1 of 13

Anti-racism Listening and Learning Summer Series

WEEK 1: 6/22/20 – 6/26/20

2 of 13

Introductions

Name
Pronouns
Organization

3 of 13

Who are we

The mission of the LGBTQ+ Health Initiative is to reduce disparities experienced by gender and sexually diverse populations by helping health and human services agencies that are a part of the NYS HHS LGBT Network more effectively reach and serve these groups.

UR staff

UR-based consultants

Consultants

Community Advisory Board

NYS HHS LGBT grant

4 of 13

Series development

Listening and Learning Series

45% of Network members want anti-racism training

BIPOC saying for decades that white people need to learn how structural racism was built in our country

George Floyd’s murder on top of so many other names known and unknown

Everyone is at a different place in their knowledge

Existing well-researched documentation of how structural racism was built

5 of 13

Our goal

To utilize existing resources to learn how structural racism was built in the US

Our hope is that more roots, conversations, learning, and growing occurs.

6 of 13

How we hope to achieve this goal

Variety of educational materials
Trauma informed care
Meditation
Group agreements

7 of 13

Why trauma informed care

Trauma-Informed Care understands and considers the pervasive nature of trauma and promotes environments of healing and recovery rather than practices and services that may inadvertently re-traumatize.
We want to acknowledge this and apply Trauma Informed Care principles to these meetings:
Safety – Choice – Collaboration – Trustworthiness- Empowerment

Resources: http://socialwork.buffalo.edu/social-research/institutes-centers/institute-on-trauma-and-trauma-informed-care/what-is-trauma-informed-care.html

8 of 13

TIC thoughts for consideration

Acknowledge that Trauma is a Universal Concept
Each is an “expert of our own life experiences”
Racism brings up many feelings for all of us: guilt, loss, grief, anger, isolation, anxiety, fear, nervousness, lack of concentration, sadness, bitterness, depression, numbness, denial, fight, flight, freeze, etc.
Everyone’s World View Has Changed
TIC guides us to ask, “What’s happened to you?”, and not “What’s wrong with you?”
Folks who had past trauma and/or historical trauma before recent events may be especially vulnerable.
TIC reminds us: It really does matter HOW we respond.

9 of 13

Why meditation

We feel trauma in our bodies
We feel anxiety in our bodies

Meditation leads to creating an opportunity for mind body connection and an opportunity for presence.

Resources: https://www.resmaa.com/books https://www.tarabrach.com/ https://www.bethberila.com/writer-1

10 of 13

Why group agreements

To identify ways to speak to each other in a respectful way
To break systems of white supremacy that silence voices of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color)
To create community

Resources: http://adriennemareebrown.net/ https://www.akpress.org/emergentstrategy.html

11 of 13

Group agreements These agreements come from adrienne maree brown’s Emergent Strategy, published in 2017.

Listen from the inside out, or listen from the bottom up (a feeling in your gut matters!);
Engage Tension, Don’t Indulge Drama;
W.A.I.T.—Why Am I Talking?
Make Space, Take Space—a post-ableist adaptation of step up, step back – to help balance the verbose and the reticent
Confidentiality—take the lessons, leave the details;
Be open to learning;

Be open to someone else speaking your truth;
Building, not selling—when you speak, converse, don’t pitch;
Yes/and, both/and;
Value the process as much as, if not more than, you value the outcomes;
Assume best intent; attend to impact;
Self care and community care—pay attention to your bladder, pay attention to your neighbors;

12 of 13

Holding space

“If you’re leaning too far in one direction, try the other one”

@malefragility