Echols Council Statement in Support of and in Solidarity with the Black Community

June 2, 2020

We, as Echols Council, wish to extend our support for our students in the Black Community on Grounds and the Black Community across the nation. We urge others to do the same and stand in solidarity against racism in all forms, including but not limited to, police brutality. The Council recognizes there are systems of oppression leading to the physical, mental, and emotional harm of our Black peers and friends in our own University as well as our nation. These systems continue to silence our Black peers and we wish to offer the Council as a platform to bring about change within this system and uplift the voices of Black individuals. We were selected to be Echols Scholars because of our drive and passion to help those around us, as well as our desire to educate ourselves beyond any classroom. Now is the time to step up and pursue this with even more conviction.

We must educate ourselves on marginalized communities and their history both here at the University and around the nation to be actively anti-racist. It is incredibly important to understand the deeply rooted causes of current events and acknowledge any biases and privileges we may have, critically evaluating our opinions and striving to use our positions to dismantle the systems around us that have perpetuated the oppression of Black Communities.

We encourage you to follow through with actions to support these communities in your locality, in Charlottesville, and in areas of the country that need it most. We are compiling resources for education and action and working to share those with you across our communications platforms. If you have a resource, message, or anything you would like to share to our community of Scholars and Alumni please reach out to us as we would like to amplify unheard voices.

In solidarity,

The Echols Council at the University of Virginia

Resources

Statements from around Grounds

Statement from the Black Student Alliance at UVA (more resources can be found here)
Joint Statement from the Third Year Council at UVA (more resources can be found here)

Mental Health and Counseling

Free Therapy for communities of color: text NOSTIGMA to 707070
The following resources were compiled by the Black Student Alliance at UVA:
- Black Virtual Therapist Network from BEAM Collective
- Black Mental Health Resources from the Everyone Counts Campaign
- Activism’s Impact On Mental Health Can Be Devastating. Here’s How Experts Want To Close The Gap from Bustle
COVID19 Resources from the Muslim Institute for Leadership and Empowerment at UVA

Educate yourself

Beyond the Hashtag: How to Take Anti-Racist Action in Your Life by Zyahna Bryant (CLAS ‘23)
Virginia Student Power Network
Why Are There So Few Black Ph.Ds? from the Atlantic

Listen

About Race with Reni Eddo-Lodge
The Diversity Gap with Bethany Wilkinson
1619 podcast from the New York Times
Code Switch podcast from NPR
Mass Incarceration by Throughline news segment from NPR
American Police by Throughline news segment from NPR

Read

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
White Fragility: Why it’s so hard for White People to Talk about Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum, PhD
I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson: this was the Echols summer ‘18 common reading!
The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams
An Antiracist Reading List compiled by Ibram X. Kendi for the New York Times
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Watch

Just Mercy: available to rent for free on all platforms and this is the movie version of the Echols summer ‘18 common reading!
13th
When They See Us
Dear White People
The Hate U Give

Take action

Demanding Legislation to Support Black Communities in VA: send an email to your government officials addressing the lack of policies for broken window policing, community representation in police, independent investigations of police brutality
Send an email for Floyd: This link automatically composes an email to send in support of Justice for George Floyd. It has slots for you to fill in your name, city and state and you can edit it as you need.
Donate with no money and without your leaving your home: Watch this video with ads
Contact your Representative in the House of Representatives to call for action