Liz Nicolas: Anti-Racism Work ‘is an ongoing commitment to justice’

Liz Nicolas, whom I introduced briefly in my last post, is an attorney, coach, consultant, and anti-racism trainer who runs her own company, Black Amethyst LLC. I wanted to learn more about what a commitment to anti-racism looks like, so Ms Nicolas agreed to an interview by way of Zoom. This interview is recorded and linked here and below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqqJDJkBq5Y I have much to learn on this topic, but I appreciate Ms Nicolas’s honest and clear discussion.

She says that the work of anti-racism is for everyone. But a critical part of this work is “an interruption of the delusion of white supremacy — the idea that white people deserve more, are entitled to more, and should rule over everyone else.”

Being an anti-racist, she says, requires “an ongoing commitment to justice,” as well as “an ongoing commitment to equity for people across race and ethnic identity.” The commitment to this work is “crucial for our collective liberation, for justice, and, really,” she added, “for love.” It’s for all of these reasons, she says, that we need to “continue to challenge something that’s so dehumanizing and just false.”

Here are book titles that Ms Nicolas referred to during the call: Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad; My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem; and You Don’t Look Like a Lawyer by Tsedale M. Melaku. Enjoy our Zoom call, and sorry about the clatter at the beginning. Rookie error on my part.