Supporting as a Peer/Coworker/Supervisor

Send an email/teams message/text to those affected

Be sincere and use phrases like:
- I want to acknowledge what is happening in our country...
- I am devastated by what happened over the weekend...
- There's a lot going on politically right now...
History:
- What's happening isn't just about a recent eruption but more of a re-awareness
Specific and Accurate:
- Name the direct individuals/populations that are being affected:
  - Ex: Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Nina Pop, Dreasjon Reed, George Floyd, Tony McDade, David McAtee. These are not all of the names, just some of the individuals we know about
Hold different Experiences & journeys:
- Some may be intimately familiar while others are just starting to see the contours. Some are tired of (or maybe charged by) talking about it
Acknowledge what's happening:
- Name the issue
- Acknowledge the History
- Be Specific and accurate
Keep in mind how gradualism affects folx

Offer flexibility

Reprioritize: Talk about what's on peoples' plates. What truly needs to be worked on during this time?
Ask things like:
- Would it be helpful to push back a deadline?
- Would it be helpful to cancel class(es) today/this week?
Offer time off, no questions asked
- Some people may use work as a coping mechanism, be more frustrated, offer to help others, want to leave, or may just be disconnected
Option to work from home

Hold Space

Be protective of their – or your – labor and energy:
- Black-folx: choose when and how you'd like to engage so you can preserve your energy
- Non-Black Folx: don't ask affected concerns or ask them to educate other staff on allyship. If they are interested in this, pay them for their efforts
Ask what people need; share options: Ask what you can do to support them
- Some folx are thinking of taking x amount of time to process through things. Would this be helpful for you?
- If folx have requests, ask if they want it announced/who they'd like to announce this (i.e. themself/you)
Leverage your 1:1s: Use that as a check-in space to ask how they’re actually feeling
Get outside: Get out of the office with those affected. Go on excursions outside/around your building/virtually

Offer Space

Affinity Spaces:
- It may be helpful for folx to be in community with each other
- Create spaces for non-affected folx to examine their role in combating oppression
Brave space discussions:
- A space to talk through concerns with accountability
Stop sharing/asking impacted folx if they've seen videos of Police Violence, Murders, etc.
- This continuously de-humanizes Black folx
- Causes the re-traumatization
- Think through what is the purpose of sharing this:
- Can that goal be achieved in another way?
- Will this cause someone to relive the trauma they're already trying to manage?
Pay Impacted Staff Hazard pay:
- Having to worry about getting paid in a time of grief should not be an added layer of stress.

Create and Maintain Change

Research
- What are some potential ways the office/department can be changed to provide support/equity?
Be People For and With Others
- Don't force BIPOC to come up with solutions for the office/department to heal their own trauma
- Come up with solutions and ask "Is this something that would help you feel supported in this space?"
- Do not do this in a savior complex manner!
- A great peer once told me, "If suggestions are offered, don't treat these items like checklists. Treat these as the foundations to create more change moving forward"
Listen to learn, not to respond/understand
- Responses should be given but not in a defensive matter of "this is what we already do" or "I don't think that's how that happened or will happen"
- It's important to note these lists are not exhaustive. Find ways to make this a live-action plan where folx can submit things anonymously moving forward.

Get Support for Yourself! You can’t pour from an empty cup

Determine: Do you feel supported by your leader?
- What do you need from your leader to feel supported?
- How do you plan on communicating that?
- If there are cross-cultural concerns, who else can you get to support you as you ask for help?
What do you need to feel grounded and whole?
- Think of your Love Languages
Collaborate
- DO NOT SILO YOURSELF!
- Connect with other departments/offices and see what they have in play
- Coalitions are even MORE important during these times

Finally, here is a (non-comprehensive) list of resources outside of LMU:

For Black folks:

On leadership:

· On allyship and anti-racism:

Compiled by Jamal Epperson