Eyes On Whiteness

Bari Schwartz is a 37 years old Cisgender white Jewish woman who has been rumbling with and doing courageous work around understanding & dismantling systems and impacts of racism for decades.  After graduating from Johns Hopkins with a master's degree in school counseling and spending 12 years working in and with Baltimore City Schools as well as local nonprofits serving the youth in Baltimore City. In a bold move Bari chose to leave education for 2 years and accepted a position working with BMe Community an NPO founded by Trabian Shorters one of the nation's thought leaders around asset framing. BMe Community is an organization reframing the narrative around black men.  In 2017 Bari moved back to her home state of IL and is now working for a school district serving as a behavior and Equity specialist.   

Dohee Lee (She/Her) is an artist, Ritualist and Educator. She was born on Jeju Island in South Korea, now, living in Huichin unceded Ohlone territory Oakland, CA as a 1st generation immigrant. Her creative vision comes from traditional Korean music, singing, drumming and dance which is rooted in Korean indigenous ritual. Since her arrival in the US she has been a vital contributor to both the traditional and contemporary arts landscape of the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.  She utilizes art to heal fractured relationships in the urban environment – relationships between humans and the land, histories and stories between individuals and their communities. She is the founder of Puri Arts, a producing organization of performance and ritual and also working at Tamalpa Institute as faculty member and director of art and healing at Asian Refuge United organization in Oakland, CA.

ANDDDDDD, WE'RE BACK!  
We're so grateful to kick off part 2 of season 2 with the brilliant and hilarious Sonya Renee Taylor!  We have an incredible conversation tracking where in the world is Sonya, how opening up to just listening and being has created space for her ancestors to offer quite an addition to her journey and a deep dig into her take on Intersectional Integrity.  We'll leave you with this gem as a teaser: 

"This is not just about how, how I relate to myself and how I relate to people who have targeted identities, right? It's not just that, it's how do I relate to life...to the being-ness of all beings? " 

We're coming soon with Part 2 of Season 2!

In the meantime, a quick share over here: Diedra and Maureen are going to start a weekly (most of the time) series called Transmuting Tuesdays which will be on our Youtube and Instagram pages.  You can expect this series to be a little more impromptu and shorter than the podcast has been. 
This first one is in response to the Overturning of Roe. Y

If you're not following us yet on those channels...come on by! 
Instagram: @transmutingwsp

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTgjHS09T4arRY5KoXSD_Ng

Thank you for all of your support! And if you're inclined, please feel free to visit us at Patreon/eyesonwhiteness.

We want to take a moment to send love, acknowledgment, and presence to you as you process and potentially transmute your experience, understanding, and impact of the racial and political violence of the murders in Buffalo, NY, and Orange County, CA. 

After the mass murders sitting so heavy on our hearts and in our spirits, Diedra asks Maureen to have a conversation to help make sense of how whiteness and white people often show up after a tragedy where Black people are killed. In order for us to practice Transmuting white supremacy and patriarchy, we center connection and conversation, and curiosity. 

"Vulnerability is the core of any self-inward journey....it's been decades of chipping away to get to that vulnerability and to be able to live there. " - Derek Canty

Derek Canty is a father of 7, a dedicated partner, a fairy godfather mentor to many and the CEO and founder of Winning Edge, a leadership development company based in Las Vegas.
 
Today, Derek serves as a coach, and trainer for select non-profit organizations and corporations, assisting them in team building, leadership development, and defining/strengthening their organizational culture. He is also a Covid survivor and former coach to his 3 daughters ‘Snickers’ volleyball team.

Derek is also the co-founder of College Summit now known as PeerForward, a national social non-profit organization that is based in Washington, DC.  PeerForward’s mission is to increase the college enrollment rates of low-income communities across America.  Derek designed “Rap Training,” a leadership development training program for alumni that trains them to motivate and coach peer leaders at summer workshops and at their respective schools.  Over 250 College Summit staff and alumni have gone through the training program.  He has also developed in-school youth development tools for PeerForward that are used in classrooms around the country. Derek spearheaded the initial Diversity & Inclusion initiative and department, where he served as Chief Diversity Officer for 2 years.

What is Intersectional Integrity?
Intersectional Integrity: Intentional engagement and relationship development with self (the "i"), others (the "they", "them", "we"), and earth ("us"- the animals, plants, waterways, landmasses) that is dynamic/fluid and mindful of varying identities (targeted and non-targeted).


If you’d like to support us, we’d greatly appreciate it! We love it when you share the podcast with your friends and leave us a rating and review, anywhere you listen to the podcast.
You can also find us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/eyesonwhiteness

"Love and healing, real healing, happens at the rupture." - Dr. Adam Falkner, who shall get a t-shirt with this brilliance on it!

Join us to listen to this powerful conversation about Adam's takes on Intersectional Integrity!

Dr. Adam Falkner is a writer, educator, and race & equity strategist.  He identifies as a White Queer Cis Man. He is the author of The Willies (Winner of the 2020 Midwestern Independent Book Award), and his work has been featured on programming for HBO, in The Guardian, The New York Times, and elsewhere.  A former high school English teacher in New York City’s public schools, Adam’s pedagogy and research focus on understanding how performance, storytelling and technology work to foster empathy in individuals and organizations.  Adam is a Senior Consultant with Jennifer Brown Consulting, and holds over a decade of cross-industry experience building racial equity strategies and creative cultural programming for corporate, academic and nonprofit partners. He has held residencies and teaching appointments at Pinterest, Vassar College, The National Park Service, The Pahara Institute, The Public Theater, and elsewhere.  He was a keynote performer at President Obama’s Grassroots Ball at the 2009 Presidential Inauguration, and holds a PhD in English & Education from Columbia University.

A reminder, we asked our guests to answer "What is Intersectional Integrity to you? Adam's conversation is glorious. Don't miss it!

If you’d like to support us, we’d greatly appreciate it! We love it when you share the podcast with your friends and leave us a rating and review, anywhere you listen to the podcast.
You can also find us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/eyesonwhiteness


#EyesOnWhitenessPodcast
#EyesOnWhiteness
#Transmutingwhitesupremacyandpatriarchy
#Twsp

[Image description- a black and white illustrated logo for Eyes On whiteness featuring many different eyes and the words Eyes On whiteness on the bottom right corner as a frame around the words "Love and healing, real healing, happens at the rupture. - Dr. Adam Falkner" and on the top left a black box that says "Season 2: Intersectional Integrity?"]
If you’d like to support us, we’d greatly appreciate it! We love it when you share the podcast with your friends and leave us a rating and review, anywhere you listen to the podcast.
You can also find us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/eyesonwhiteness

"We are in the apocalypse, give thanks!"- amara tabor-smith in reflecting on the truth being revealed in these times.

Join us as amara shares her brilliant perspectives on what Intersectional Integrity is to her.

amara tabor-smith (she/her/they/we) is a black, queer woman born and raised on unceded Ramaytush (Rah-MAH-Tush)  Ohlone land currently known as San Francisco, and now lives on unceded Huichin (Hoo-Chin) Lisjan (Lih-Shan) Ohlone land currently known as Oakland, CA. She is a choreographer, performance maker, and cultural worker who describes her work as Conjure Art. Her interdisciplinary, site-responsive, performance making practice utilizes Yoruba Ifá and Lukumí spiritual technologies to address issues of social and environmental justice, racism, gender identity, and belonging. Her work is rooted in black, queer feminist principles that insist on liberation, joy, and well-being in the afro NOW.  amara seeks to create performance experiences where audience and performers converge to experience mutual vulnerability and transformation. She is the artistic director of Deep Waters Dance Theater. Her current multi-year project House/Full of Blackwomen created in collaboration with Ellen Sebastian Chang and a collective of black women artists and activists, addresses the displacement, well-being, and sex trafficking of black women and girls in Oakland. She is a 2021 Rainin Fellow, a 2019 Dance/USA Fellow, 2018 United States Artist Fellow, 2018 recipient of KQED’s “Bay Brilliant” award, and a 2017 Urban Bush Women Choreographic Center Fellow. amara is currently an artist in residence at Stanford University.

What is Intersectional Integrity?
Intersectional Integrity: Intentional engagement and relationship development with self (the "i"), others (the "they", "them", "we"), and earth ("us"- the animals, plants, waterways, landmasses) that is dynamic/fluid and mindful of varying identities (targeted and non-targeted).


If you’d like to support us, we’d greatly appreciate it! We love it when you share the podcast with your friends and leave us a rating and review, anywhere you listen to the podcast.
You can also find us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/eyesonwhiteness

In our kick-off for season 2, Diedra and Maureen start with our excitement for the incredible season ahead.  We share the theme of this season "What does Intersectional Integrity mean to you?"
This episode is the two of us in conversation about what Intersectional Integrity means to us, as we practice the work of Transmuting white supremacy and patriarchy. Listeners get a peek into our current (that day's) thinking of what comes up for us as we think about this concept.

What is Intersectional Integrity?
Intersectional Integrity: Intentional engagement and relationship development with self (the "i"), others (the "they", "them", "we"), and earth ("us"- the animals, plants, waterways, landmasses) that is dynamic/fluid and mindful of varying identities (targeted and non-targeted).


If you’d like to support us, we’d greatly appreciate it! We love it when you share the podcast with your friends and leave us a rating and review, anywhere you listen to the podcast.
You can also find us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/eyesonwhiteness

We love you, thank you, and are excited to welcome you to Season 2!

In a follow-up to our election episode where we talked about the need to stay vigilant, we invited Christine and Shelly who have been researching the ways White Nationalist and White Supremacist groups have been building in the last few years.

Christine and Shelly share their research and analysis of the ways we must be aware of and counter the rise of White Nationalism going into 2021. The deep overlap of groups with varying identities finding common ground across anti-government, pro-police, free-speech, anti-immigrant, and “rigged election” ideologies is terrifying and all rooted in Anti-Blackness.  This rise of power of these groups is linked through the deep use of technology, propaganda, and organizing in partnership with GOP, Qanon, conservative media, and militias (not entirely excluding law enforcement) across the country. 

Shelly and Christine call white people to action, not just politically but in a deeply personal way….they share how these groups are taking advantage of recruiting people who may have a stated belief they are “not racist”, but are feeling uninvited into communities organizing against racism…and how when we shut people out for not being “woke enough” or struggling in their newly developing consciousness, we’re actually helping create people ripe for recruitment by these White Nationalist groups. If you are a parent or educator- our guests break down how susceptible our young people are, particularly online.  

This episode is for EVERY white person who has any belief in anti-racism- we have work to do, and it means deepening our engagement with other white folks, practicing mindful listening, loving accountability, and collectivism over individualism.  Christine and Shelly offer GREAT tips for how to show up to these necessary conversations when our judgment, righteousness, and demand for someone to be in a different place than they are.

You can find more about Christine’s work at christinesaxman.com 

You can learn more about Shelly’s work by visiting her website at ShellyTochluk.com

Resources mentioned in the show:

Everything You Love Will Burn: Inside the Rebirth of White Nationalism in America, Book by Vegas Tenold

Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class, Book by Ian Haney López

Dr. David Campt, Dialogue Company- White Ally Toolkit