Embodied Conversations about Racism and Antiracism
In part 3 of this 3 part series, Vanessa and Bonnie invite us to explore Difficult Conversations and Big Ideas: How do we begin to have healing conversations with each other?
Similar to parts 1 and 2, their conversation will be informal and unedited, open to how the conversation wants to unpredictably proceed and so probably messy at times, from the heart as well as the head, built on the care these two women have for each other, and their commitment to staying compassionately and fiercely engaged with this time in history on behalf of racial justice.
Vanessa, a Black woman, has 56 years of experience as a Black woman in this culture, 30 years of antiracist work and feminist work, a decade of studying interpersonal neurobiology, and two decades of shepherding the programs that support domestic violence and sexual assault survivors in Oregon.
Bonnie, a White woman, has 77 years of relative blindness to the effects of racism, 30 years of work with trauma survivors, 17 years of closely studying how to apply interpersonal neurobiology to counseling and daily life, three books about the application of relational neuroscience, and three months of immersion in racism and antiracism studies.
They met as Vanessa was endeavoring to bring relational neuroscience into advocacy and treatment for people emerging from domestic violence. Bonnie has been Vanessa’s student about domestic violence treatment, racism, and feminism. Vanessa has been Bonnie’s student about relational neuroscience and how it might apply to healing for those involved in all manner of abuse. The respect and love they have for each other is the cement that holds them together each day.
First Webinar in the series – September 4th from 11-1 PDT – Haunted by History: We will explore how the traumatic histories of White people have become the legacy of Black people. We hope to invite you into an experience of this process of transmission that can lead to greater understanding of and compassion for the roots of racism.
Second Webinar in the series – September 18th from 11-1 PDT – A Complicated Web: We will invite all of us to explore the intersection of our personal history and systemic racism.
Third Webinar in the series – October 9th from 11-1 PDT – Difficult Conversations and Big Ideas: How do we begin to have healing conversations with each other? How do we nurture compassion connections without diminishing the unique experience of Black people? What kind of internal changes do we need to make to sustain the systemic changes that also need to happen?
