On this site you’ll find notes about groups of white people who are checking in with each other once a month, building community and supporting each other in our racial justice work. In the first note, the original description of the idea includes this line, “What I envision is a simple check in without shame, without authority figures, and without any agenda beyond not dropping the ball in our work of dismantling white supremacy.”
My personal touchstone for these groups is recognizing how white supremacy culture impacts everything I do (see this list of white supremacy culture characteristics) and it is my hope that our check-in groups can be examples of shedding these ways of being.
Starting our White anti-racist monthly check-in groups (May 2020)
As a White person, I'm committed to doing what I can to destroy white supremacy. There are so, so, so many ways we White people can be antiracist. We need people on all of the different paths. I want to ...
two groups, update (July 2020)
Two groups met in June to discuss group norms and format. One of the two groups has met for our first check-in (on the 2nd Friday), and the second group meets tomorrow (the 4th Friday). Every one of us seems ...
sharing leadership, fundraising for consultant help (August 2020)
We are taking turns as facilitator/clerk of the gatherings (a great relief to me as I am a reluctant "leader"). We are not strictly adhering to the format document (not copy-pasting links or agendas into the chat). It's a more ...
more than a task list (November 2020)
Both groups have met every month since May. Including me in both, one group has four people, one has six. Both sizes work fine. Any larger would likely make it difficult to do this work as time is already a ...
finding a consultant who is Black or Indigenous (June 2021)
I've begun the process of raising money so I can hire consultants of color to evaluate these groups in terms of our format. I want to be sure we are working towards collective liberation, not continuing on in whiteness' denial ...
“at the speed of trust” (December 2021)
It feels almost like there's too much going on, too much has happened, to be able to summarize. I'll touch on some of the happenings... I was able to raise the money –through a "Leadings" grant from my Quaker Meeting ...
raising funds for more time with Farron (January 2022)
We've got some more time left with Farron, but it has become clear to me that I (and that we we white people) need more support and guidance as we get clear about our work. To be transparent with the ...
exploring our group patterns (still fundraising for the consultant!) (May 2022)
It's been a challenging and powerful time for the group. With the help of our consultant, we have been looking at our own behaviors, words, choices, and power. What does it mean to be "dismantling white supremacy?" What is "accountability?" ...
our work continues (September 2022)
We are no longer working with our wonderful consultant, Farron. We harmed them through racist actions and inactions. We were not ready for the depth of challenges they offered. We took the summer off, as several of us were going ...
white women and our racism (June 2023)
We are still meeting, monthly. However, the two men in our group left last spring. Due to health reasons I was not at either of the meetings when they explained their decisions. As I'm writing this, realizing I'm not 100% ...
not a book club, but reading a book together? (October 2023)
How to explain that we will be reading a book together, but we are not a "book club?" One of the biggest lessons for me, personally, has been how important building trust together is as we try to dig into ...
2022-01-26