Day 1: Welcome from Chris Crass
Hey there my beloved humans,
“. . . [They] knew something better was possible.” -Chris Crass
“. . . [We] know a multi-racial democratic society is possible.” -Chris Crass
Listening to Chris Crass speak in today’s video moved me to my core. And, I’m just so thrilled to welcome you to our 12 Days of Practice! Thank you for signing up.
There’s a world of connection out there (out here!) in the movement for racial justice. And that’s maybe the first thing we need to know: none of us is alone. And we need to know that because the growth, shifts, and changes white antiracism calls us into are beautiful, but they also can be difficult for lots of reasons!
So, we need other people.
But, or better put, and—it tends to be the case in white communities and white racial culture that thinking collectively or looking towards others to connect around antiracism or racial justice isn’t our first disposition. For a lot of reasons, whiteness has enculturated most of us white folks into a default-mode that is pretty individualistic.
Yet, for antiracist journey: we need other people.
We’re going to start this journey, then, with an inspiring call to action from Chris Crass. Chris is amazing—among many, many other things he helped co-found the national organization SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice).
In today’s video, Chris not only lays out a clear explanation of how white supremacy has been used to divide the many of us who long for “. . . a more dignified world for all people.” He also—and we don’t always hear this in antiracist organizing—calls those of us who are white to understand our lives and wellness are at stake too. Chris invites us to connects our hearts to our souls and our values—because this is a journey of love and liberation for all.
Your challenge today is to make a list of at least three specific ways you want to grow your lived commitment to antiracism (literally write it out! make it plain for yourself! keep it before you!). What do you hope to learn? What do you need to explore? What do you aim to realize more fully in your living and in your community when it comes to justice?
Friends, If you find your heart feeling heavy in these hard times, remember we are walking this path together. And, if you need a reminder, then let me say follow, listen to and learn from Chris Crass any place you can—because he’ll make sure you can’t forget. You are one heart in a sea of hearts, believing in the world we can create together.
Jen
P.S. Save the date: Join me and others who took part in this experience for a live conversation on Tuesday, July 9th at 5:00 PST/6:00 MST/7:00 CST/8:00 EST as a way to wrap up and reflect on our 12 Days of Action. We’ll follow up with the link shortly.
P.P.S. It’s not too late to sign up for 12 Days of Antiracist Action! Share this sign up link with your friends and we’ll help them get caught up: https://mailchi.mp/10b7b14d2037/murwtz2krf
Meet Chris Crass
Chris Crass is a longtime organizer, educator, and writer working to build powerful working class-based, feminist, multiracial movements for collective liberation. He is a one of the leading voices in the country calling for and supporting white people to work for racial justice. Chris gives talks and leads workshops on campuses and with communities and congregations around the U.S. and world, to help support justice efforts.
Chris is the author of two books. His latest, Towards the "Other America:" Anti-Racist Resources for White People Taking Action for Black Lives Matter, a call to action to end white silence and a manual on how to do it. His other book, Towards Collective Liberation: Anti-Racist Organizing, Feminist Praxis, and Movement Building Strategy, draws from his nearly 30 years as an organizer and educator and offers a firsthand look at the challenges and opportunities of anti-racist work in white communities, feminist work with men, and bringing women of color feminism into the heart of social justice. Chris' essays have been translated into half a dozen languages, taught in hundreds of classrooms, and included in over a dozen anthologies.
Chris co-founded the anti-racist movement building center, the Catalyst Project, which combines political education and organizing support to develop and support anti-racist politics, leadership, and organizing in white communities and builds dynamic multiracial alliances locally and nationally. Through Catalyst Project, where he was the co-director for more then a decade, he worked with tens of thousands of activists working on a wide range of issues in their communities and on their campuses.
He joined with white anti-racist leaders around the country to help launch the national anti-racist network Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), which works in white communities for racial justice. Rooted in his Unitarian Universalist faith he works with congregations, seminaries, and religious and spiritual leaders to build up the Religious Left.
Chris lives in Louisville, KY with his two kids.
