Workshop 10: Exploring White Identity

Beautiful orange sunset over a deep blue ocean. — Tapestry is Sunsetting

The UUA is no longer updating Tapestry of Faith programs.

Part of Building the World We Dream About

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Introduction
From Building the World We Dream About

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:…
Workshop-at-a-Glance
From Building the World We Dream About

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
From Building the World We Dream About

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: What is the story you are telling? What questions or wonderings do you now have about the work you’ve created? What did you want to…
Welcoming and Entering
From Building the World We Dream About

Materials for Activity Sign-in sheet and pen or pencil Name tags for participants (durable or single-use) and bold markers Optional: Music and player Optional: Snacks and beverages Preparation for Activity Arrange chairs in a circle and set out name tags and markers on a table….
Opening
From Building the World We Dream About

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Worship table or designated space Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED/battery-operated candle Leader Resource 1, Living Wide Open Participant evaluations from previous workshop List of this workshop’s Goals Covenant established in Workshop 1…
Activity 1: Aesthetic Journaling on Whiteness
From Building the World We Dream About

Activity time: 60 minutes Materials for Activity Participant journals Variety of writing materials Index cards A variety of found objects such as fabric, mechanical parts, string, rope, buttons, cotton balls, foam letters and shapes, magazines, plastic bags, construction paper, discarded CDs or…
Activity 2: Exploring the Creation in Triads
From Building the World We Dream About

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Timepiece (minutes) Preparation for Activity Write the heading “Others Respond to the Creation” on newsprint and list these questions: What do you see?…
Activity 3: Large Group Reflection
From Building the World We Dream About

Activity time: 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
From Building the World We Dream About

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Lined paper and pens/pencils Taking It Home Preparation for Activity Write on newsprint, and post: What ideas were most interesting or challenging to you? What powerful ideas, concerns, or puzzlements are you holding as a result of this session?…
Leader Reflection and Planning
From Building the World We Dream About

Take a few moments right after the workshop to ask each other: What went well? What didn’t? Why? What do you think was the best moment of the workshop? Why? Did anything surprise you? Do we need to make changes in the way we work together?
Taking It Home: Exploring White Identity
From Building the World We Dream About

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:…
Leader Resource 1: Living Wide Open

Dawna Markova

From Building the World We Dream About

Excerpted from I Will Not Die an Unlived Life, 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…
Find Out More
From Building the World We Dream About

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…

Download all of Building the World We Dream About (Word) (PDF) to edit or print.

The UUA is no longer updating Tapestry of Faith programs.

Workshop 10: Exploring White Identity

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