Monday, March 28, 2011

Whitness

Maybe a great introduction for the AOC to use with other staff, board members and volunteers?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAljja0vi2M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOVJ6QwFmDI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-E4aqOs1_0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsylE79Hm30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQEjWybFhac

Can't wait to hear what people think...

wrt
Posted by at

2 comments:

  1. DanApril 4, 2011 at 2:04 PM

    Wow. Really powerful documentary. I was going to watch just one segment while I inhaled my lunch - an hour later I'm admittedly impacted by all 5 segments. I think first and foremost, this would be a great tool in any training. It addresses everything that comes up for me (guilt, shame, being "overly nice", feeling overwhelmed by my privilege and not knowing how to equalize it) so I imagine it might address stuff that comes up for others in the volunteer training.

    That being said, it might be nice to talk about these documentaries in our next AOC meeting. The message I got (of many) emphasized how responsible I am, not only to be aware (increasingly so) of my own privilege, but of educating other white folks in my life about this system of advantages that we don't see, but fully expect to exist.

    I will sit with my discomfort now.

    Thanks for sharing these Whitney!

    ReplyDelete
  2. w. thorenApril 5, 2011 at 12:58 PM

    Dan,

    I love the honesty that you bring to your sharing. I think the feelings you hold around your whitness is really shared by many of us, I know I do. I like the idea of trying to equalize it. Is that possible? Is that another piece of privilege, saying I say we are equal now? This is something I want to reflect on more. Is equalizing the same as being aware of how much space we have?

    I think this blog is a stepping stone for those greater conversations around privilege and oppression. Hopefully, we are all building up our toolkits to talk about these REALLY uncomfortable topics. But, we can do it and we are doing it! And we are supporting each other in this process and that feels incredibly safe.

    Maybe for the all staff picnic this summer we can bring in these clips to support what we are saying?

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)