policy on ending police brutality?
- When were you taught about race and culture?
- How do you plan on helping the fight to end racial discrimination and systemic oppression?
- How can you use anti-racist knowledge to change and progress conversations with friends, family, colleagues and peers?
- How can you be actively anti-racist instead of simply "not racist"?
- What do you want to learn more about?
ACTION ITEMS:
- Register to vote.
- Check in on your black friends, family, partners, and colleagues.
- Educate yourself and read up on what it means to be anti-racist.
- Screenshot, share and repost resources to educate those around you.
- Don't center the narrative around you. Identify privilege and condemn it.
- Stop supporting organizations that promote hate.
- Be an ally and advocate after the outrage ends.
- Continue to donate, to fund and support initiatives you care about if you have the means.
ORGANIZATIONS TO FOLLOW:
- @blklivematter
- @colorofchange
- @naacp
- @showingupforracialjustice
- @civilrightsorg
- @reclaimtheblock
- @ethelsclub
- @unitedwedream
PETITIONS TO SIGN:
- Justice for George Floyd
- Colors of Change #JusticeforFloyd
- Justice for Breonna Taylor
- Justice for Ahmaud Arbery
PODCASTS THAT DIVE INTO IMPORTANT CONVERSATIONS AROUND RACIAL EQUITY AND JUSTICE:
SUBSCRIBE & LISTEN
- 1619 BY THE NEW YORK TIME
- About Race
- Code Switch BY NPR
- The Diversity Gap
- Intersectionality Matters! hosted by Kimberle Crenshaw
- Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast
- Pod for the Cause FROM THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE ON CIVIL & HUMAN RIGHTS
- Pod Save the People BY CROOKED MEDIA
BOOKS TO READ:
- Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins
- Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Dr. Brittney Cooper
- Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
- How To Be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
- Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
- Raising Our Hands by Jenna Arnold
- Redefining Realness by Janet Mock
- Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
- So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
- The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
- The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century by Grace Lee Boggs
- The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
- This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color by Cherríe Moraga
- When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America by Ira Katznelson
- White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD
- Black-Owned Book Stores to Support ( Many Offer Shipping Nationwide)
FILMS AND TV SERIES TO WATCH:
- 13th (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix
- American Son (Kenny Leon) — Netflix
- Black Power Mixtape: 1967-1975 — Available to rent
- Blindspotting (Carlos López Estrada) — Hulu with Cinemax or available to rent
- Clemency (Chinonye Chukwu) — Available to rent
- Dear White People (Justin Simien) — Netflix
- Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler) — Available to rent
- I Am Not Your Negro (James Baldwin doc) — Available to rent or on Kanopy
- If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins) — Hulu
- Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton) — Available to rent for free in June in the U.S.
- King In The Wilderness — HBO
- See You Yesterday (Stefon Bristol) — Netflix
- Selma (Ava DuVernay) — Available to rent
- The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution — Available to rent
- The Hate U Give (George Tillman Jr.) — Hulu with Cinemax
- When They See Us (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix
RESOURCES:
- The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund: America’s premier legal organization fighting for racial justice through litigation, advocacy, and public education.
- Minnesota Freedom Fund: A community based nonprofit in Minnesota that pays criminal bail and immigration bonds for individuals who have been arrested while protesting police brutality.
- Reclaim the Block: Coalition that advocates for & invests in community-led safety initiatives in Minneapolis neighborhoods.
- Black Lives Matter: A global organization whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.
- Campaign Zero: Online platform & organization that utilizes research-based policy solutions to end police brutality in America.
- Color of Change: The nation’s largest online racial justice organization that helps people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by 1.7 million members, they move decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America.
- Black Visions Collective: A Black, trans, and queer-led organization that is committed to dismantling systems of oppression and violence, and shifting the narrative to create transformative, long-term change.
- Advancement Project: Advancement Project is a next-generation, multi-racial civil rights organization. Rooted in the great human rights struggles for equality and justice, they exist to fulfill America’s promise of a caring, inclusive and just democracy. They use innovative tools and strategies to strengthen social movements and achieve high impact policy change.
- Embrace Race: A multiracial community of parents, teachers, experts, and other caring adults who support each other to meet the challenges that race poses to our children, families, and communities.
- Black Youth Project 100 is a national organization of Black 18-35 year olds working towards racial justice through direct-action organizing, advocacy and political education.
- Equal Justice Initiative works to provide legal representation to those wrongly convicted or unfairly sentenced.
- How You Can Be Ally to the Black Lives Matter Movement (Great Big Story)
- Guide to Support and Help Black-Owned Small Businesses
- Mental Health Issues Facing the Black Community
LOCAL ASHEVILLE RESOURCES:
Black-Owned Businesses in Asheville & WNC to Support
Martin Luther King Jr. Association of Asheville and Buncombe County
The Urban News Week of Action in Defense of Black Lives
North Carolina Housing Coalition
Follow these Voices:
We also need to take the time to listen to what voices in the black community of Asheville are saying right now.
Marsha Davis is the cofounder and Racial Equity Consultant at Davis Squared Consulting here in Asheville. She’s worked with the city and the real estate industry in town to share the history of redlining in Asheville, among other things.
DeWayne Barton founded Hood Huggers, a walking and driving tour of Asheville that presents the black history of the city.
If you want to know more about black-owned businesses in our community, visit the Color of Asheville directory online.