In 2017, I joined Natalie Rogers's Expressive Arts Facilitator program. I felt a deep need to be in my body and explore what social justice could feel like. Looking back, I now understand that I was also trying to confront the deceptions and delusions wrought by white supremacy and patriarchy. This writing is part of my efforts to begin again with an embodied anti-racism commitment I started in 2020 in a more profound way than I ever had.
As a white-bodied person with unearned privilege in this system of racial hierarchy, I am committed to the moment-to-moment work of learning to embody anti-racist praxis in my professional and personal life. This is messy work. I try, struggle, and often get swept up in the "am I doing enough?" mindset. I return to my breath. This sounds simple, but it’s pretty complex and is best done in a community or collective that is committed to this work. I have sat with multiple groups of folks on Zoom for two years. These zoom rooms have allowed me to confront the uncomfortable parts of myself (the white supremacist parts) I can see more clearly now. I call in folks assigned white at birth (thank you to Sonya Renne Taylor for that framework).
My daily practices are the basis on which I seek to unlearn the somatic habits of white supremacy and anti-Black racism. I share these practices both as a way to hold myself accountable and to create a context in which I can continue to confront the individualized and embodied expressions of systems of racialized hierarchy. I recognize that these liberation practices for all beings precede me and will continue beyond my lifetime. Even so, it feels important to share what I am doing because...
(1) I speak up with my friends, especially my white-bodied friends and family, when they express, enact, or embody the protocols of white supremacy. I suggest books, articles, and groups to attend with the intention of meeting them where they are while also seeking to root out the ways whiteness shows up
(2) I share embodied practices that I am learning from studying with Resmaa Menakem (https://www.resmaa.com/), Rev. angel Kyodo williams (https://angelkyodowilliams.com/), Sonya Renee Taylor, (https://thebodyisnotanapology.com/about-tbinaa/history-mission-and-vision/) and many others.
(3) I listen to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color/Culture. Since I heard Resmaa Menakem use the phrase "bodies of culture," it has landed in my body. Mine is a body socialized out of its cultural practices and (re)programmed by the demands of white supremacy. This is the work, as I understand "the work".
(4) I participate in mutual aid, which feels vital and integrated into my expressive arts work. I aim to understand what is needed, not to offer in order to feel better about myself. Though that is a tricky place I examine every day, I aim to move more slowly and listen with my whole body on a deeper level.
Two years ago, I also sat in on a town hall with Rachel Rodgers and others (https://helloseven.co/townhall-2/), prompting me to publish this commitment's version. It is linked here: