Conversations About Whiteness

Monday, November 17:00—9:00 PMONLINEBeebe Library345 Main Street, Wakefield, MA, 01880

**TO REGISTER for this program, please contact the facilitators by sending an email to ConvosAboutWhiteness@gmail.com.**

This is a virtual program, running on five consecutive Monday evenings, beginning October 18. Our facilitators will provide the link as well as course materials.

 Fish don't see water. Birds don't see air. And white people may not fully see how their whiteness affects their life experiences.

With video clips, articles, and small- and large-group activities, Conversations About Whiteness brings together white-identified people in a safe setting to see how this came to be the case. Guided by two facilitators, we explore aspects of our culture that prevent us from seeing ourselves and people of color without deeply ingrained distortions.

During five weekly two-hour sessions, we will each see our whiteness in ways we never have before. We will reflect on unconscious biases, white privilege, race, and racism. We'll explore some ways racial divides are embedded in institutions; think about tools to interrupt these divides; brainstorm about collaborating with each other and with people of color; and individually plan for what to do with this new knowledge. This course is based on similar grass-roots courses offered around the country.

Please register by sending an email to ConvosAboutWhiteness@gmail.com, at which time you will be sent a welcome email and course materials. This is a virtual series, which will be presented on Zoom. Participants will be sent a link on the afternoon of the first session. Because each session builds on the content and connections from previous sessions, it is strongly encouraged that you attend all five. If you cannot attend all sessions, please contact the organizers at ConvosAboutWhiteness@gmail.com to find out when the program will be run in the future.

Our Facilitators:

Sue Herz, a generalist, wears multiple hats: bioethicist, lawyer, writer, and -- at heart -- educator. As educator, she has served as faculty at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and Suffolk University; and has served as facilitator in community forums focusing on areas such as race, disability, the Holocaust, and Laughter Yoga. Of particular significance: she brings to the course Conversations About Whiteness considerable thought, commitment, and experience as a white person.

Mary MacNamee is an educator, psychologist, mother and grandmother who knows that her journey of learning will never end. She brings to this course her lived experience, her love of listening, and an unwavering commitment to unpacking whiteness.
















Register by emailing facilitators at email address above