A Vermont teen found a way to creatively help others grow into becoming better allies for the people of color in their communities with an anti-racist calendar.
Sixteen-year-old Tilly Krishna thought that there was a need for a simple resource to help people become more aware of Black history and bias in their own lives and communities.
“Before recently, when people said racism, people think it’s just saying the N-word or very explicit things like that, but… it’s not just one person making a snide comment, it’s systemic things and institutionalized oppression we still have,” Krishna told CNN.
She wanted to help others get educated on racism after the Black Lives Matter protests in the spring, so she used some inspiration from the 30-day challenges that have been circulating on social media since the shutdowns began. She made a calendar that dedicated each day to learning, watching, or doing an activity related to becoming anti-racist.
“I tried to make it a combination of action steps as well as some educational things, I didn’t expect it to spread as much as it did,” Krishna told CNN.
Easy steps to make being an ally simple
She aimed to make the resource simple and with easy things to do every day, such as reading an article or watching a documentary. She wanted to do the research herself so people would have a place to start.
“The calendar is for non-Black people completely… I tried to keep that in mind when I created this. What are topics that I know a lot about, but the average person doesn’t know about when they talk about racism?” she said.
“I wanted to create something that people could go to and be like ‘okay if I want to do something, if I want to educate myself, I can use this.’”
Krishna also created an Instagram account for the calendar for people who may not be willing to download her PDF document.
She is hoping to create more calendars and expand them to other social justice topics, including transgender and economic issues.
“This process is a very long-term process and getting this work done takes time,” Krishna said.
“If not as many people see it, maybe that’s the reality, but I thought it’s still important for the people who are willing to take it in.”