Embracing Anti-Racism And An End To Whanels

Note: this originally was distributed as a newsletter on August 13, 2020.

Since I last wrote, I’ve been gathering responses from white leaders in the electric bus field to this question: how are you addressing and overcoming your own racism? (We all have some; in this past issue I wrote about my own). I wasn’t asking my colleagues about their organizations’s statements or policies on  Diversity/Equity/Inclusion, but about their own personal work, since it takes the personal change of leaders to create systemic change.

I guaranteed anonymity and got a rich set of responses, summarized below. Also, find in this issue links to two free online conferences and the first iteration of my No Whanels list: people of color in the electric bus field who’d be good conference or workshop panelists. A whanel is an all-white panel, and a manel is an all-male panel. We can bring both manels and whanels to a peaceful end.

How does personal anti-racism work merit space in this newsletter, when electric buses are so danged hard already to learn to procure, charge, operate and especially to pay for?

It merits space here because brown and black faces abound on transit and school buses, both as passengers and drivers. Yet, mostly white faces make the decisions about the buses. White people and people of color have sharply different, unequal life experiences. It only makes sense to disrupt and transform our incumbent, polluting fuel system if we can also disrupt and transform our incumbent, white-centered way of approaching our work and decision-making. It’s rewarding! We can do this!

Two online conferences coming up, both free: Zero Emissions Bus Conference (historically a public transit focus but now school buses as well) presented by Center for Transportation and the Environment, September 15-17, and  (School) Bus Technology Summit  September 22-24. The latter has one session listed on electric school buses and infrastructure, but I’m attending other sessions as well (the school bus culture is even more disrupted by COVID 19 than public transit, and the more I understand that, the more relevant I can be as a change-agent).

These responses came from leaders in both the public and private sectors of the bus world.

  • “I am new to the topic of anti-racism. I appreciate hearing from you about it. I’ll start giving it some thought.”
  • “I’m responsible for teaching my kids to be anti-racist. So, I’ve been reading books by black authors to them: “I am Enough,” “Last Stop on Market Street,” and “The Water Princess”.  Also, I’m engaging in open dialogue with work colleagues and friends.”
  • “It’s illuminating (and disturbing) to think about how white supremacy has been woven into my upbringing, my life, our society, and our culture. I am trying to read, to research, to listen, and to initiate conversations especially with my white friends and family. We don’t have a lot of practice in doing this so it is important to get going and build that practice.”
  • “Issuing calls to action to [white] family and friends. I even convinced my sister to get with her group of friends to decide what they could do to help the Black Lives Matter movement and they have made a commitment to be patrons of a BIPOC (black, indigenous and people of color) owned business at least once a week.”
  • “I did a ‘Whiteness At Work’ four-part series (more info here) with some fellow members of a nonprofit board. These got uncomfortable now and then, but the discussions demonstrated it’s possible for us to work through our discomfort in ways that can benefit us as individuals and our BIPOC colleagues and friends as well.”
  • “I’ve been allying myself with local politicians that support Black Lives Matter (BLM) and putting my money and time where my mouth is, not just my Facebook ramblings.”
  • “I read [books] and in general educate myself as much as possible, while avoiding television, social media. Here is what I see when at a traffic light and the light is amber/yellow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_Morgan This invention [by a Black man] can be credited with saving countless lives.”
  • “I remind myself, akin to a mantra, that black lives matter and I have a responsibility to change what I can in my own thoughts, actions, conversations, and financial donations.”
    “As a family we are reading (slowly) ‘White Fragility‘. My 18 y.o. is better attuned to these issues than I am. More to do to better support black and brown businesses. Also trying to help efforts to save the US postal service, one of the biggest employers of blacks, through get out the vote postcard campaign efforts.
  • “I’ve donated to campaigns [for anti-racist politicians] from the Carolinas to California.”
  • “Pleasure reading on works by authors of color, especially women (Sarah M. Broom, Louise Erdich, Tayari Jones, Delores Phillips, Jesmyn Ward, etc.).”
  • “Watched John Lewis funeral and encouraged all staff and family to do so as well. Participated in peaceful protest.”
  • “I am a white woman, offered opportunities that many will never have. I have challenged myself to have difficult conversations with others that didn’t have my luck. It is not easy to hear their stories. I am committed to offering equal opportunities to my employees. I think I can make a difference in this broken world.”
  • “I remain nonviolent in my communication. I remind myself that conversations in which I disagree with someone [about racism] do not have to be disagreeable.”

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No Whanels List  of BIPOC people I recommend as panelists

A whanel is a white-only panel. We’ve all heard from lots of them. Let’s instead have panels that include at least one person of color. Doing that would more accurately reflect our country, and especially the people who ride and drive our buses. In suggesting No Whanels, I’m suggesting panels no longer be white only.

I got direct permission from the following people to be on this list. That’s why it’s so much shorter than my No Manels list of women speakers, where direct permission seemed unnecessary since gender is less sensitive than race. Assume these people are subject matter experts, rather than expecting them to speak from their racial or ethnic identity (although they may choose to do that).

Chris Crockett, Nexant (general transportation electrification)
Ingrid Fish, City of Portland, OR (general transportation electrification)
Margarita Parra, Clean Energy Works
Dwight Brashear, South Metro Area Rapid Transit (SMART), Wilsonville OR
Athena Motavvef, Earthjustice
Sandy Naranjo, Mothers Out Front (electric school bus advocacy)
Zoheb Davar, The Mobility House
Gil Rosas, Stockton Unified School District, Stockton, CA
Mary Luneta, Climate Parents/Sierra Club
Young Park, TriMet, Portland OR
Johana Vicenta, Chispa/League of Conservation Voters (electric school bus advocacy)
Malinda Sandhu, Lion Electric

This list is incomplete; let me know if you want to be added to it!  Special thanks to my friend and colleague Lisa S. for help with this article.

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