Fall 2020
This fall, Drea and Ronin will be offering a 10-week course that supports self-reflection through assigned reading materials, journaling, weekly group meetings for discussion in a large group, as well as small groups and dyads. The course curriculum will focus on the themes below.
Shame < Field of Possibility
As noted in our Shared Philosophy section, shame can be a huge roadblock for white folks in this work. If we are not skillful in how we enter and navigate the shadows, we can get stuck there– we can become consumed in a vortex of debilitating shame.
We all need to be reminded that there is a wider field of possibility that we ARE stepping into, simply by engaging in the process of letting go of the old. In shadow work, we all need to be reminded and invited into reconnecting to the core of who we are, and to the love that gives us life. We will support you in centering and grounding into what matters most to you.
Be ~ Do
This course does not provide information for white people on what to do or what not to do– we focus on the BE instead of the DO. We create the container for you to do the work… We will help you work through how you are being. How are you being when you show up for your doing?
Paradox
We provide guidance in finding the power in these paradoxes: how to be as attentive to your own light, as courageous as you are with your own darkness. We provide the space, reflection, the questions and the challenges to really BE WITH and explore both your darkest shadows and your most inherent brightness. Healthy compost yields fertile soil. Death begets new life. We support you in cultivating the most regenerative aspects.
Collective Liberation
Understanding the way white supremacy drains our vitality, our soul’s life force, and wreaks havoc on our relationships and society at large, can help begin to point the way towards what might be more life-giving, more-life affirming, more liberatory for everyone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ add~~~~~?
Vision
What does it look like for us to usher white supremacy to its death? What is your role in this, from the personal, to the political? What would a society no longer formed by the toxins of WSC look and feel like?
How do we bring love and compassion to ourselves in a way that transforms the lies of white supremacy?
How do we show up with so much humility, love and compassion to the work of racial justice, that all defensiveness, attachment to being right, to getting it, to proving who we are– can just drop, so that we can show up to movements for racial justice, and our relationships with people of color in a way that makes space for the full range of who we are and who they are?
How do we show up authentically, non-defensively, spaciously, humbly, committed, compassionate, motivated, ready to interrupt harm without centering ourselves, and contribute our gifts and make change in the areas we have most influence?
We will not provide answers to this question, but we will create an environment in which you can begin to discover, practice, and begin to step into your own healing and transformation, in community.
The Importance of Togetherness
Affinity Space/ Community
This type of culture change does not happen overnight. We need the support of other white folks, and we need to unravel things and build things together. We need an affinity space to vision, we need to figure out how to ground ourselves, how to center ourselves, how to show up in a way that is not inflated, or deflated– but “regular sized.” This process is more feasible, sustainable, inspiring and dynamic when we do it in community.
The Container
We are here to help create a container– that allows us to collectively breathe into this wider field of possibility, and move closer to discovering and embodying the antidotes to the poisons [both seen and unseen] of white supremacy culture, together. (For more on what this ‘container’ entails, click here.)
