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Event
Listening to Racism: Learning to notice and stop racist thoughts and actions common for white people.
August 25, 5 to 8 p.m. PDT
September 1, 6 to 7:30 p.m. PDT
September 8, 6 to 7:30 p.m. PDT
September 15, 5 to 8 p.m. PDT
Facilitated by Jocelyn Ryder and Nicole Greenspan
Why listen to racism? Well, for starters, our culture and country were founded on racist, oppressive systems. That'll be the white supremacy, that absurd notion that one group of people is better than another. These systems are deeply entrenched in our culture. As white people, we're trained not to notice racism, or when we do, not to speak up or account for ourselves. Our actions and silence can be the difference between life and death.
So what do we do? The first step is awareness: listening to and noticing our own racist thoughts and actions and writing them down; noticing how our mind and body react as we put pen to paper. Awareness of our participation in white supremacy can be scary, and painful, at first. When we bring these thoughts to the light, we can open up and change. Creating community support is a vital practice to maintain our enthusiasm and stamina for the work.
Together we will create an empathetic community of up to 16 people per workshop, in which we'll define, discuss, and share examples of racism we notice. We'll learn techniques to connect with our bodies when we notice fear, anger, hurt, and sadness come up.
Keeping handwritten journals of our racist thoughts and actions for the month, we'll notice our unconscious bias and somatic experiences when confronted with difference. THEN we can learn to take opposite action. In weekly check-ins, and during the last workshop, we'll share our journals and support with one another, discussing what we've learned. The second and third meetings will be one-hour discussions, supporting one another's noticing as recorded in journals. In our last class, we'll share about the overall experience of listening to racism, and learn an equity-building feedback exercise.
This is a no-shame zone! Because we've been non-consensually inculcated into a system we didn't create, we won't be spending any time shaming ourselves. Instead, well focus on our collective decision to change and grow.
If you are interested in debating whether or not racism exists, we encourage you to find people with whom to discuss that viewpoint. We will NOT be engaging in that discussion.
Workshop size: Minimum 10/maximum 16 people. We will add another workshop on a new date and time to accommodate more participants.
Jocelyn Ryder, Program Creator and Facilitator:
I lead companies and communities to culture-changing accountability, equity, and inclusion.
I am a trained restorative justice mediator and facilitator who believes in the power of somatic experience. I came to the womanalive Violating Intervention and Prevention Program in 2010, as a participant. From 2011 to 2015, I was womanalive's director and facilitator. During those four years, the San Francisco Adult Probation Departments (SFAPD) Domestic Violence Unit certified me as a batterer intervention program provider. I also provided violence intervention and prevention training to probation officers at SFAPD. In 2012, I was an advisor to San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera's legal team during ethics commission hearings determining if suspended sheriff Ross MIrkarimi should keep his job.
I use a peer facilitation, each-one-teach-one, restorative-justice approach to promote behavior change where systemic gender and racial bias are the norm.
Nicole Greenspan, Facilitator:
I collaborate with individuals and communities to co-create a more equitable and sustainable future, using coaching, design thinking, community-based social marketing, and regenerative design. Through my participation in the first Listening to Racism workshop, the East Bay Meditation Center's White and Awakening in Sangha program and the Leadership That Works' Coaching for Transformation program, I have started to develop a new relationship with the racist and white supremacist parts of my body and psyche, and am supporting others in doing this lifelong work. I have studied many movement modalities over the last 25 years and I draw on body, meditation and nature-based practices to create safe and courageous spaces for reflection, play, and transformation in my coaching and facilitation.
In addition to my coaching and facilitation work, I have a decade of experience managing sustainability projects from design through evaluation. Currently creating multi-touch marketing campaigns to promote pro-environmental behaviors at Gigantic Idea Studio, I previously worked on sustainability initiatives at Stanford University, US Green Building Council, and Alliance for Climate Education.
We are excited to learn and unlearn with you!
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Locationvia Zoom (View)
Online
Oakland, CA 94618
United States
Categories
| Minimum Age: 18 |
| Dog Friendly: Yes! |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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Contact
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