Anyone Can Become an Anti-Racist

By: Sadie Nichols

In my exploration of the ARCC’s content for my onboarding for my Summer Internship position at the ARCC one episode of the ARCC’s podcast, “The ARCC of Change” resonated with me. That episode was Lori Kelly’s story: From Racist Cult to Anti-Racist! In this podcast episode, Lori shares her story of being raised in a fundamentalist cult, which was rampant with misogyny and racism, and her transformation in not only unlearning racist values but becoming an active anti-racist activist. 

I found this story to be so impactful because it embodies the idea that truly anyone can become an Anti-Racist. Education is so important, it is a journey that we all are on, and if we can commit to educating those in our network we can multiply the amount of Anti-Racist action. When one is committing to an Anti-Racist journey one is not committing to perfection, one is instead committing to being vulnerable, to taking measures of restorative and generative Anti-Racist action, and most of all one is committing to a journey of ceaseless education.

The path of Anti-Racism requires all of us to evaluate our learned and unconscious biases, as well as to rigorously investigate the systems around us. In doing so we will realize the mistakes we made, and misconceptions we held, the key is to use these as opportunities to learn and progress in our Anti-Racism journey, to inspire us to take action. The ARCC is profoundly committed to this journey, and offers all the opportunities to begin their journeys, so everyone can be part of positive change.