We at Bone and Briar stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters of colour during this time of horrid behaviour by people in authority. We grieve with Mike Brown’s family and the family of Eric Garner. We grieve with the family of Tamir Rice. Mostly we grieve our nation falling short again and again when it comes to equality.
We are white and we know the privilege we possess because of that. We work to mitigate the effects of that privilege in our daily lives. We also speak up and speak out – in our families, in our neighborhoods, and in our community. We show up and we ask all of our Reclaiming/Feri kith and kin to do the same. Pagans of Colour have a difficult struggle in our own communities, when in the company of their co-religionists, which is the last place that they should struggle so. Out in the world they face the same racism and the same fears of harm and death experienced by all people of colour for the crime of Walking While Not being White.
We at Bone and Briar ask all of our Pagan communities to stand with Pagans and non-Pagans of colour in support of their voices. We ask that you use your voice to post to your communities. We ask that you attend the protests occurring across our nation, carry signs, get the word out to your neighbors, and take your place at the edges of the protest if you are white. We ask that you stand in silent solidarity at these protests except when asked to join in chants. We ask when you are in community with PoC to allow their voices to be heard. Let’s face it, our white voices are heard all over this country every single day. If a news crew steps up to you for an interview, step out of the way and let your black and brown sisters and brothers speak. It’s been their turn to speak for a long time now.
We will be supporting this cause here in Pittsburgh. We call on you to join us in your home communities.
Bone and Briar 
Reblogged this on Lean in to Joy (transition priestess, spiritual midwife) and commented:
Join us!
Reblogged this on Briarheart and commented:
Talking about Ferguson makes me uncomfortable. I don’t live there. I am a white woman with yoga pants who loves lattes and a bunch of ridiculous things that make me feel like it isn’t my place to talk about Ferguson, or that it does abso-damn-lutely nothing for me to talk about it. But we live in a world where NFL dudes become the over-arcing narrative for threats of rape and violence against women, and that’s completely messed up (but thank you anyway, Chris Kluwe). We live in a world where a comedian dude’s act can shine light on allegations of sexual abuse and that’s completely messed up (but thank you anyway, Hannibal Buress). We live in a world where white voices are often ranked above black voices, and that is completely messed up. I live in Mississippi, a place many of you cannot understand from the admittedly horrible sound bytes you get in the news. I live in a state that commuted such reprehensible surveillance, violence and silencing of people who fought for equality, they had to deal the records for decades.
Silence implies consent in so many ways, and I do not consent. I do not know the best way to help, but I will begin by using my voice. #blacklivesmatter
It is good to read this statement of support. I hope more Pagan individuals and leaders stand up. Here’s Solar Cross Temple’s statement: http://www.solarcrosstemple.org/solar-cross-stands-for-justice/
One thing makes me feel uncomfortable by your statement, however. Last month, you posted a poem by Stephen MacNallen, who has written and acted in ways that make many Pagans of Color feel very unsafe. He’s considered to be a White Nationalist and has written about the scourge of brown people and his group, the AFA, advocates for religious practice clearly drawn along racialist lines.
https://circleansuz.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/stephen-mcnallen-part-3/
I’m sure it isn’t your intention to support racialist Paganism, but you chose to post that poem with no explanation of who McNallen is, and no acknowledgement of *why* he is problematic. You did say “yes, *that* Stephen McNallen” but unless I already know who he is, I might just shrug and move on.
In my mind, one thing Pagans can do to help support Pagans of Color is to educate others on racialist thought in Paganism.
I just wanted to bring your attention to this, because if I noticed it, others might as well.
Toward building solidarity – Thorn
Thorn,
Thank you so much for letting us know about Stephen MacNallen – we were unaware of who MacNallen was, and will be removing that reblog post immediately!
Amoret
Wonderful news. Thank you for acting in integrity.
Reblogged this on Siren Afire and commented:
Most of you know that I am a co-conspirator at Bone and Briar. Here is our Statement of Solidarity…may you write your own.