“Your Black Friend”: An Animated Short

Written and narrated by Ben Passmore, and animated by Krystal Downs & Alex Krokus of Doggo; this animated short highlights the wounding results of silence as complicity.

In Passmore’s own words:

Not acting out of fear of making things awkward is but one of the routes white people can take on the path to avoiding responsibility for their participation in racism. At whose expense is this false sense of equilibrium maintained?

What do you think? For me, it brought up reminders of the common occurrence of being mistaken for another Black person, and the potentially lethal consequences of that.

Now that this comic is out, it has me thinking of how other narratives like a “Your  Black  Woman Friend”, or “Your Queer Black Friend” or Your Black Undocumented Friend”, among others would be similar, or different to this one for both in-group and out-group perspectives.

Does the experience in the video sound familiar to you as a POC? Have you known, or been the barista as a white person?

Ubuntu,

From Aspiring Humanitarian, Relando Thompkins-Jones


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I'm a Social Justice Educator and Aspiring Humanitarian who is interested in conflict resolution, improving intergroup relations, and building more equitable and inclusive communities. "Notes from an Aspiring Humanitarian" is my blog, where I write about issues of diversity, inclusion, equity, and social justice. By exploring social identities through written word, film & video, and other forms of media, I hope to continue to expand and enrich conversations about social issues that face our society, and to find ways to take social action while encouraging others to do so as well in their own ways.

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2 Responses

  1. Marquessa says:

    So good. So true. That feeling when your White friend lets you fall through the trapdoor of racism? Experienced that many times. Loved this post.

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