ARCOwesternmass NEWS

"This is a list of characteristics of white supremacy culture that show up in our organizations. Culture is powerful precisely because it is so present and at the same time so very difficult to name or identify. The characteristics listed below are damaging because they are used as norms and standards without being proactively named or chosen by the group. They are damaging because they promote white supremacy thinking. Because we all live in a white supremacy culture, these characteristics show up in the attitudes and behaviors of all of us – people of color and white people. Therefore, these attitudes and behaviors can show up in any group or organization, whether it is white-led or predominantly white or people of color-led or predominantly people of color."

In addition to listing and explaining the characteristics of white supremacy culture, the article also includes antidotes. A must read.

I'll be adding this article as a permanent fixture to our resource page, but for now you can read it here:

http://www.dismantlingracism.org/Dismantling_Racism/liNKs_files/whitesupcul09.pdf

And while you're there, make sure to check out the rest of the site: www.dismantlingracism.org

5 Millionth 'Stop-and-Frisk' by NYPD

Mar 14 · By · 1 reaction · Share

(Read the full story on Colorlines...)

TEACHED Vol. 1

Feb 26 · By · 1 reaction · Share

If you missed the screening of TEACHED hosted by the Mason Square Health Task Force on 2/19, you'll be happy to know that the first volume of short films is available to watch on-line: http://www.teached.org/.

From the film's website: TEACHED is a short film series that candidly assesses the causes and consequences of our nation's race-based “achievement gap," looking at continuing inequalities in our public school system and taking viewers into those communities where the effects are most severe to hear what solutions the students, parents, teachers and others have to offer.

Timeline of the legal history of voting rights in America

Feb 22 · By · 1 reaction · Share

MassVOTE provides an in-depth Timeline of voting rights history in America in honor of Black History Month.

Coming Down for Justice (Interaction Institute for Social Change)

Feb 13 · By · 1 reaction · Share

JAN/30/13//CURTIS OGDEN//LIBERATION

My colleague Cynthia and I are in the midst of delivering IISC’s newest course, Fundamentals of Facilitation for Racial Justice Work, here in Springfield, Massachusetts. Together with a group of dynamic and committed change agents, we are engaged in hands-on exploration of a variety of process and content tools so that we are able to better serve as facilitators towards the ends of racial equity and justice. Part of our discussions today will focus on how we can maintain our center amidst triggering situations and use our identities to advance the work.

One very useful tool to this end is the Ladder of Inference, which is based on material from Chris Argyris in his work Overcoming Organizational Defenses. The Ladder is both a metaphor and a model for understanding how people create meaning and sometimes jump to incorrect conclusions about what others have said or done. The Ladder illustrates how our actions really come down to an underlying process of selective perception. How we perceive our relationships with others is significantly affected by an unconscious selection process, which can cause conflict in and damage our relationships when we act as if our perceptions are the truth. Invoking the Ladder can help remind us that our truths are based on assumptions and self-generating belief systems that may require closer examination and alteration.

Something useful to this end is a set of questions that can help us (through self-reflection) or others (through inquiry) “come down our ladders” and see what rung or rungs may be tripping us up.

Consequences (of our actions)

What resulted from my/your action?
How did that match/mismatch my/your intention?

Take action

What did you do next?
What led you to do that?

Make assumptions/draw conclusions/adopt and adjust beliefs

Am I/Are you assuming that . . . ?/I assume that . . .
What caused me/you to decide that . . . is true?
What does it mean to me/you when . . . ?
Do I/you feel certain that . . . ?

Select data

How was I/were you feeling when . . . was said or happened?
What did I/you notice?
What else was going on?
What might I/you have missed?
What did I/you see hear?

What other ideas do you have? How have you effectively managed yourself and helped others to self-manage so that we might better be instruments for justice?

(Reblogged from IISC while they were in Springfield last month. Make sure to check out other posts under the "Race, Class, and Power" category. )