Today's Smoothie

[ysabetwordsmith]

Today we made a smoothie with:

1 cup mango nectar
1 cup Dannon vanilla yogurt
1 banana
1/2 cup Season's Choice tropical blend frozen fruit (pineapple, mango, papaya, strawberry)
1/2 cup ice

This one is quite good. The color is light yellow-orange, the texture rich and creamy, with a mellow tropical flavor very nicely balanced between sweet and tart.  :D

Comments

Re: Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> (The volunteers are mostly a different racial/socioeconomic group. We have a few staff members who are immigrants from some of the same geographical areas. For what it's worth, I'm female, white, American-born and English is my first language.). <<

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. Expanding will let you do more, but you can do much already.

Who are your staff members of immigrant background? Do they know other people in their family or circle of friends who might also be willing to help? Not even just volunteers -- make a list of stores that stock ethnic foods, hairdresses who speak an immigrant language, etc.

Check your clients! Nothing makes people feel shitty like having to take charity because they aren't allowed to do for themselves or others. Who is more functional, and who is wrecked for now? Look for opportunities so the functional ones can help. Ask people about their professions, education, hobbies, etc. Almost every group will have people who did teaching, childcare, elder care, cleaning, manual labor like gardening or yard work, etc. But usually there is also a scattering of experts -- doctors, nurses, professors, lawyers, and such. Those skills are just as useful here. They don't need local credentials to help each other out, they will just need to get that if they want to re-enter the same profession. If you're really lucky, you'll find someone who used to be a school counselor or other therapist and they can do peer support here (which requires no credentials) if they wish. Lacking that, just ask if anyone wants to learn peer counseling; you can always start from scratch.

https://www.hca.wa.gov/assets/billers-and-providers/certified-peer-counselor-training-manual.pdf

https://www.dshs.wa.gov/sites/default/files/BHSIA/dbh/documents/WACertifiedPeerCounselorManualApr2012FINAL.pdf

https://www.peer-counseling.org/index.php/independent-living-resource-center-san-francisco-peer-counseling-training-manual

https://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/SupportOrganizations/peercounseling.html

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234566298_Theory_and_Practice_of_Peer_Counselling

http://ghdc.generationsofhope.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Intentional-Neighboring.pdf


>> Should we talk to people one-on-one, or put out some sort of annoincement, or do nothing or what? <<

You can start talking to people one-on-one at any time, because that way is easiest to customize. Pick a topic and ask if they've had any concerns that you might be able to help with. Has anyone harassed them? Have they felt lonely? Is their past bothering them? And so on. Sometimes just talking is a relief, and even the most basic counseling skills can help.

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-active-listening-3024343

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/pieces-mind/201204/understanding-validation-way-communicate-acceptance

http://changingminds.org/techniques/assertiveness/three-part_message.htm

http://changingminds.org/techniques/techniques.htm

When you have enough resources, you can make an announcement. For example, a list of books or websites can be printed in a batch for people to take one if they wish, or posted on your website if you have one.

>> Has someone (ACLU, NAACP, a human rights oraganization, someone whose actually lived this and knows what works) made a safety list? <<

https://www.aclu.org/other/fighting-police-abuse-community-action-manual

https://www.naacp.org/criminal-justice-resources/

>> (I'm pretty sure Ive seen 'how to discourage rapists' lists books, articles, etc - is there something similar for discouraging ethnic/racial violence?) <<

There are some resources. However, situations change. Your best bet is to talk with people who are currently experiencing racial violence and ask what they would advise for immigrants. Black people are probably the most relevant, followed by Hispanics. However, women and disabled folks have their own perspectives that will also be helpful. Ideally, you want someone with a sophisticated and comprehensive grasp of the issues because they will need to adapt their own ethnicity's parameters to fit your clients' needs. Check your local colleges. Do they have professors teaching African-American Studies, Hispanic Studies, Peace Studies, World Religions, Diversity Studies, Multicultural Awareness, etc.? Those would all be good people to ask about resources that would help your clients. They are also excellent education or careeer goals for your clients, and people can certainly start studying those on their own.

Also check with local lawyers, who can advice on your state and municipal laws. Local-America has little or nothing in the way of Citizen Law classes with the exception of Driver's Education. See if you can talk a lawyer or even a law student into making a presentation on this topic for your refugees -- some of them do a bit of pro bono work.

Unfortunately, America lets its police murder people at whim, and almost never punishes them. You don't really have any rights. So any interaction with police should be approached with that awareness. People should think about their goals and plan in advance how they would handle various scenarios. Some may care most about survival, where others are much more interested in avoiding rape or torture.

https://www.1800thelaw2.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-and-avoid-police-brutality

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/03/police-interaction-course-brutality-racism

https://www.joincampaignzero.org/solutions

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/29/12989428/police-shooting-race-crime

https://www.laprogressive.com/stop-police-brutality/

https://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/isal.pdf

https://www.justice.gov/archive/crs/pubs/avoidracial.htm

https://www.tolerance.org/professional-development/strategies-for-reducing-racial-and-ethnic-prejudice-essential-principles

https://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/health/racism/

http://www.nzdl.org/gsdlmod?e=d-00000-00---off-0ccgi--00-0----0-10-0---0---0direct-10---4-------0-1l--11-en-50---20-about---00-0-1-00-0--4----0-0-11-10-0utfZz-8-00&cl=CL1.1&d=HASH912281d4b0119834b56286.8.4>=1

https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/preventing-hate-crimes-your-community

https://www.splcenter.org/20170814/ten-ways-fight-hate-community-response-guide

https://www.thedailyvox.co.za/huda-fahmy-uses-comics-to-tackle-islamophobia-fatima-moosa/

https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/04/europe/artists-comic-guide-against-anti-muslim-harassment/index.html

https://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/12170357.html


This is a good place to discuss another issue: ethnic pride and assimilation. Refugees and other immigrants have to decide whether they still like their home culture or are so fucking done with it. Some throw themselves into their new culture and try to avoid the old as much as possible. Others cling to what they have left of their old life and tolerate the new only as much as they have to. This is a bone of contention in many immigrant communities, so raise the issue and encourage people to accept that other people may decide differently. Both paths are okay. Do what works for you.

As a support person, you should be aware that these different decisions may require very different assistance from you. One person may want to use English only as a tool to get by, while another would love a referral to a Speech Language Pathologist who could help make their accent sound more American.


>> I've heard of a few tricks (keep toys in your car, turn the car light on if cops stop you at night, wear obviously medical masks instead of bandannas, dress /nice/, go to a store where they know you) and might be able to generalize to 'look repsectable, harmless and nonthreatening,' but I don't want to gamble with giving someone bad advice. (I know "Dress respectably and don't make him angry," often doesn't really work to prevent sexual violence.) <<

If someone has decided to abuse or murder you, nothing will stop him short of escaping or doing enough damage to make him stop. This is a problem because, in America, white people are allowed to abuse people of color, men are allowed to abuse women, the rich abuse the poor, and the police can abuse anyone who's not a cop or extremely powerful. We live in a country where police can strangle a man slowly to death using an illegal technique, in broad daylight, in front of a crowd, on camera. They are that fearless, because they are just plain above the law. This is an ugly truth people do not like to admit, but thinking you have rights can get you killed. The most effective approaches are often 1) Do nothing to attract the attention of predators (e.g. to avoid cops, avoid areas with high crime) and 2) Work the problem from the bottom up (e.g. take away police protections against prosecution for murdering civilians). See above resources for tools.

>> I'm also not sure I'm the best person to be doing this, <<

You are the boots on the ground. You are there, you are in touch with people who need help, and you are willing to do the work. That makes you a right person to do it. You may not be the best possible person, but it's like a job interview: if nobody better is there, then you're it. By all means, look for volunteers or hired help with skills you lack, but don't let that stop you from starting on the stuff you can address yourself.

>> as its not my lived experience and I've had the experience of guys trying to help me with sexism sometimes coming across as annoyingly preachy. <<

Just put it on the table. Tell people your background and that it's okay to stop you if they don't want to talk about something or it bothers them.

People can learn how to handle issues outside their lived experience, if they know folks from a different background and they're open to input. I write all kinds of traits I don't have, and I do it by getting help from trait-having readers. You can do this.

>> And the fact that people are staying home, the economy is wobbling, etc make it more complicated to do some things (like accompanying people to the store). <<

Yeah, the whole world has gone insane and will be cleaning up the mess they've made for years to come. The fact that they just turned the whole world into a jail has really lit a match in the fireworks factory. >_< I can't stop that. So I selected the task "give people a topic-free environment" instead.

Here, you have opened a topic that is familiar to me and I can explain how to work the problem. Refugees face many challenges, but most of those are fixable if people choose. There are lots of tools.

Finally, I recommend that you browse my How To page for resources that you may find relevant to your current project. Peacemongering 101 is an obvious addition but there may be more.

https://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/11690782.html

I hope this helps.