AFFINITY CAUCUSING
& SHARED IDENTITY WORKSHOPS
*all offerings are virtual*
What is the purpose of affinity caucusing?
Caucusing with affinity identities means that groups meet together with others who share a social identity. For example, racial affinity caucusing means a group of all People of Color group, or a group of all white people.
Affinity causing is an important way for those who are part of oppressed groups to have the opportunity to be together to share experiences, learn, heal, and commit to working for justice; and it gives those who are part of a privileged group the opportunity to be together to learn in ways that don’t further burden people who are marginalized.
Specifically, when we are talking about race and racism, we support learning that does not ask Black, Indigenous, and other non-white people to be burdened by teaching white people. For white people, caucusing with other white people can give space for people to ask questions, make mistakes, work through defensiveness and guilt, and examine their fears without burdening People of Color; it can be a place for white people to increase their awareness, practice skills, and develop courage. The caucus experience can help white people to deepen their understanding of internalized white dominance and white unearned advantage and privilege, and to develop a plan for accountability with non-white people in their lives.
White People Working for Racial Justice
At this time in our nation, we are witnessing an alarming resurgence of white supremacy and state sanctioned violence. It is imperative that white people do the deep work required to claim and embody an anti-racist identity, understand the privilege they carry, and interrupt racism where they live, work, study, and volunteer.
White People Working for Racial Justice is a space where white people can learn together, ask questions, make mistakes, work through defensiveness and guilt, and examine fears, without burdening People of Color.
Series includes email follow-up after each session and access to our online drive with homework readings, handouts, and other resources.
Agenda Outline
Day One: Building the Foundation and Knowing Our History
Developing Our Common Language
Social Justice Theories and Concepts
The History of Racism and Resistance in the United States
Day Two: Understanding Whiteness
Whiteness as A Construct
Intersectionality
White Supremacy Culture
How Racism Harms White People
Building Antiracist Relationships with Other White People
Day Three: Skill Practice (Interrupting Bias)
How to Tell Someone What They Said Is Racist
How to Apologize When We Say or Do Something Racist
Somatic Practice: Addressing Our Embodied White Supremacy
Day Four: Allyship and Where Do We Go from Here?
Allyship and Accountability
Working Within Your Sphere of Influence
Where Do We Go From Here?
Outcomes
Participants will come to understand:
movements for racial justice in the U.S.
white privilege and unearned advantage
develop skills to claim and shape an anti-racist identity
practice the skills of interrupting racism
develop networks of support and accountability
Description
The series employs:
Small and large group discussion
Structured exercises
Readings, videos, and reflective journaling
Homework to prepare participants for each session
Doing Our Own Work: An Anti-Racism Seminar for White People
Doing Our Own Work helps white people move through places where they often get stuck in racial justice work, so that they can step up with courage, consistency, and humility to participate in movements led by People of Color and help move other white people to greater anti-racist awareness and action.
Offering more than 40 hours of class time, Doing Our Own Work equips participants with the analysis, skills, and tools needed to be more effective anti-racist allies and accomplices. By limiting enrollment to 22 people, this seminar provides a context for in-depth reflection, learning, and dialogue as participants work to deepen their knowledge of systemic racism, offer each other support and accountability, grow beyond shame and guilt, and practice the skills of interrupting racism.
Doing Our Own Work is designed as a supplement to, not a substitute for, contexts where people of diverse races discuss and strategize together about how racism can be challenged and dismantled.
People from communities all across North America have taken part in this intensive seminar, experiencing it as a unique opportunity to engage in deep, strenuous, and soul-stretching work. Anti-racist action and reflection form the heart of Doing Our Own Work. Each participant is invited to identify a “sphere of influence” that serves as the focus of action and reflection.
The facilitators are committed to working with participants to create a respectful, loving and truth-telling environment where we may bring our whole selves to this vitally important work. Doing Our Own Work's primary focus is on race and racism. It is also an intersectional learning environment where facilitators and participants acknowledge that multiple forms of oppression and liberation exist in our world.
Content
The series explores:
The four realms of racism and change: interpersonal, interpersonal, institutional/systemic, and cultural
Historical roots of racism in the United States and movements for racial justice
White privilege and unearned advantage
Intergenerational legacies that foster white denial and silence
Claiming and shaping an anti-racist identity
Developing relationships of accountability to people of color
Cultural appreciation versus cultural appropriation
Guilt, shame, and self-love
Practicing the skills of interrupting racism
Strategies for institutional change
Groups of no more than 22 participants. Six Days. All six sessions required.
Outcomes
Participants will come to understand:
movements for racial justice in the U.S.
white privilege and unearned advantage
develop skills to claim and shape an anti-racist identity
practice the skills of interrupting racism
learn strategies for institutional change
develop networks of support and accountability
Description
The series employs:
Small and large group discussion
Structured exercises
Readings, videos, and reflective journaling
Homework to prepare participants for each session
The Legacy of Doing Our Own Work
Justice Leaders Collaborative is honored to receive the legacy of “Doing Our Own Work: An Anti-Racism Seminar for White People,” developed in 1994 by Melanie S. Morrison and Eleanor S. Morrison, the seminar’s original authors and facilitators. Read more about the Legacy and its original home with Allies for Change.
Due to COVID, “Doing Our Own Work” is not being offered at this time.