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Defecting from Supremacy

Course Participant Page

 

Welcome! This page is for registrants in our 2021 summer course, Defecting from Supremacy: Joining the Struggle for Collective LiberationPlease do not share this page with anyone who is not registered for the course. You are welcome to share specific homework materials, but not the link to the page – which will include links to recordings as they become available.

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Homework:

Supplemental Offerings:

Important Information

Homework: Homework materials for all sessions will be posted below. Please allow 2-3 hours for homework per session. We ask that everyone engage with the study materials and holistic practices prior to each session. 

Recordings: Recordings of each live session will be available 2-3 days after it takes place. Links to these recordings will be posted at the top of the homework assignment for the corresponding session. Recordings, along with the participant page as a whole, will remain accessible through December 19, 2021 (three months after our final live session). After this, study materials will be e-mailed to you as a PDF and session recordings will no longer be available.

Have you visited the Logistics Page for the Training? Please allow 20 minutes to review this page and take the action steps outlined within it prior to the training. Applications for your personal zoom login must be submitted by the end of the day Saturday, July 10, in order to participate in the first live session (applications are approved manually, not instantly).  

 

Join Our Mighty Network: If you would like to be part of the online forum we have created for this course, we encourage you to join the Mighty Network group for this class. You can view the full invitation here. The Network is somewhere you can share with the whole group (similar to an FB group), and it is also a place where you can send a private message to anyone else who joins. We hope this helps you all make the connections you may desire with other "Defecting From Supremacy" course participants.

Identity-based Caucuses

Identity-based Caucuses

   

We are holding the following identity-based caucuses for Multiracial course participants, Trans, Gender Non-Conforming and Gender Queer course participants, and participants who are Gay, Bi, or identify with Queer sexuality. These meetings are meant to create space for these groups to reflect on the uniqueness of their course experiences in a supportive environment. All of these are optional calls that can be taken free of charge as part of this course. They will not be recorded. The caucuses are for individuals of these specific identity groups only and not for all participants in this course.You are welcome to attend more than one caucus. If you have questions about whether a caucus is for you, please reach out to us at info@whiteawake.orgNote: You must register for a caucus in order to receive the correct zoom link to attend it (Your course zoom login will not work).

Multiracial Caucus

 Facilitated by Jimi Eisenstein - This caucus is for people who have both white and non-white ancestry who may identify as mixed-race, multiracial, or biracial.

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Jimi Eisenstein (he/him) is an educator and advocate for social and environmental justice. He has worked at the Eco-Institute at Pickards Mountain, facilitating residential immersive programs centered around earth healing, community building, and social activism. He is now creating educational animations and working on ecologically-restorative landscaping projects in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Queer Gender Identity Caucus  

Facilitated by Andy McGuire – watch Andy's introduction here

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Andy McGuire (they/them/he/him) is a contributor to White Awake and graduate of Landmark College. They identify as a non-binary trans masculine person and have a background in group facilitation for queer identifying people, co-developing many transgender specific programs at Landmark. In addition to Queer Caucus facilitation, Andy also regularly leads "Hard Conversations with People We Love" for White Awake, a training on communicating effectively across large political divides. 

Queer Sexuality Caucus 

Facilitated by Jason Lydon

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Rev. Jason Lydon serves as the minister at the Second Unitarian Church of Chicago. Jason has been involved in both secular and faith-based efforts organizing against white supremacy culture since 2001. As a founding trainer with Groundwork, the Unitarian Universalist Youth and Young Adult Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression Training and Organizing Collective, Jason developed curriculum focused on dismantling white supremacy and engaging white people in the work of challenging internalized superiority. Jason is also the founder of Black and Pink, a national abolitionist organization approaching the work by centering the needs of LGBTQ/HIV+ people. 

Session One

Session One: An Introduction

Session Recording (8/16) View Here

Chat Log: View Here

Presentation Content: Slides From Topher's Talk

Study Materials

Holistic Practices

Complete the first exercise on embodied awareness and then do at least one of the two practices below it.

 

Further Reading (optional/if you have time)

Session Two

Session Two: Historical Context

Session Recording (8/16) View Here

Chat Log: View Here

Presentation Content: Notes From Topher's Talk

Study Materials

Early Human Cultures, Indigeneity and the Dawn of Patriarchy:

Capitalism, Race, Gender & Religion:

Note on Federici piece: "Production" denotes work done by wage laborers. "Reproduction" denotes work done to birth and sustain human life, and, under capitalism, give wage laborers the sustenance to toil for the boss. 

Holistic Practices

Continue your daily embodied awareness routine and do at least one of the practices below:

 

Further Reading (optional/if you have time)

Session Three

Session Three: Harm Caused and Harm Received

The following study materials are meant to offer an opportunity to bear witness to the vast harm perpetrated by white men in the past and present while also waking up to the ways that racialized, gendered capitalism has created suffering and disconnection in our own lives. Even though we have separated this content into the two categories “harm caused” and “harm endured,” we understand that there is crossover between them. For example, we recognize the notion that, as Kazu Haga says, “hurting people hurts” on a psychological level as well as the reality that racism and misogyny can distract white men from seeing the real causes of their own suffering under capitalism. 

Content Warning: many of the study materials contain graphic descriptions and/or depictions of violence including rape, torture, and suicide. Engage with this material in a way that feels appropriate and manageable for your own nervous system and emotional resilience.

Session Recording (8/30) View Here

Chat Log: View Here

Study Materials

Harm Caused:

Harm Endured:

Holistic Practices

Continue your daily embodied awareness routine and do at least one of the practices below:

Session Four

Session Four: Cultivating a Renewed Identity

Session Recording (9/12) View Here

Chat Log: View Here

Study Materials

Toward a healthy anti-racist identity:

Toward a healthy gender identity:

Choose one or more of the following: 

Holistic Practices

Continue your daily embodied awareness routine and do at least one of the practices below:

 

Further Reading (optional/if you have time)

Session Five

Session Five: Taking Action

During our final live call on September 19, there will be opportunities for participants to share about ways that they have gotten involved, taken initiative, organized, or otherwise brought the work of collective liberation into their lives or professional settings. Please be thinking about your own story of engagement in collective liberation work and how your successes and challenges might help guide and inspire others.

Session Recording (9/19) View Here

Chat Log: View Here

Study Materials

Race/ Class Organizing:

Organizing Basics:

 

Getting Involved:

Holistic Practices

Continue your daily embodied awareness routine and do at least one of the practices below:

 

Further Reading (optional/if you have time)

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