2024 Meeting Summaries
January Meeting
We attended the National Celebration of Racial Healing Day at the Y.
February 18, 2024
Note: Anyone unable to attend the February meeting and desirous of taking this journey regarding Me and White Supremacy, please contact Pam for more information. We will continue to meet in person or on zoom if requested.
In December we decided to read Me and White Supremacy by Leyla Saad. This will be an exploration by each of us and ‘us’ together. It is not a book club. Ms. Saad’s 5–6-page sections are viewed as a springboard for this work, to take this journey, to more deeply process toward truth.
We decided to create pairs to explore and debrief about what we are experiencing through the readings. The pairs will meet at their own schedule and in person or by zoom; anyone can establish a free zoom account. We encourage each pair to bring a question or quote to the monthly meeting that particularly touched them. We will review the pairs at the March meeting.
At the February 18, 2024, meeting
We reviewed the Circle Process, which we are all aware of from our time in CTTT.
We identified who would be Host, Guardian, and Scribe for the March meeting: these three functions will rotate, and Leslie, Sharon and Pat have stepped up for the next meeting to fill them.
In the Circle Process, everyone at the table is Guardian.
We discussed White Privilege, White Fragility, Tone Policing, White Silence, White Superiority and White Exceptionalism.
March 17, 2024, meeting 1:00-3:00pm
In the time between now and the March meeting, we will read the next forty-eight pages of Me and White Supremacy and meet with our pair partner(s). In this section we look at color blindness, anti-Blackness, and racist stereotypes.
This is the schedule for the rest of the book:
March 17, 2024
WEEK 2, pg. 75-123
Color Blindness
Anti-Blackness and Men
Anti-Blackness and Women
Anti-Blackness and Children
Racist Stereotypes
Cultural Appropriation
April 21, 2024
WEEK 3, pg. 125-170
Allyship
White Saviorism
White Apathy
White Centering
White Tokenism
Called Out
May 19, 2024
WEEK 4, pg. 171-203
White Feminism
White Leaders
Friends
Family
Your Values
Losing Privilege
Commitments for Future
RESOURCES
Film
Stamped from the Beginning, Netflix
Trailer: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13871094/
Leave the World Behind, Netflix
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMVBi_e8o-Y
American Symphony, Netflix
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKSMsdq8ONs
Also, don’t forget about Rustin on Netflix that was mentioned in last month’s notes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuZ-UONInl4
Books
The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama
March 17, 2024
Facilitators: Leslie and Pat
Scribe: Shelly
Guardian: Marge
1. Leslie opened the meeting with having us take three deep breaths and then reading a poem, “I Am Running into a New Year” by Lucille Clifton. https://wordsfortheyear.com/2015/01/04/i-am-running-into-a-new-year-by-lucille-clifton
2. Pat reminded us of circle guidelines such as the ability to share or pass, to avoid crosstalk, and to be aware of our time when we share.
3. We then discussed our first question, “What was the most challenging aspect of the readings for Week Two for you?”
4. We took a break and then after did a quick go around for any AHA moments people might have had since our last meeting in February.
5. We didn’t get to a formal second question but instead discussed what was arising for us based on what people had shared from the first question and the AHA go around.
6. Towards the end we discussed how small group or partner meetings are going; everyone agreed that groups or partners are going well and we can go ahead and stay with the current configuration. Emily joined the group with Marge and Carole.
7. Pat and Leslie agreed to facilitate once again in April; Sharon may also assist. Carole volunteered to be the guardian and Shelly volunteered to be the scribe.
8. Other materials mentioned or suggested: movies American Fiction and Origin, the documentary Race to Dinner and the corresponding book White Women; and the book Learning to be White: Money, Race and God in America.
The next meeting will be April 21, same time, same place.
CTTT Tucson, April 21, 2024
Those present: Carole, Leslie, Lisa, Pam, Pat, Sharon, Shelly
Place and time: In person at Pam’s house, 1-3 pm
Facilitators: Leslie and Pat
Scribe: Shelly
Guardian: Marge
1. Leslie opened the meeting by having us review the touchstones. She then shared two quotes from Me and White Supremacy for our reflection: “Our humanity is worth a little discomfort – it’s actually worth a lot of discomfort” (epigraph Day 15) and “Mistakes are a fact of life – it is the response to error that counts” (epigraph Day 20).
2. We then went around the circle and briefly shared our responses to the question, “Where are you at today with your learning (about white supremacy) at this point?”
3. We then discussed our first question, “What was the most challenging aspect of the Week Three material for you?”
4. We took a break around 2 and then after did a quick go around for any AHA moments people might have had since our last meeting in March.
5. We didn’t get to a formal second question but instead discussed what was arising for us based on what people had shared from the first question and the AHA go around.
6. Carole, Pam, and Shelly agreed to facilitate in April.
7. Other resources mentioned: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari (Carole).
The next meeting will be May 18, same time, same place.