June 15, 2020 Meeting Notes

Hello BOSLadies,

I wasn't sure what to expect from Tuesday's meeting. I wasn't sure who would be able to show up with the change in start time or how in depth we would go in person on the topics we have been discussing via email. Part of me was very anxious, which speaks more to my own insecurities and fears than it does about how I regard you fellow BOSLadies. Perhaps because speaking to all of you can be like holding up a mirror, I was worried about what our frank discussion might reveal about myself. For these reasons and because of the import of what was discussed, I've taken a bit longer to digest and distill our talking points into this recap. Thank you for your patience and for being present, especially when it's scary and matters most.

Two links shared in the Zoom group chat

From Kyle: "Is protest a productive use of our political attention? Or is it just a bit of social theatre we perform to make ourselves feel virtuous, useful, and in the right?"

From Kseniia: I recommend these series for everybody who likes design and architecture in general, but considering the discussion about black art I recommend episode 2 in season one that features artist Theaster Gates, who gives a thoughtful tour of the spaces he’s rehabilitated on the Chicago's South Side

Questions We Asked and Things We Discussed

• Do we feel optimistic, pessimistic or realistic about the protests and what impactful change they can have? I missed the first 30 minutes of the meeting and arrived at the tail end of discussion about protests in India. If someone wants to reply to this email to fill everyone in, that would be awesome

• How can we increase diversity among those doing crits for design grad students? Why is this so important?

• Why we need a bias towards minorities to reach equity and how affirmative action aims to do that

• The idea that the attention the news is giving to violent protest is racist. Why is it not on the news when white people trash their college towns, for example, after a sporting event?

• On recognizing what is privileged in our own lives - a checklist

• How erasing differences is not the solution, but instead appreciating and celebrating them

• The quickest way to learn and appreciate a culture is in the day to day things like music and food. Rather than trying to take on a huge and heavy topic, you can start with the easier, more relatable things

• How should we be responding to people who don't understand or support BLM? I've found a lot of helpful resources on the From Privilege to Progress website and Instagram and highly recommend reading through their materials

• America-centric world views, specifically language related, and asking questions about other cultures
  

Related Materials (in lieu of the traditional Weekly Three list)

• John Lewis, congressman and civil-rights legend, will never lose hope. (photo from New York magazine)

• https://semi-rad.com/2020/06/ideas-about-changing-the-world-in-7-charts/ (chart from Semi-Rad)

• identifying racism in healthcare towards black women and their weight

July's book: Srushti suggested that this book may help us all with what we are feeling right now and I couldn't agree more: The Empathy Exams. This is a passage from a New York Times review that she shared with me: “Empathy isn’t just something that happens to us — a meteor shower of synapses firing across the brain — it’s also a choice we make: to pay attention, to extend ourselves,” she observes. “It’s made of exertion, that dowdier cousin of impulse. Sometimes we care for another because we know we should or because it’s asked for, but this doesn’t make our caring hollow. The act of choosing simply means we’ve committed ourselves to a set of behaviors greater than the sum of our individual inclinations.” Maybe order your copy from Frugal Bookstore, a black owned business in Roxbury listed in this article from Boston.com. I've been wrestling with how to change my behaviors in a sustainable but impactful way and it seems that where I spend my money will be very effective. Thank you as always BOSLadies for taking the time to read this and to be part of our community. This email is posted on our BOSLady website, as are all past Love Notes and Meeting Recaps. Links from email responses from the past two weeks have also been posted but NOT the actual emails or any names of respondents (thank you Kseniia!). Sincerely, Amber