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Antiracism Listening & Learning Series �

Emergent Strategy by Adrienne Maree Brown

Week #: Title

Dates/Times

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What to Expect Today

Community Agreements & Trauma-Informed Care Framework (10 minutes)
Moment of Silence (3 minutes)
Community Check-In (5 minutes)
Conversation 1: TITLE (30 minutes)
Break (5 minutes)
Conversation 2: TITLE (30 minutes)
Next Steps & Close Out (3 minutes)

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Community Agreements

Begin by listening
Transform yourself to transform the world
What we practice is what we are
Name what is, make more possible
Release perfection, relinquish judgment
Create a culture of celebration – pivot towards pleasure
Invitation goes further than manipulation
Release your way to feel the way
Time can blend
Be honest and direct – while holding compassion
Take responsibility for your own feelings and actions

Does everyone feel comfortable with these agreements?
Does anyone have any questions or concerns about the community agreements?

(5 minutes)

We use group agreements as a way to create a space where we can have difficult conversations and be open to learning. On the screen are the group agreements that we have used in the past, which come from adrienne maree brown’s Holding Change. They are:

Begin by listening
Transform yourself to transform the world (from Grace Lee Boggs)
What we practice is what we are
Name what is, make more possible
Release perfection, relinquish judgment
Create a culture of celebration – pivot towards pleasure
Invitation goes further than manipulation
Release your way to feel the way
Time can blend
Be honest and direct – while holding compassion
Take responsibility for your own feelings and actions

Questions to ask the group:

Does everyone feel comfortable with these agreements?
Does anyone have any questions or concerns about the community agreements?

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Trauma-Informed Care Framework

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, fight, freeze, etc.
Many peoples’ 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.

(5 minutes)

We want to take a moment and acknowledge that this is a unique time, and many people are experiencing trauma. We want to acknowledge this and informed care principals to this meeting:

Safety – Choice – Collaboration – Trustworthiness – Empowerment

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 will do our best to respect these 5 TIC guiding principles to ensure Universal Precautions during this meeting.

Here are some thoughts that I would like to put out for generally shared understanding:

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, fight, freeze, etc.
Many peoples’ 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.

We would like to acknowledge and recognize the current-day racial injustice in the institutions that are part of the history of oppression and racism that can affect the trauma experience, treatment, and recovery of African Americans.

(source: NYS DOH)

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Moment of silence

Let us have a brief moment of silence.

In this silence, let us center the impact of racial & gender injustice on the spaces we create together.

May we pause to discover what we need to navigate the many types of change we are a part of - personally, professionally, & politically, as we move through the dynamics of an ever-changing world.

Recognize that social justice & anti-racism live in our bodies and minds. We invite you to take 3 deep breaths to ground yourself in your power & in this space & community we are creating.

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Community Check-In and Acknowledgements, Open Connecting Activity

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Conversation 1:

TITLE

(30 minutes) (Break out into white & BIPOC affinity groups)

Instruction: Please remember to share your name before speaking

Week 1: The Relationship Between Small Scale and Large

You were asked in a pre-reflective activity to pick your favorite quote: Free write - why is this a guiding light for you?

What does it teach you about what you care about, and how you work?

In the book, brown talks about the notion of radical imagination.

How do you understand her notion of “radical imagination”

Week 2: How We Change

Intentional Adaptation is at the heart of Emergent Strategy
Remind participants about last weeks conversation 2 about their strengths and challenges as leaders, and the jamboards they added to
You were asked in a pre-reflective Jamboard activity to reflect on the quote below:

“As an individual, developing your capacity for adaptation can mean assessing your default reactions to change and whether those reactions create space for opportunity, possibility, and continuing to move towards your vision.”
What are some of the “default reactions to change” you’ve been able to move through in the organizational spaces you are a part of?

Follow up questions:

What are some things about your individual practice that came up for folks in reflecting on this quote?
How does your organization move through change, big or small? (Think: staff transitions, implementing new programs, enacting strategic refreshes, etc.)

Week 3: The Pace and Pathways of Change

You were asked in a pre-reflective activity:

Based on your understanding of the five gates of grief and the five anchors of healing, what does this adrienne marie brown quote mean to you as it relates to change: “Grief is the growing up of the heart that bursts boundaries like an old skin or a finished life. that grief is gratitude. that water seeks scale, that even your tears seek the recognition of community.”

Can somebody share what they wrote in the pre-reflective activity, or something that is resonating for you now?
In what ways do you think the process of grief can inform brown’s strategy of Nonlinear and Iterative practice?

Week 4: Emotional Justice & The Wheel of Change

In the pre-reflective activity, we asked: Transformative justice often requires the work of emotional justice, which requires us to 1) work through our feelings, 2) reimagine our focus and 3) build the future.

Which one of these elements requires more internal reckoning for the change you want within yourself or work?

20 minutes:

In the assigned section of Emergent Strategy, adrienne maree brown discusses the challenges and urgency for transformative justice. We realize this can be overwhelming so we have shared a tool that might help.

Introduce the Wheel of Change, give folks a link to a copy

https://www.google.com/url?q=http://stproject.org/wp-content/uploads/download-manager-files/WoC%2520Planning%2520Template.pdf&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1686692405294214&usg=AOvVaw0cQ8kj-71R8ddN1VBGt2R7

Fill in the Wheel of Change, or pick one section to fill out to the best of your ability & as time allows
Next, answer and write down:

Who would you invite to create a circle of willingness related to change and why?

10 minutes:

Share back to the group

Where are the places you/your org will need to grow the most?
What are the specific actions you can take to move this forward?
What are achievable steps you can take?

Week 5: Grounding, Inspiration, Recovery, and Transformation

15 minutes:

What keeps you grounded and gives you inspiration in this work? This is intimately connected with how we recover and transform.

If you have not already or if you would like to add an additional thought, take a moment to respond to the question in the jamboard.
Share thoughts with the group

15 minutes:

Answer in the chat or out loud:

How have you personally changed in the last few years?
What was in place that allowed this to happen?
Have you been able to continue to change/grow? If so, why? If not, why not?

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Break

Please take care of your needs.

We will see you in 5 minutes.

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Conversation 2:

TITLE

(30 minutes) (whole group)

Week 1: Who We Are & How We Share

10 minutes:

On the Jamboard, please answer the following prompts:

“My greatest strengths as a leader” | JAMBOARD
“My greatest learning challenges— how I need to grow | JAMBOARD

Be honest here, no false modesty or exaggerations, choose one thing from each list

Pay attention to your strength. Honor your accomplishments and what you learned. Notice how you want to grow. Please choose only one thing; you cannot change everything at once — that would be impossible and there is no joy in that.
Write in the chat: What is one small doable step you will take next week to strengthen your leadership

20 minutes:

Intro (5 minutes)
We are going to place you in some breakout groups in which you will answer the following questions: (5 min for each question or 10 min total)

Without being humble, what would your colleagues say that they most value about you and the unique skills and gifts that you bring to the things you do?
Now, tell a story about a time you contributed to a project or event that exemplifies these unique skills and gifts. What was the situation? Who was involved? Bring the story to life, with all its power and emotion

Share back (5 minutes):

A sentence or two reflection anyone would like to share before we close out

Week 2: Intentional Adaptation

Adaptation is long-term or structural change
It is about shaping change and letting changes make us stronger as both individuals, as well as a collective

15 minutes:

On page 79 of ES (in some books its on pages 46-48), brown shares a facilitation example of Intentional adaptation that she did with a group of funders and organizers. Please take five minutes to review the list.

Discussion: Please share an example of either something from the list that you have already tried in your own work, or something that you would be excited to experiment with adapting in your own work

15 minutes:

What are some of the ways you get relaxed and intentional in the face of change?
Adaptations are guided by what we can feel, in ourselves, in relationship to others, and is a way that helps our system make sense of all that we’re feeling. Given this, what are some of the lines or boundaries that we need to consider when we think about adaptation within an organization or collective?
How do you understand brown’s ideas about collective liberation as it connects to our conversation about Intentional Adaptation?

Week 3: Nonlinear

15 minutes:

Brown speaks about the process of transformation (individual & group) not happening in a linear way. How would you apply this thinking to the concept of failure as a practice?
In the article “White Supremacy Culture,” Tema Okun writes about perfectionism being a characteristic that upholds white supremacy culture. What are some ways that brown’s concept of failure act as an antidote to white supremacy culture?

15 minutes:

Given the political moment when so many of our organizations are experiencing anti-Black and/or anti-Trans backlash & attack, what are some of the innovative ways that you’re seeing organizations or communities incorporate a system that supports collective grief?

Week 4: Emotional & Transformative Justice

10 minutes:

In a similar thread to our look at the role of grief last week, in this next section we will connect to and incorporate Esther Armah’s framework of Emotional Justice.

This was additional reading, and we realize some folks may not have had a chance to read it - it is short and we felt like it merged well with adrienne maree brown’s discussion of transformative justice. Please read it now or if you did read it please take a few minutes to do some Individual writing (5ish min read) (link: https://courtney.substack.com/p/no-dismantling-without-intimate-reckoning)
Discuss: How can we find ways to disrupt our emotional connection to whiteness as we think about transformative justice in our work? (5 minutes)

20 minutes:

Connecting to the resource above, consider one or more of the following questions and share if you’re comfortable:

What would intimate reckoning look like in practice in your workplace?
Where and when could an implementation discussion be had (or furthered if already started)?
How do we shift into a culture in which conflict (yay!) and difference (yay!) is generative? (p. 132 of Emergent Strategy)

Week 5: Envisioning Workplace Changes

10 minutes:

Take a moment to reflect, then share out loud or in the chat

Considering your current challenges in your workplace as it relates to change, lets consider some prompts as a way to engage in design thinking and possibility planning.

What if we…
How Might We…
For example, How might we

move towards a more transparent culture?
Encourage disagreement and conflict to be generative?
Introduce collective learning and reflection?
(Add others as needed)

20 minutes:

Entire group share back

How do we “visionize” a future moving forward using the elements we learned from Emergent Strategy? (and any of the supplemental resources)
Review some of what we have covered if needed and if there is time

Personal gifts and leadership
Intentional adaptation
Processes of transformation
White supremacy and perfection
Grief
Wheel of change
Intimate reckoning transformative and emotional justice

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Closing

Chatterfall: ENTER HERE

Our next session is (DATE/TIME)

Please fill out an evaluation at this link:

(3 minutes)

Using the chat, finish the open sentence/s with a short phrase. Don’t hit the return/enter button until I tell you, and then we’ll see a cascade of responses. We will take time to read through them at the end.

Week 1: An impact this knowledge gained today might have on our organization could be…

Week 2: What is a newness in thinking or practice that you are walking away with from our conversation today…

Week 3: Nonlinear and Iterative has me thinking about….

Week 4: When you envision yourself able to make the time you need to personally grieve in the service of transformative justice, what do you see? When you envision your organization able to be more aware of the emotional justice framework, what do you see?

Week 5: What is the most important thing you need to sustain yourself and your racial justice work?