Journal Prompt: Explore Your Whiteness

Anti-racism work is what we (white-identifying individuals like myself) are being tasked with as the Black Lives Matter movement has gained incredible momentum. This work starts not by asking POC to teach us, or to explain our work to us, but by turning inward and taking the time to look at ourselves.

Start by looking at your own experiences, your own beliefs and the structures that have benefited you throughout your life. Understanding your privilege is a vital, and difficult, first step.

As we begin and commit to this work, I hope we will all remember that having privilege does not mean you haven’t faced your own hardships, it just means your skin color hasn’t contributed to those hardships. Now, let’s explore our whiteness.

Journal prompts by Lisa Olivera

• What have you not had to worry about because you’re white?

• How has been wanting to be good, nice, and likable kept you from engaging in discussions of racism?

• How do you feel about the privilege that you have?

• What are your values, and does your current relationship with anti-racism reflect those values?

• What will you commit to engaging with, learning about, and taking action around?

This is a long-term project, friends. When it gets challenging remember that we (white-identifying folx) are in this un-learning and re-learning together. This process won’t be perfect or easy, because we have A LOT to recognize and learn about the system that has directed our society’s incredibly flawed perspective. Along the way, let’s allow our heart and minds to remain open to new truths.