[WAsummit] US for All of Us

[Norma Smith]

This makes me think back on an  observation my son made when I first  
invited him to take part in Challenging White Supremacy workshops a  
number of years ago. Many of the white activists in the group had  
grown up in white suburbs pr white communities and were struggling to  
come to terms with themselves as white. Noah grew up in Oakland, CA,  
in schools where he was always either the only white kid or one of  
very few in his classes. He did not find the CWS discussions very  
helpful. His comment was that, if he ever forgot for a moment that he  
was white, one of his classmates would remind him very quickly.

I think this speaks to (changing/shifting) context, and to the  
questions about what's most useful and most real to the communities of  
color we're working in solidarity with.  We live at different  
locations on these several spectra. I also value this conversation  
that deepens understanding and clarity and is part of a continuing  
process. I don't think we will reach a final decision, because racism  
shifts and changes, and our strategies need to change even as our  
principles remain firm.

much respect to all who are in this discussion,

Norma


On Jan 17, 2010, at 5:27 PM, Bonnie Cushing wrote:

> Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this conversation.
>
> My language keeps changing as I learn more and as I experience the  
> effectiveness or ineffectiveness of my communications with others  
> around issues of race and racism.
> Recently, I am finding the terms “designated white” or “racialized  
> white” as useful in keeping people in the conversation who might  
> otherwise turn away.
> I would love to hear what other people have found effective as well.
>
> I have personally found The People’s Institute’s clarity around the  
> inescapable location of EVERYONE in this racially-structured society  
> incredibly helpful in keeping me clear on my own racial identity –  
> which, at this moment in time, is undeniably WHITE.
>
> I, too, long, hope and work for a time when this identity no longer  
> holds any meaning in terms of power or privilege.  For now, I am  
> grateful for usforusall, The People’s Institute for Survival and  
> Beyond, The Center for the Study of White American Culture and so  
> many other efforts to make whiteness visible, de-centered and  
> accountable.
>
> Respectfully Yours,
> Bonnie
>
> From: wasummit-bounces at lists.wacan.org [mailto:wasummit-bounces at lists.wacan.org 
> ] On Behalf Of Sharon Martinas
> Sent: Friday, January 15, 2010 3:59 PM
> To: jeffhitchcock at euroamerican.org; White Anti-racist Summit
> Subject: Re: [WAsummit] US for All of Us
>
> Hey Jeff,
>
>    Thank you very much for your email. And for sharing your  
> experience of this process. That inspired me to share mine:
>
>      As one anti-racist white activist who has had the powerful  
> experience of being part of the conversations around the strategy  
> and messaging of the Statement of Commitment since mid September, I  
> can 'testify' that the process of developing the Statement was one  
> of the most impressive learning experiences I have gone through for  
> many years.
>
>     There were numerous long conversations by email and conference  
> calls,  drafts and re-drafts of the Statement of Commitment,  
> different approaches from white anti-racist activists doing  
> different kinds of work, in different constituencies, and in  
> different parts of the country. The facilitators of each call and  
> email, in my personal experience, were exemplary in treating each  
> differing opinion with great respect, openness, with the goal of  
> developing a genuine consensus.  Throughout the process, many  
> activists consulted with their comrades of color about the strategy  
> and the messaging with the goal of keeping accountability to  
> organizers of color both in our theory and in our practice.
>
>     Speaking very personally, as an old fashioned 'ideologue' in  
> this work of challenging white supremacy, I often listened to these  
> various opinions and said to myself, "Oh, I can't agree with that. I  
> don't think I would want to work with that person."    And then,  
> another inner voice said, "Sharon, just keep listening.  Maybe  
> you'll learn something."  So I kept listening.
>
>     And what I have learned is how difficult and delicate it is to  
> begin the process of organizing a national anti-racist network;  
> whose core is mostly white anti-racist organizers, activists,  
> educators and trainers; and who struggle to be accountable to, and  
> take leadership from, different organizers and organizations of  
> color.  Since I have not experienced anything similar to this since  
> the heydays of Students for a Democratic Society, and the Friends of  
> SNCC, back in the early to mid 1960s,'  I would have said, before  
> the fall of 2009, this effort is absolutely impossible.
>
>     Now, I find myself re-reading and re-applying the amazing wisdom  
> of Anne Braden, when she said, "To build multi-racial organizations  
> in a racist society is virtually impossible.  Impossible means it  
> just takes a little longer."
>      (from 'Inside-Out and Upside-Down: An Interview with Anne  
> Braden' by June Rostan. Color Lines, Spring 2001. http://www.arc.org/C_Lines/CLArchive/story4_1_02.html)
>
>  Please please do not mistake my use of her quote.  I am NOT saying  
> that Building a US for all of us is an effort to build a multi- 
> racial organization!  What I am taking from her wisdom is that,  
> "Impossible means it just takes a little longer."  And reflecting on  
> that wisdom gives me great hope in these troubled times.
>
>  much love, respect and solidarity to you all, sharon martinas
>
> On Jan 15, 2010, at 3:55 AM, Jeff Hitchcock wrote:
>
>
>
> I’m on the strategy committee for US for All of Us and also helping  
> with tech support for the project. There is at least one other  
> person from the strategy committee on this list as well. It’s  
> helpful to me to hear this conversation, and if people have any  
> thoughts or concerns about the US for All of Us project, I’d like to  
> hear them. I can’t promise to establish a dialogue with the  
> planners. Working on US for All of Us, it feels like there are not  
> enough people to do the work. That’s just to say it’s like most  
> social justice efforts. We’re focused on several immediate  
> simultaneous demands on our time just to get the project going.  
> Also, I was not part of the original dialogue and planning among the  
> people who drafted the statement, so I can’t speak from experience  
> about what the statement writers discussed.
>
> I do know that discussion was long, and probably wide ranging, so I  
> would not be surprised if the matter of it being a white-identified  
> effort was discussed. Now that the statement has been drafted, there  
> is no thought of going back and revising it. Maybe in time something  
> like that will happen. But we have our hands full trying to build on  
> the work that created the statement itself.
>
> I’m not sure if the issue Lou raised can be resolved. There seems to  
> be two approaches to white anti-racism, one being to eschew white  
> identity and the other being to work from within it. Somehow I feel  
> they are both directed to the same end, but in the here and now,  
> they seem incompatible. This is not the only contradiction that has  
> arisen among people working for racial justice. The black community,  
> for instance, has long had a debate over integration vs black  
> nationalism (Martin vs Malcolm), and yet historically it has been  
> able to hold both views.
>
> It’s clear to me the US for All of Us effort is white-identified.  
> Aside from that I think there is a willingness to embrace all views  
> that are directed toward achieving racial justice. People will have  
> to decide for themselves if they are willing to place themselves in  
> the frame of the statement or not. There is a feeling that we are  
> still working out the details, so some things may change or be  
> clarified as we move ahead. But the US for All of Us statement  
> itself will probably stay as is for now. Our concern now is how to  
> shape and grow a network. What will that look like? How can it be a  
> vehicle for encouraging anti-racist action?
>
> --Jeff
> _______________________________________________
> WAsummit mailing list
> WAsummit at lists.wacan.org
> http://lists.wacan.org/listinfo/wasummit
>
>
> =_______________________________________________
> WAsummit mailing list
> WAsummit at lists.wacan.org
> http://lists.wacan.org/listinfo/wasummit

Norma Smith
The Edge of Each Other's Battles Project
5245 College Ave #424
Oakland, CA   94618
(510) 465-2094

The Edge of Each Other's Battles Project brings together social  
justice academics and community-based projects to work toward social  
change. The Edge Project produces community events, organizes sessions  
at academic conferences, and facilitates interdisciplinary, site- 
specific, collaboratively designed seminars, conferences,  and working  
groups on themes related to community history, culture, and politics.  
It provides opportunities for scholars to learn from and with other  
community members. The Edge Project is inspired by poet-educator- 
activist Audre Lorde's vision of cross-community alliance building and  
organizing for social justice. The Edge of Each Other's Battles  
Project operates under the fiscal sponsorship of the Agape Foundation  
- Fund for Nonviolent Social Change.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.wacan.org/pipermail/wasummit/attachments/20100117/f5b17d42/attachment-0001.html>