White folks being honest about how rarely we think about our race or speak up about race and racism… and some beginning the journey of self-reflection in productive ways that could lead to more courage and compassion. 5mins.
Author Archives: ashley
The Horrid History of Convict Leasing
In 1865 the 13th amendment abolished slavery except as punishment for someone convicted of a crime . The crimes that people were convicted of were ridiculous (being recently “freed” from slavery, but arrested and convicted for not yet having found employment). So convict leasing as a form of slavery continued. And basically still exists. If […]
Responses to White Privilege
White folks, we either want to deny that we have privilege or we want to deny that we enjoy having the privileges. It is an extreme luxury to move through the world with relative safety, general benefit of the doubt, often given a leg up and a foot in, and the list goes on and […]
Processing: Who Does the Heavy Lifting
We sit in the chairs to get educated. Attentive. Being a good student. Listening for what we can learn. Giving up a whole day of our busy lives — because we know this is important. Truths revealed. Layers of our privilege glaring before us, for us to see. Asked again and again — where is […]
It’s Time to Genuinely Protect ALL Children
On this Father’s Day, I am thinking about the societal role of father’s as protectors. I’m profoundly grateful for all the men who show up to protect, love and nurture young people and I’m grateful to all the mothers, grandmothers, sisters, brothers, and aunties who fill that role when the fathers aren’t able. I’m also […]
Do you feel this obligation calling to you?
Last week I gathered with 40 practitioners of participatory hosting and facilitation around the above question. Some were like me, stepping into this space with aspects of this inquiry alive in our every day, every breath, burning scars and lighting up paths as we follow our devotion and respond to the world that is, and […]
What Is Happening to Children at the Border and in the Hands of ICE Agents
This morning, the first spacious morning in awhile, I wake with the urgent feeling. I must invest time and energy in understanding what is happening to migrant children and families right now. My feeling is that this moment is like that of early Nazi Germany. Being Jewish, I was taught about the Holocaust at an […]