The Soul Work of Antiracism Literacy

Beloved Community Communications Team

​The Antiracism Literacy Partners (ALP) program is one year old this fall, and it seemed a good time to check in with some of the participants to ask how the program has broadened or changed their perspective on racism and dominant white culture, and for thoughts on the opportunity to move from "within," from personal reading and reflection, to "among," engaging with others in this work. Here is some of what ALP participants said: 

Participation in Unity’s ALP program has transformed my understanding of racism’s deep and insidious effects on our culture and my awareness of the responsibilities I bear. By inviting me, in her book Caste, to imagine our damaged society as an old house and to imagine myself as its new owner, Isabel Wilkerson showed me my place in our racist history: Although I am not to blame for the damage I inherited, I do have an obligation to repair it. Confronted in my ALP reading and listening by the enormity of America’s original sin, I find it challenging to move past feelings of guilt, shame, and helplessness, but thanks to these experiences, I have new tools, new connections, and new hope that I can in a small way help bend the arc toward justice.  — Don Lee
                                                                                   
The materials I have consumed and discussed in ALP program groups have significantly increased my ability to see beyond the white culture "water I swim in.” My framework is transformed. Engaging with others, as opposed to reading on my own, is especially useful. Preparing to participate in a group discussion requires me to think about the material more deeply. I always learn from the other participants who bring their own experiences, perspectives, and insights to the discussion. I also greatly value the fact that I have come to know quite a few Unity members I did not previously know. — Andrea Bond
 
I am more aware that my perspective on everything, including matters of race, is based on specific aspects of myself. All that has gone into making me who and what I am, including age, ethnicity, gender, skin color, education, socioeconomic status, and more, shape my perception of reality. I found great value in the antiracism books and articles that I read. My learning was amplified by each opportunity to engage with others in conversation about what we read. I can better reflect upon what I have learned when I add the perspective of people who differ from me in age, ethnicity, gender, and so on. — ​Mike Funck

Please register here and then join us for the next ALP meeting on Wednesday, November 17, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. 
 
Note: You do not have to attend the Wednesday meeting to participate, but you should contact us within a few days before or after to join a group. For more information, contact Becky Gonzalez-Campoy: [email protected].
 
To learn more about SoulWork, click here.