Sunday, June 14, 2020

Reclaiming Whiteness, Evolving Whiteness

I got some of these ideas from Resmaa Menaken in his book My Grandmother’s Hands pg. 271. Thank you again and again for your teachings in your soulful book, Resmaa Menaken.


Whiteness:
(how it is seen and, as defined by White Supremacists)
  • group energy is used to feed individual weakness
  • childish, spoiled
  • selfish, acts entitled
  • defensive
  • violent
  • protected
  • closed-minded
  • materialistic
  • fueled by trauma (passed down through many generations)
  • militaristic
  • capitalistic
  • nationalistic and people (like-themselves) centric
  • “white race is superior” belief
  • acts (and/or stay silent) to keep systems in place so white people (continue to) have advantage
  • has a void because to be white strips identity of ethnicity and ancestral culture

Who can be proud of that ^!? Who would want to claim that whiteness? Who would want to identify with being "white" if that is what it is? No one I know!


I am working towards 
Reclaiming Whiteness…Evolving Whiteness:
(I disown whiteness as defined by White Supremacists, see ^)
  • strong, resilient individuals
  • grown up
  • builds community, cares for others, humble
  • willing to own the impact we had
  • non-violent
  • accountable, able to be trusted, respected
  • open minded, ready to listen and learn
  • humanistic
  • moves through trauma (passed down through many generations), noticing and accepting what is felt in our bodies
  • uses hearts and minds to be powerful
  • mutual aid centric, participating to share resources and gain from each other
  • cares about the environment and people, inside and outside our country
  • knows that Black and Brown lives matter, and are EQUAL in the human race with white people
  • acts to disrupt and change systems so nobody has advantage
  • helps with reparations for stolen land, culture, and resources taken from Indigenous Peoples and Enslaved Africans; take responsibility
  • claiming my ethnicity and learning about my ancestral culture

I am a white person reclaiming whiteness…evolving whiteness into something I can be proud of.



“Without inner change, there can be no outer change. Without collective change, no change matters.”  
     by Rev. angel Kyodo williams


Are you ready to join me?



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