Confronting Racism

In our multicultural democracy, how can we heal the many layers of intergenerational silence surrounding the issue of racism? This and other questions I pondered while reporting on the Confronting Racism series facilitated by Word & Life, a Santa Barbara-based learning organization. These stories, published in VOICE Magazine, reflect the cogent observations and suggestions for new directions as raised by the series’ presenters.

Audio versions also included.

Artwork © Ardith Plimack

“Anti-racism: Word and Life Launches Its Winter Online Forum”

By Maura Conlon-McIvor,
Special to VOICE

Santa Barbara-based Word and Life, an organization that supports contemplative living and learning, will begin to explore this poignant topic in its Winter series: Confronting Racism. Two books have been selected as a foundation for the program: Ibram X. Kendi’s How to be an Anti- Racist and Howard Thurman’s Jesus and the Disinherited… Local leaders with expertise in the field will deliver weekly presentations to address ideas about and solutions to racial division in our own communities.

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confronting-racism-books
Dr. David N. Moore

“Revealing the Healing Power of African American Music”

“Healing goes along with a redistribution of power and a redistribution of wealth. We don’t see that as a good thing as a country. We see that as a net loss. The truth is, this is a win-win. It would be a net gain for our entire society to stop suppressing the voices of African Americans and other people of color. It would benefit our country.” —Dr. David N. Moore

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“Lifting the Mask of Racism:
Dueling Consciousness and Power”

“In denying racism, a white individual may speak about the one African- American person they know, but Wilson asserted, “that is akin to tasting caviar only once in your life and saying you know caviar. How can you truly understand something if you’ve barely experienced it?” —Vashti Tameka Wilson

 

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Vashti Tameka Wilson
Tracy Macuga

“Dismantling Racism Through a Re-Imagined Criminal Justice System”

“It is time,” she said, “for the long overdue awakening and reckoning on systemic racism that stretches over generations, across multiple institutions, and into the smallest reaches of our daily existence—not just the criminal justice system.”  —Tracy Macuga

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“Unbinding Ourselves Through the Dual Action of Contemplation and Activism”

The challenge is upon us to see how we remain “bound to practices and ways of knowing that privilege some at the expense of others…while unbinding ourselves to participate in the liberation of our brothers and sisters.” —Leslye Colvin

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Leslye Colvin
Matt Lowe

“Healing the White Body in the AntiRacism Movement”

“Your antiracism work is only as good as the history and context which you are drawing from. That is why white folk need to know their Black history, Latinx history, indigenous history, Asian American history. We need a peoples’ history to shape our antiracism’s efforts, not just a naming of white fragility.”  —Matt Lowe

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“To Transform Systemic White Supremacy: Dismantle the Heroic Model of Leadership”

“We are going to drift back into racism…none of us has to be engaged in this work—we can duck out anytime we want—we can go back to posting hash tags on social media, do the next thing that’s trending,” he said, “but our siblings of color are fighting for survival. We need to be there with them.” —Rev. Chris Brown

 

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Rev. Chris Brown

For more information on the series presenters, please visit Word & Life