It’s Monumental: Values & Agreements
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion. We recognize that many people face systemic obstacles due to their perceived race, gender, age, sexuality, ability, religion, national origin, gender identity, and other intersecting identities. This platform strives to support all participants’ desires to share their lived experiences and voice their perceptions.
Dialogue. The goal of this project is to stimulate productive dialogues. Unlike debate, dialogue emphasizes listening to deepen understanding. Dialogue invites discovery. It develops common values and allows participants to express their own Interests. It expects that participants will grow in understanding and may decide to act together with common goals. In dialogue, participants can question and reevaluate their assumptions. Through this process, people are learning to work together to improve race relations.
Critical Multicultural Consciousness: The process of cultivating critical multicultural consciousness encourages us to embrace an expansive understanding of the social, political, cultural, and economic constructs derived from the legacies of European colonialism that inscribe systemic oppression against Black Indigenous People of Color and other marginalized groups. Only by expanding, embracing, and analyzing many cultural perspectives can we determine effective actions to counter racism and oppression.
Mindful Communication: Our intention to cultivate a more just and peaceful society requires all communication to be engaged with a sense of mindfulness that invites listening, curiosity, empathy, and awareness of the impact of our words and tone. We strive to be fully present, open and non-judgmental, and relate to others with compassion.
Curiosity: We encourage our participants to enter this experience with an authentic and open curiosity to understand new and unfamiliar experiences and perspectives.
Discomfort: Experiencing multiple perspectives and cultural differences often make us feel uncomfortable. Embracing discomfort is a necessary step towards expanding awareness and knowledge of our complex society.
Brave Space: We expect all participants to contribute to the creation of a collective brave space that empowers people to speak their truths mindfully without fear of judgment, harassment, or retribution.
Language: Artful communication employs language deliberately to convey experiences and perspectives with significant impact. Explicit language constitutes an authentic aspect of human experience and expression and may be included in submitted material; however we highly discourage it in any dialogue forums. All forms of “Hate Speech” are unacceptable and antithetical to the goals of this project.
Agreements for Dialogue
Goals:
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- Broader understanding
- Building Community
- Immediate actions
- Solutions
- Open-mindedness: Listen to and respect all points of view, even if you disagree.
- Curiosity: Seek to understand rather than persuade
- Respect: Treat others as you would like to be treated.
- Be mindful of how much time you are using and make space for others to speak
- Please do not interrupt someone who is speaking
- Speak for yourself and allow others to speak for themselves.
- Acceptance: Suspend judgment as best you can.
- Discovery: Question assumptions, look for new insights.
- Sincerity: Speak what has personal heart and meaning.
- Brevity: Go for honesty and depth but don’t go on and on. Notice if you are becoming repetitive.
Some Useful Definitions
Race is an arbitrary (specious, false) socio/biological construct created by Europeans during the time of worldwide colonial expansion and adapted in the political and social structures of the United States, to assign human worth and social status, using themselves as the model of humanity, for the purpose of legitimizing White power and White skin privilege.· – Joseph Barndt. Understanding and Dismantling Racism-
Racism is a powerful collection of racist policies that lead to racial inequity and are substantiated by racist ideas… Racism is a marriage of racist policies and racist ideas that produces and normalizes racial inequities. Antiracism is a powerful collection of antiracist policies that lead to racial equity and are substantiated by antiracist ideas. – Ibram X. Kendi. How to Be an Antiracist –
Racist: One who is supporting a racist policy through their actions or inaction or expressing a racist idea. ANTIRACIST: One who is supporting an antiracist policy through their actions or expressing an antiracist idea. – Ibram X. Kendi. How to Be an Antiracist –
Antiracist: One who is supporting an antiracist policy through their actions or expressing an antiracist idea… To be antiracist is to emancipate oneself from the dueling consciousness. To be antiracist is to conquer the assimilationist consciousness and the segregationist consciousness. The White body no longer presents itself as the American body; the Black body no longer strives to be the American body, knowing there is no such thing as the American body, only American bodies, racialized by power. – Ibram X. Kendi. How to Be an Antiracist –
Racial Oppression occurs in many forms and has many dimensions. It can be:
- Systemic and Individual
- Passive and Active
- Conscious and Unconscious
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