UWSA March 2022 Unlearning Circle

Shifting the systems that address harm requires us to understand that our current legal system is rooted in the multi-generational and ancestral socialization of racism. As white people, we have been socialized to believe that violent legal, criminal, and carceral systems–systems rooted in punishment and blame–are necessary to maintain our safety.

In a racist world, those of us who are racialized as white unconsciously associate our discomfort with the false idea that something is both profoundly wrong and dangerous. Out of our racist understanding of comfort, Black men and boys are tortured and killed as a consequence of white women’s discomfort.

In ULCs, we use Resmaa Menakem’s My Grandmother’s Hands as a guide in recognizing that racism is deeply embedded in our bodies. This month we continue that work in a new way, using a practice called the Theater of the Oppressed, a practice inspired by Brazilian educator Paulo Friere’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, first in Brazil and later in Europe, which rested upon a detailed Marxist class analysis of the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized. We hope that this practice might help us imagine new ways to respond to the feelings that come up in our body when we encounter situations that make us deeply uncomfortable.

Join us for our March Unlearning Circle as we continue to learn what it means to apply transformative justice principles in our own lives.

The following resources can be helpful in preparing for the discussion. Please join us even if you haven’t had a chance to review these resources.

• Krista Tippett On Being interview with Resmaa Menakem – https://onbeing.org/programs/resmaa-menakem-notice-the-rage-notice-the-silence/

• What is Transformative Justice? (11 minute video with adrienne marie brown and others)

UWSA’s first Unlearning Circle in the winter of 2017 was created as a place for white people to do the work of reflection and community self-education. As we continue to gather to critically examine our own participation in cultures of dominance, we build our capacity to show up as individuals and as a city-wide community network for Black, Indigenous and people of color-led anti-racist efforts in a positive and accountable way. The Unlearning Circles are an opportunity for white identifying people to explore white supremacy culture and our role and responsibilities in undoing racism. We welcome and recognize the gift of the presence of any People of Color who choose to join us.