We all know that it’s not a matter of if, but when we will be confronted by an offensive stereotype, an ignorant comment, or racially insensitive behavior in social situations, especially at PWIs. Here are a few tips you can use so that you will be prepared.

 

Try to remain calm. It will be easier for you to think clearly and stay on top of the situation if you are calm. Avoid directly accusing people of being racist, as it can escalate the conflict and decrease the chances that the other person will listen to you.

 

Prepare yourself ahead of time by practicing what you will say when it happens. Here are a few phrases you can practice:

 

The first two phrases let people know that what they said/did was not “normal” and give you a moment to collect yourself and decide what to do/say next. The next five phrases communicate the harmful effect of the actions/words and question the offender’s beliefs and motivations. This opens the door to education. 

 

If you are too upset, or if you don’t feel safe in the moment, walk away. If you want to, you can address it later, when you’re calmer or in a safer environment. You can say at that time, “I noticed that/remember when [X]. When that happened, it made me feel [Y].” Remember that as a BIPOC you are not obligated to educate anyone. You can say, “I don’t have the energy to explain right now. But there’s lots of information online if you want to look it up.”

 

If you are an ally, you should use these phrases, too. Your voice and your support are crucial in showing that we are all in this together, and that no one should tolerate behavior that harms others.
 

 

What to Say When Someone Says Something Racist, WebMD

How to Call Out Your Friend for a Racist Comment, Harvard Business Review

What Did You Just Say? Responses to racist comments collected from the field: An extensive, detailed list of more possible responses from grad students at University of Portland

You are invited to our first-ever Cinnamongirl pinning ceremony—a rite of passage to honor the hardworking Cinnamongirls who have given back to the organization, raised money, participated in multiple demanding cohorts, or stepped into leadership positions.

 

Click on the button below to learn more and RSVP for this amazing event!

Meet Abisola Forreseter and Serena Griffin, our two fearless co-leaders of the Passport Book Club for our younger Cinnamongirls. Abisola, age thirteen, is in eighth grade and has been part of Cinnamongirl for two years. She began as part of the Write Your Story cohort and is now a member of Travelgirl. Fifteen year old Serena is in tenth grade. She participated in Entrepreneurgirl last year and is a current member of Write Your Story. Read on to find out more about these two wonderful Cinnamongirls!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nikki Shannon Smith, Thea Matthews, Deborah Santana, and tanea lunsford lynx

Photo credits: nikkishannonsmith.com, theamatthews.com, deborahsantana.com, tanealunsfordlynx.com

Led by Cinnamongirls Abisola Forrester and Serena Griffin, Passport Book Club younger cohort, read and discussed their first book Paolo Santiago and the River of Tears. The girls enjoyed getting to know each other at this initial meeting, and they discussed the book as well as its connection to Hispanic Heritage Month. Kailynn Guidry and Mariah McCoy led the older cohort, which read On the Come Up by Angie Thomas and Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From by Jennifer Leon, also a Hispanic Heritage Month pick.

 

The Write Your Story cohort began their journey with master classes taught by acclaimed children’s author Nikki Shannon Smith (“Fearlessness: Mining Emotions and Experience to Create Fiction”) and poet, author, and educator Thea Matthews (“The 5 S’s to Poetry: Speaker, Setting, Syntax, Sense, and Structure”). In October, they will work with peace activist and author Deborah Santana (“Memoir: Who Will Tell Your Story?”) and author tanea lunsford lynx (“Ingredients for Good Fiction”).

Self-Made Boys by award-winning YA novelist Anna-Marie McLemore is a stunning The Great Gatsby retelling featuring Nick Caraveo, a transgender boy from Wisconsin, his old friend Daisy Fabrega, who is now engaged to Tom and passing for white as Daisy Fay, and Jay Gatsy, another transgender boy who is determined to win his old girlfriend Daisy back from her fiancé.

 

Until Someone Listens: A Story about Borders, Family, and One Girl’s Mission by Estela Juarez and Lisette Norman is the true story of how eight-year-old Estela Juarez’s mother was deported to Mexico, and how Estela wrote letters to newspapers, to Congress, to the President, to anyone and everyone until finally someone listened.

 

Valiant Ladies by Melissa Gre.y By day Eustaquia "Kiki" de Sonza and Ana Lezama de Urinza are proper young seventeenth century ladies. But when night falls, they trade in their silks and lace for swords and muskets, venturing out into the vibrant, bustling, crime-ridden streets of Potosí in the Spanish Empire's Viceroyalty of Peru. This fun graphic novel is inspired by the real seventeenth century Latine teenagers known as the Valiant Ladies of Potosí.

 

Find more fantastic books by Latine authors here.