White Awake Study Group Forming in Fall of 2016
Oppressive dynamics and racism are conditioned into all of us and show up in Work That Reconnects spaces. Given that so many facilitators of the Work That Reconnects on the east coast are white, how can we be more accountable to making these spaces safer for people of color? One place to start is in study and preparation that increases our own awareness of racism and oppression in society at large, and ways we have been conditioned to normalize or not see these forces at work.
Eleanor Hancock, the Director of White Awake, will be offering a study group this fall for Work That Reconnects facilitators focused on racial awareness with respect to Work That Reconnects facilitation. Please check out the wonderful work that White Awake is doing: https://whiteawake.org/
This Study Group will begin with a curriculum of reading, online sharing and group conference calls. The group will then decide if and when they want to meet in person for a weekend-long gathering to experience the three-day White Awake workshop.
This will be a white caucus space, meaning that it is by and for white-identified people who want to focus on our socialization, and the specific work we have to do, in order to work against racism as members of the groups that is privileged by it. (White identity may or may not include other racial identities, in addition to white, at the discretion of the participant.) See below for more information about racial caucusing, and contact information for questions or concerns.
The study group will be offered on a sliding scale to Eleanor for her services with leading the group. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Please register your name and email through this Google form if you want to be a part of this study group and we will contact you with more details.
* Why is this being held for people who identify as white?
Working in integrated groups has many benefits, and also some drawbacks. One drawback of doing racially focused work in racially integrated groups is that it can put “undue burden on people of color to be the teachers and obscures the responsibility of white people to do their own work. Both people of color and white people are needed to work collectively for racial equity. But they have different work to do, precisely because of their different experiences with and location relative to white culture and privilege.”
It is important for People of Color to have spaces on their own for exploring internalized racist oppression and it is important for White People to explore together internalized superiority. “Caucusing can be an opportunity to transform the white space into a liberating space to build strengths, skills, and courage for white people to act purposefully toward racial equity.” Caucusing is not a substitute for integrated work; it lays the groundwork for integrated spaces to be healthy and affirming.
The intention is for white facilitators to grow in their awareness of and sensitivity to race dynamics so that workshops with integrated groups are safer for people of color.
If you are a person of color and are interested in this kind of work, please email Aravinda to discuss forming a people of color study group to look at the situation from that perspective.