BUILDING THE WORLD WE DREAM ABOUT
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Adults
WORKSHOP 10: EXPLORING WHITE IDENTITY
BY MARK HICKS. GAIL FORSYTH-VAIL, DEVELOPMENTAL EDITOR.
© Copyright 2010 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 9/29/2014 10:35:44 PM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
The struggle for racial justice in America calls those of us who are White to make this journey. Our presence is needed. We have been absent too long. — Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker, from Soul Work: Anti-racist Theologies in Dialogue, Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley and Nancy Palmer Jones, editors (Boston: Skinner House, 2003).
This workshop uses "aesthetic journaling" as a learning strategy to enable participants to go beyond surface dialogue about "Whiteness" and "White privilege." Participants who are more visually oriented will be more receptive to this exercise than those who are verbally oriented or who have had negative experiences with "art projects." Invite those who generally resist creating art projects to recognize this one as an opportunity to explore "Whiteness" from a new perspective and with a different lens. To allay concerns about a perceived inability to "do" art, emphasize that creating art for art's sake is not the purpose of the activity. Its purpose is to engage people with different learning and communication styles. Using alternative means of expression can help the entire group learn about and appreciate difference and may lead to insights beyond what dialogue can provide.
It will take some time to gather the materials for aesthetic journaling, so you may want to begin early and enlist help from others (including workshop participants).
Before leading this workshop, review the accessibility guidelines in the program Introduction under Integrating All Participants.
GOALS
This workshop will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
WORKSHOP-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Welcoming and Entering | 0 |
Opening | 10 |
Activity 1: Aesthetic Journaling on Whiteness | 60 |
Activity 2: Exploring the Creation in Triads | 30 |
Activity 3: Large Group Reflection | 10 |
Closing | 10 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
Spend some time doing your own aesthetic journaling creation about White identity (see Activity 2). Reflect on these questions and write or draw in your journal:
WORKSHOP PLAN
WELCOMING AND ENTERING
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Greet participants as they arrive.
OPENING (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Light the chalice or invite a participant to light it while you read Leader Resource 1 aloud.
Share feedback from the previous workshop evaluations. Acknowledge shared patterns and observations to give participants a sense of how people in the group are thinking and feeling about the program. Be conscientious about maintaining confidentiality. One technique is to say, "Some people felt... ," rather than saying, "One of you felt... ." If time allows, invite participants to share one-minute observations or new insights they may have gained since the last workshop.
Remind participants of the spirit of their covenant.
Share the goals of this workshop.
ACTIVITY 1: AESTHETIC JOURNALING ON WHITENESS (60 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Introduce the activity using these or similar words:
Aesthetic journaling is a strategy that will help deepen your perspective and understanding about Whiteness, which is a complicated and layered experience. It combines the benefits of journaling—looking inward and taking notes on one's personal experience—and aesthetics, which for this purpose is the idea of using one's imagination to create an alternative insight into a problem. You may welcome the opportunity to engage in artistic expression or you may not. Even if you are one who generally resists creating artwork, I invite you to experience this opportunity to explore "Whiteness" from a new perspective and with a different lens. The purpose of the activity is not to create art for art's sake, but to engage people with different learning and communication styles. Using alternative means of expression can help us all learn about and appreciate difference and may lead to insights beyond what dialogue can provide.
Give participants two index cards and a pen/pencil. Explain the process as follows, pointing out the posted quote and the collection of found objects as you explain:
You are invited to use the found objects to create a response to the notion of Whiteness. We're going to discover how aesthetic journaling works by doing a practice creation. Choose three or four objects that appeal to you from the table(s). This is only a practice, so make your selections quickly.
Allow two minutes for selecting, and then continue with the instructions:
Using the objects you chose, make a statement about texture. In other words, arrange the items in multiple ways to show variations of texture (smooth, rough, grainy, rigid, patterns of texture, and so on). Include the index cards in whatever way you wish. Remember, this exercise is more about deeper thinking than art-making. It's about the process, not the product.
Allow ten minutes for participants to make their practice creations, and then ask three or four volunteers to share what they believe their choices say about texture. Invite them to return their objects to the table(s).
Distribute Workshop 9, Handout 2 and two additional index cards to each participant. Invite participants to reread the handout and choose ONE phrase that captures their imagination or resonates with their own growing understanding of Whiteness. Invite them to organize their thoughts by writing or drawing in their journals and then to proceed as they did with the texture exercise: use objects to create a representation of the chosen word or phrase that says something about Whiteness.
Allow 30 minutes for participants to do their aesthetic journaling. At intervals, alert participants of the time they have remaining to complete the work.
Including All Participants
Because found objects are three-dimensional, a person with a visual impairment should still be able to create a work of art. Be sure that aisles and pathways are free of clutter and enable all participants to move freely while selecting objects. If there is someone in the workshop who cannot move to the table(s), place eight to ten objects on a tray and bring it to them.
ACTIVITY 2: EXPLORING THE CREATION IN TRIADS (30 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite participants to turn to two others sitting near them. Explain the activity as follows:
The triad will focus on each creation in turn. The artist is invited to remain quiet while the other two people in the group talk about the creation, using the questions posted on newsprint. The artist may make notes about questions or observations, but they are not to respond at this point—nor are they obligated to respond to those questions and observations at all. After five minutes, the artist is invited to break their silence and share with the group, responding to the "artist speaks" questions posted on newsprint. The artist will have five minutes to respond, before the triad turns its attention to the next creation.
Monitor time carefully, alerting people at five-minute intervals to move to the next part of the process.
ACTIVITY 3: LARGE GROUP REFLECTION (10 MINUTES)
Description of Activity
Lead a discussion, inviting participants to reflect on any new insights they have gained about White identity or Whiteness.
CLOSING (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite participants to spend five minutes writing feedback in response to the questions you have posted on newsprint.
Distribute Taking It Home and invite participants to do the suggested activities before the next meeting. Read the instructions aloud and invite participants to ask questions.
Offer these words from Rebecca Parker as a closing and extinguish the chalice:
The struggle for racial justice in America calls those of us who are White to make this journey. Our presence is needed. We have been absent too long.
Gather participants' written feedback.
Including All Participants
Prepare a large-print version of Taking It Home.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Take a few moments right after the workshop to ask each other:
TAKING IT HOME
The struggle for racial justice in America calls those of us who are White to make this journey. Our presence is needed. We have been absent too long. — Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker, from Soul Work: Anti-racist Theologies in Dialogue, Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley and Nancy Palmer Jones, editors (Boston: Skinner House, 2003)
Continue to reflect on White identity as it affects your day-to-day life, whether you are a person who identifies as White or of European ancestry or someone who identifies as a Person of Color or a person from a racially or ethnically marginalized group. Record your insights and observations in your journal and/or compare notes with another workshop participant. Watch the series Race — The Power of an Illusion (California Newsreel, 2003) and/or explore What Is Race? (at www.pbs.org/race/001_WhatIsRace/001_00-home.htm) on the PBS website. You can purchase Race — The Power of an Illusion from California Newsreel website (at newsreel.org/main.asp) (which also has a study guide and resources) or borrow it from the UUA Video and DVD loan library (at www.uua.org/documents/congservices/araomc/videoloanlist.pdf) or your public library.
BUILDING THE WORLD WE DREAM ABOUT: WORKSHOP 10:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: LIVING WIDE OPEN
Excerpted from I Will Not Die an Unlived Life by Dawna Markova, Copyright (C) 2000 Dawna Markova with permission from, Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC, #1-800-423-7087.
I will not die an unlived life.
I will not live in fear
of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days,
to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid,
more accessible,
to loosen my heart
until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance,
to live so that which came to me as a seed
goes to the next as a blossom,
and that which came to me as a blossom,
goes on as fruit.
FIND OUT MORE
The UUA Multicultural Growth & Witness staff group offers resources, curricula, trainings, and tools to help Unitarian Universalist congregations and leaders engage in the work of antiracism, antioppression, and multiculturalism. Visit www.uua.org/multicultural (at www.uua.org/multicultural) or email multicultural @ uua.org (at mailto:multicultural@uua.org) to learn more.