CN: Discussion of racial and sexual violence I want you to know that, even as I write this, I’m a survivor of childhood abuse. Being received and believed by others has been a big part of healing all aspects of this. I firsthand understand how healing it can be for survivorship to be believed. I…
How does your body respond to the following statement? Call-out culture enables bigotry. And healing it within our relationships is one of the first responsibilities we have as radical/progressive/liberal people. One of the problems with how we talk about call-out culture is that we tend to treat it as an internal dialogue within activist communities about…
In this piece, I would like to speak to a question that many of us in social justice community have asked since the beginning of Trump’s presidency: is this the foreboding of a terrible sickness overtaking our culture or the beginning of a deep healing process? My understanding is that the above two possibilities are…
Quantum physics has shown us that the everyday reality we live in is actually founded on a super-tiny befuddling unseen world that is completely topsy-turvy. Matter behaves both like waves and particles. Time is all over the place. Everything exists everywhere. The laws of physics that help us make sense of the tangible visible world…
In my work as a POC somatic therapist that works with white people, I model allyship as a relationship, rather than a set of obligations. This work necessarily brings me to a question that could be quite discomforting but also vital: “how do allies deserve to be treated?” This question is not just about how…
[Image: Aikido master Gozo Shioda throwing a student] One of my favorite quotes in the world is from Aikido master Gozo Shioda. When he was once asked “What is the most powerful move in Aikido?”, legend has it, Shioda answered, “To become friends with someone who has come to kill you.” This is something I…
NOTE 1: This article was written in tandem with another article on how you can befriend call-outs. I recommend reading both pieces together. NOTE 2: This article can possibly bring up strong emotions. I advise sitting down and do some grounding/meditating before you read it. As you read, I advise you take it in slow…
In part 2 of our recorded video chat, me and Tad discussed the issue of tone-policing and how we can move beyond binaries of right and wrong to navigate emotionally charged discussions around subjects such as race. You can check out part 1 here. About Tad Hargrave Tad runs marketingforhippies.com for work and write essays…
Since it’s pilot stages, the Authentic Allyship Coaching Group, a program I founded to support white allies in cultivating allyship based on the principles of healthy relating, has been intentionally held as a call-out (or even call-in) free space. I set this initial guideline for the group because I felt that it was extremely important…
