Culture Change Cohort

SHIFTING FROM A CULTURE THAT PERPETUATES ISOLATION, FEAR & ABUSE TO ONE THAT ENCOURAGES EMPATHY, WHOLENESS & COMMUNITY

In this cohort, we will explore the threads of intersection where whiteness and womanhood can and do enforce the harmful expectations, assumptions, and norms of white supremacy culture. We will examine our own personal perspectives, behaviors, and responses to dominant culture and how we can make small changes that ripple into big impact.

White supremacy culture causes harm to our bodies, our lives, and our communities. It is imprinted in personal and cultural narratives, often without our awareness. Behaviors over time become culture, and so in order to dismantle white supremacy culture, we must first identify the very behaviors which support the toxicity of white supremacy. By working through a root cause analysis lens, we can unravel how the expressions of white supremacy culture play out in our lives, and examine how to co-create new culture by taking responsibility for our words and actions and finding our way back into our hearts.

Working with the characteristics of (divorcing) white supremacy culture compiled by Tema Okun and mentor Kenneth Jones, we will explore, in depth, the following expressions of and antidotes to white supremacy culture in how we experience the wholeness of our lives (personal/family/social/community/professional/spiritual):

• Perfectionism to Diversity Appreciation & Shared Learning
• Urgency & Unrealistic Timelines to Spaciousness & Flow
• Fear of Conflict & Defensiveness to Personal Growth & Strength in Vulnerability
• Transactional Relationships & Competition to Heart-Centered Connection & Collaboration
• Hyper-Individualism to Collectivism & Interdependence

Email and phone support is available to participants from the facilitators throughout the cohort. Upon completion of the cohort, the journey continues with different pathways for different journeys, including opportunities to more deeply connect and weave with EmpowR and the growing web of interconnected communities committed to transformative justice.

WHO IS INVITED TO PARTICIPATE

All humans who identify as women, femme, and gender expansive, nonbinary, and/or trans people who also identify as white, mixed race, or as people of color who have been socialized around whiteness. If you seek to unpack and address the tension that exists by being raised, to any extent, as a white-passing non-male person in the toxicity of white supremacy culture, there is value for your participation in this cohort.

In doing this work, together we take a stand for racial justice, support race/class/gender/ability equity, and create more belonging and compassion in society.

The content of this series will include conversations about economic, sexual, domestic, racial, and other injustices and may trigger emotional responses. The facilitators are trained in holding safer space where trauma may present and will include embodiment practices to support our wholeness.