Summary of Rachel Ricketts's Do Better

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

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#1 I have spent my life feeling alone and misunderstood. I have struggled to find places that accept me as my whole Black womanly self, and I have been rejected and abandoned for naming the realities of my oppressed experience as a queer Black woman.

#2 As a Black girl from a financially insecure, single-mom-led home, I was constantly made to feel uncomfortable by the racist rhetoric of the white supremacist status quo. I learned to tone myself down and never speak my truth or prioritize my comfort or well-being above that of my white counterparts.

#3 To be Black or Indigenous and a woman is to be in a state of constant grief and rage.

#4 Anger is a natural response to the injustices that constantly occur in the world. Not caring is a privilege that we cannot afford.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Apr 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669380610

IRB Media

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Insights on Rachel Ricketts's Do Better

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I have spent my life feeling alone and misunderstood. I have struggled to find places that accept me as my whole Black womanly self, and I have been rejected and abandoned for naming the realities of my oppressed experience as a queer Black woman.

#2

As a Black girl from a financially insecure, single-mom-led home, I was constantly made to feel uncomfortable by the racist rhetoric of the white supremacist status quo. I learned to tone myself down and never speak my truth or prioritize my comfort or well-being above that of my white counterparts.

#3

To be Black or Indigenous and a woman is to be in a state of constant grief and rage.

#4

Anger is a natural response to the injustices that constantly occur in the world. Not caring is a privilege that we cannot afford.

#5

The Black Lives Matter protester had called out the same group of people who, over the course of my lifetime and the lifetimes of my ancestors, had treated us as less than solely for being Black.

#6

The struggle of asserting one’s blackness in a world that largely ignores it is a constant one, and the demand to be recognized as such is incessant.

#7

I have experienced white people not understanding my experience as a black woman, which leaves me feeling like no one cares about racial violence, and I end up sharing my pain with total strangers online.

#8

White supremacy is reflected in the way white people often turn a blind eye to racism, either out of ignorance or because they are conditioned to prioritize their own comfort over the discomfort of others.

#9

I still fear the harm I may suffer for speaking my truth. I am not immune to the backlash that has already taken place and that is sure to ensue.

#10

Your first soulcare prompt creates space for you to illuminate your own apprehensions around racial justice. Find a quiet space to reflect and ask yourself: What is my biggest fear or