Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Diversity, Inclusion, Bias

[Kathleen Lowry (kathleenlowrylpcclmft]

Thank you all! I learn by asking questions. It’s the way my brain works. 

> On Feb 27, 2023, at 10:12 AM, Lisa Kuntz <lisa.kuntz [at] 
> daybreakcohousing.org> wrote:
> 
> Thanks, Jude.
> 
> *White supremacy culture has been the water all of us swim in, the air we
> breathe, and the ground upon which we have built this cohousing movement.
> We couldn't help that.  And we are here, at this point, now.  So dive in,
> if you wish.*
> 
> I wonder if there will be queries around your statement, *We couldn't help
> that.*
> 
> It  seems true to me that, *We are here, at this point, now. *
> 
> *Diving in, *to me means that we do our best to be fully present and listen
> with humility.  It may mean something else to others.
> 
> I live in Portland, OR, where there are many, many opportunities to
> experience first-hand the results of the  culture of white supremacy.  We
> are have a active and powerful group of *memory-activists
> <https://www.vanportmosaic.org/> *in our city that keep alive not only
> memories of oppression and betrayal, but the richness of Black/POC culture.
> It's another window into the struggles against systemic racism that is
> immersive in a different way than all of the excellent resources we have.
> The arts are another way to reach out and grab our heads and our hearts.
> 
> Lisa Kuntz
> Daybreak Cohousing
> 
>> On Mon, Feb 27, 2023 at 7:38 AM Jude Foster <foster.jude [at] gmail.com> 
>> wrote:
>> 
>> Hello all.
>> In my community, Trillium Hollow in Portland Oregon, we began an
>> Anti-Racism study group in August 2020, when Portland was in the midst of
>> that fiery, infamous summer. It started as a big circle, and shrank over
>> time, but we persevere. I cannot begin to write here about all that we’ve
>> learned in the past 2.5 years - reading, talking, watching docs, attending
>> talks and art productions by Portland's black community, marching with
>> them, and listening to them. As an older white person, my humility is on
>> the ground, where it belongs, learning, learning - black history since
>> 1619, Asian-American history and experience, indigenous genocide and
>> present brave rise, systemic racism….
>> 
>> I know that many of you have been engaged in the same tough journey.
>> 
>> Black people do not want to have to explain all this to us. It’s up to us
>> to work toward our own understanding and evolution. It’s up to us to take
>> our blinders off.
>> 
>> Many lists are available out there, where to start, what to read, who to
>> follow. A conversation here in this listserv can barely touch, much less
>> understand, the dirty hem of the garment we wear as white Americans.
>> 
>> So I just thought to throw out one potentially mind-shifting website for
>> you to consider, if you wish, one that doesn’t reach most of those lists.
>> Tena Okum, whose 1999 piece called “White Supremacy” was a ground-breaker,
>> recently created her website to rescind some of and expand on her original
>> piece. When I read the original article, a couple years ago, I was struck
>> with how pointedly it described many characteristics of my community. White
>> supremacy culture has been the water all of us swim in, the air we breathe,
>> and the ground upon which we have built this cohousing movement. We
>> couldn’t help that.  And we are here, at this point, now.  So dive in, if
>> you wish.
>> 
>> https://www.whitesupremacyculture.info/
>> 
>> May the dialogue continue, within our communities, and, hopefully, with
>> all its limitations, here in this listserv. Thanks to the brave voices so
>> far.
>> Jude
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _________________________________________________________________
>> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
>> http://L.cohousing.org/info
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> http://L.cohousing.org/info
> 
> 
>