I am not involved with a bike co-op right now, just a supporter of what y'all do. But I came across this resource by the Triangle Bikeworks (in North Carolina) and it seems like a really great structure to a first conversation around white supremacist culture in the cycling world. This is a link to a doc that details their approach to this first conversation: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-KM8aNyv74YH0U_i6RYTKpGBJo4yxFp7yEkLiSbr6l8/edit

Also sidenote: just want to love on this article on this being the summer of women on bikes https://www.cntraveler.com/story/its-the-summer-of-the-bicycle-and-women-are-leading-the-charge?fbclid=IwAR1R-YLALJD6toIeIaIIwxq8lQGR7JM4vQbiTzemwaw7_v0Vt-nPh40JMkg

-Rachel

On Thu, Jul 16, 2020 at 8:13 PM Carlyn Arteaga <carlyn.arteaga@bicas.org> wrote:

Here at BICAS we are also trying to figure out the best way forward, and we've determined that we need to pursue multiple avenues including not only direct services considerations, but also organizational education, reflection, reconciliation, and even reparations. By no means is BICAS perfect and we have a looong ways to go, but we have been working hard for some years now at getting away from the "white bike bro" monoculture and having some tough convos about general racial equity. But as part of issuing a statement of solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives, we decided that it was important for us to identify our current endeavors as a commitment to unlearning anti-Blackness specifically, as a thing apart from a more general commitment to racial justice. Many non-Black POC communities, after all, are just as steeped in anti-Black sentiment as white communities, and we felt it was important to be clear about our learning & unlearning efforts as they relate to this movement. That said, we have only just begun.

~Carlyn

-----------------

Español:

(Perdóname los errores, es que aprendí mi espanol en la cocina de mi abuela):

Aquí en BICAS estamos tratando de identificar la manera mejora de avanzar y decidimos que necesitamos perseguir avenidas varias, incluyendo no solamente los servicios directos, sino también educación organizacional, reflexión, reconciliación, y aun las indemnizaciones. Claro que BICAS no es perfecto y nos queda mucho de hacer, pero hemos estado trabajando mucho durante años recientes en salir del monocultivo "white bike bro" y hablar de la equidad racial. Pero bueno, así que emitimos una declaración de solidaridad con "las vidas negras importan" decidimos que fue importante identificar nuestros intentos como una obligación desaprender la anti-negritud específicamente, como algo distinto de nuestro compromiso a la justicia racial en general. Es cierto que las comunidades "non-Black gente de color" estan tanto llenado del racismo anti-negro como las communidades blancas, y sentimos que fue importante ser muy claro sobre nuestras esfuerzas de aprendar y desaprender en relación a este movimiento. Ahora bien, estamos solo al principio.

~Carlyn

--

Carlyn Arteaga

pronouns: they/them/theirs

Youth Program Coordinator

BICAS

2001 N. 7th Ave. | Tucson, AZ 85701 | Shop: 520-628-7950

carlyn.arteaga@bicas.org | www.bicas.org | Facebook | Instagram 

 

Through advocacy and bicycle salvage, our mission is to participate in affordable bicycle transportation, education, and creative recycling with our greater Tucson community.

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