Are you starting to feel more prepared and confident to engage in conversations about race? What do you think about some of the PDF handouts? What thoughts did you have while watching the videos focusing on how to engage others? Share your thoughts with other participants.
This portion of the module has been extremely valuable. I am reviewing all the toxic white guilt conversations I've had over the last several years, and I'm realizing so much about what I thought was helpful and "right" and what is really detrimental to changing our situation in this nation (and world). I loved Dr. Luvvie's three-question test: 1) did I mean it? 2) Can I defend it? 3) Did I say it with love? That's an excellent rubric to apply to...I guess just about everything you utter.
I had a hard time with Tom Reitz' talk. The whole thing about listening to people's stories and then sharing mine doesn't resonate for me. Who wants to hear my story? No one. I'm a white, privileged middle class woman. There is literally nothing anyone can learn or be edified by in my life experience. Sharing my own story is completely meaningless. I can, however, do better at empathizing with those who may be trapped in their own stasis of privilege reflection and help them out...if they will let me. I have so much more work to do to learn how to do that. Of all the handouts, the most useful was the Combahee River Collective's statement. I really resonate to feminists living in isolation; the feminist message engenders so much hostility from everyone; I start every college class I teach with "I live and teach from a feminist perspective" and let students decide if they want to stay in the class or not. Some people drop before they even understand what feminism really means. To add the layer of the Black female experience over it makes it even heavier to bear; it's an intersection that is not explored nearly enough, and I was grateful for this statement.
