BLACK LIVES MATTER.

Hi, Travelers. We are postponing this week’s episode for a few reasons, but one of them is that we’d like to take a moment to focus on this historical moment and to say that Black Lives Matter.

The Black community’s fight for human rights is not by any means a new one, but we do find ourselves in a time when many more non-Black people are waking up to it. We think it’s important to ask ourselves who we want to be at this crucial moment in history, and to behave in a way that we can be proud of.

With that in mind, neither of us are Black, so we can only speak for non-Black people and what we feel we ought to be doing under the circumstances. Those things are:

1. Protesting
2. Supporting the protests
3. Donating to Black-led organizations that are fighting racism, police brutality, and the prison industrial complex
4. Helping to educate and spread information
5. Emailing/calling elected officials
6. Talking to our own friends and family members who are not yet ready to be a part of the movement.

We will be putting links in the show notes where you can get information and find out more about how to support the BLM movement, but because we have already seen a lot of resources on #1-5, we wanted to talk a bit more about #6.

For Sophie, what that looks like is helping to educate family members who are already intellectually and emotionally in support of BLM, but are not yet sure how to participate. They sent their family members the Antiracist Allyship Starter Pack document (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1bUJrgX8vspyy7YttiEC2vD0DawrpPYiZs94V0ov7qZQ/htmlview), and they proposed that we each pick a few articles or videos to read/watch and then discuss as a family. That way, they are making it something they can do together, and acting as a resource but not a lecturer.

For Kevin, what that looks like is talking to loved ones who are coming from a very conservative starting point. He has learned that debating people is not actually a functional tactic, as much as he might like it to be, so he has created a document (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UVPSv_Fa5mHQIkkPCy38PJgQle4qtcyOJ-lsASh7SMk/edit) with some tips on how to get initially resistant friends or family members to align themselves with BLM without trying to debate them.

If you are not Black, we hope that you are doing everything in your power to be a part of the Black Lives Matter movement in whatever way you can. If you are Black, we want you to know that we stand with you.

Be safe, and make us proud. We’ll see you soon.

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Antiracist Allyship Starter Pack: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1bUJrgX8vspyy7YttiEC2vD0DawrpPYiZs94V0ov7qZQ/htmlview

Kevin's Guide to Teaching Friends and Family About Systemic Racism:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UVPSv_Fa5mHQIkkPCy38PJgQle4qtcyOJ-lsASh7SMk/edit

Ways to support Black LGBTQ+ people, plus protesting tips:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Mo2E-M9Bw57ndJrRVegxVhwhI11SWFNPQdQEFVyn02Q/preview?pru=AAABcr3J4ZU*Bzhj2lOJM1cjVmRlw-MSrA

Master List of Black Revolutionary Readings:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aYPe21Rve3YPpozxZJE4C3WfWCvkvo_pyXkdzOARxho/edit

The Three Persuasive Appeals: Logos, Ethos, and Pathos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oUfOh_CgHQ

For early and ad-free episodes, production scripts, commentary tracks, blooper reels, livestreams with the creators, and much more, you can find The Penumbra Podcast: SPECIAL EDITION at: https://thepenumbrapodcast.supercast.com(In old episodes, you will often hear us mention Patreon, which was our old platform and is no longer live. Please feel free to ignore!)

For tickets to our live reading of If Memory Serves: A Juno Steel Mystery on November 21, 2026, visit: https://therockwell.org/calendar/the-penumbra-podcast/ Join us at The Rockwell, home of our first two live shows, in Somerville, MA, for Joshua Ilon's one-night-only reading of an excerpt from our Juno prequel novel to be followed by a Q&A with Harley and Kevin. We can't wait to see you there to celebrate the release of the full audiobook!

We are also currently running a subscription sale on our Supercast and Patreon subscriber platforms to celebrate the conclusion of our first full season of Thirst. Visit https://thepenumbrapodcast.supercast.com/ or patreon.com/thepenumbrapodcast to get 28% off all tiers!

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