Embodying Antiracism 2023
Embodying Antiracism
A COURSE AND CONVERSATION FOR WHITE FOLKS
When white folks “wake up” to the realities and pervasiveness of racism, they often want to move quickly into action. And yet, without understanding that antiracism is an inside job first, they can cause harm without understanding why.
Another common response to waking up to racism is immobilization and overwhelm, where white folks get stuck, not knowing how to take the next step forward into action. Yet shame and fear of making mistakes help no one.
Good intentions are not enough. Even in urgent and chaotic times where there is so much to do, white folks need to slow down, develop skills of compassionate self-awareness, analysis, and emotional stamina and resilience. We are here to help
Embodying Antiracism is a course designed to support white folks who understand that being antiracist goes beyond book clubs, social media posts and voting, but don’t know how to move from awareness into action that is aligned and sustainable.
Embodying Antiracism
During our time together, we will be building an antiracist foundation from the inside out (while remembering the importance of showing up in the world imperfectly). We will work to better understand our influence to effect change and strengthen our ability to wipe ourselves off and get back into action when we mess up.
We will be grounding our work together in frameworks such as Bobbie Harro’s Cycle of Socialization and Tema Okun and Kenneth Jones’ work, “White Supremacy Culture.” We will look at select characteristics of white supremacy culture and deliberately move against the grain of these characteristics in our relationships with ourselves, our families, and communities.
This course is not an intellectual pursuit. It is work that must happen in our bodies, where our socialization as white people lives. It is slow—not fast—and it is necessary work to change our communities.
We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.
This work is impossible to do alone.
This is a practice. Let’s do it together.
Registration is now closed for 2023. Please plan ahead by getting yourself on the waitlist for our 2024 offering.
Please reach out to Laura Halpin at laura@leebayard.com if you have any questions.
As someone who likes to stay in my head, Inclusive Life’s Embodying Antiracism provided an experiential bridge for understanding the vital role that embodiment play in the healing, reconciliation and rehumanization processes that are antiracism work. I really appreciated the somatic based practices paired with the analysis and self-reflective exercises and would highly recommend attending their program.
This course is designed for white folks to grapple with the socialized patterns of whiteness and racism and to build capacity for solidarity with BIPOC.
Components of Embodying Antiracism
- 11 live meetings facilitated alternatively by antiracism facilitator, Laura Halpin
- Breakout conversations to connect and work through (personal) challenges around antiracism
- Weekly recorded embodiment practices
- Curated readings and audio materials to deepen your practice
- Community conversations in private virtual space
- Homework prompts and questions for reflection & integration
- Access to Laura for clarifying questions between sessions
- 1-on-1 or small group coaching for 1/2 hour after each session
- All materials stored in Teachable for ease in accessibility
- Sessions are recorded
I signed up for Embodying Antiracism because I was especially drawn to the idea of building resilience and stamina. I try to make fighting for racial justice a reghular part of my life and sometimes I get exhausted and lose faith. What I have gained through the course is a whole new way of viewing myself and my role in relation to the fight against racism and the battle for racial justice. I learned and challenged myself, all in a supportive environment.
Your Guide:
LAURA HALPIN is a teacher, facilitator, and coach whose focus is cultivating a climate in which people can change, grow, and connect authentically. She serves as the Program Manager, Senior Facilitator, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coach at Inclusive Life, supporting clients who want to step into leadership as culture changers within their spheres of influence. She coaches people individually and in groups as they step into antiracism and equity work, supporting them as they cultivate the skills of analysis and aligned action. She specifically works with clients around emotional stamina and resilience, developed through embodiment and mindfulness practices.
COURSE Session Topics (subject to change and rearrangement):
Session 1: Creating the Container for Our Work
Session 2: The Cycle of Socialization & Creating New Culture
Session 3: Intersectionality and Naming Layers of Identity
Session 4: Tools for Deepening Analysis
Session 5: Exploring Spheres of Influence
Session 6: Identifying Your Aligned Role(s)
Session 7: Strategies for Aligned Action
Session 8: Individualism, Interdependence, Boundaries and Indebtedness
Session 9: Unlearning Conflict Avoidance and Niceness
Session 10: Building an Accountable Community
Session 11: Means to an End: Participating in the Cycle of Liberation
Embodying Antiracism was different from any antiracism-focused workshop I’ve every participated in. As a long-time facilitator and trainer, and a person whose commitment to this work is long and deep, I learned an enormous amount at two levels. The first was gaining new language, frameworks and tools that were resonant with what I already knew but super useful. The second, and probably more transformative, was experiencing a container for antiracism work that was generous, and built on curiosity and an invitation to embrace respect and trust. There was no softening of the analysis of white supremacy culture and racism, but there was also a strong felt experience of being embraced as a white person struggling to deconstruct the myths of whiteness and the hold white supremacist norms have on all of us and to figure out how to be an effective agent for deconstructing white-body supremacy inside and out.