City Councilor Belinda Ray
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This is a new page, and it's a work in progress. It's intended to help organize my thoughts and be transparent about what I'm doing to educate myself. I'm not an authority on systemic racism, but I'm working to listen, learn, and inform myself, and I hope this page may prove helpful to others who are on a similar journey.  Have a recommendation for me? Send it to: bsr@portlandmaine.gov.


The Books I'm Reading

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, by Ibram X. Kendi: I'm almost done with this one.

Up next I'm planning to work my way through Me And White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad. 
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Articles that Have Made Me Think

How to be a good white ally, according to activists: In this article by Emily Stewart for VOX, Ben O'Keefe, a former senior aide to Elizabeth Warren, drops a lot of wisdom for white allies. Thre's also advice from community organizers Leslie Mac and Molly Sweeney. 

Favorite Infographics

The Know Their Names Index from Al Jazeera: Written by Alia Chughtai and ilustrated by Christian Mugarura Mafigiri, this interactive index starts with George Floyd and travels backwards to 2014, highlights 17 Black people killed by police.

From MusicMark, a music education organization in the UK, "a simple visual resource to help you reflect on your unconscious bias and consider ways you might become more actively anti-racist."

Webinars

The Role of Local Government in Advancing Racial Equity, GPCOG, July 8, 2020

Portland Police Department Documents

The Use of Force Policy is here, at right, but you can find this and other Portland Police Department Standard Operating Procedures on their website. A big shout out to Chief Frank Clark and the rest of the PPD for this transparency and for their continued work to revisit and improve their policies and procedures. 
This website has been paid for and authorized by the candidate.
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