Black and Indigenous folks, and people of color*, it's time to liberate ourselves around privilege and oppression, especially as they relate to racial equity**. Let's spend time in community, collaboration, and reflection around systemic change. It's time we work together in dismantling racism and white supremacy in ourselves and our communities.
BB Groundwork uses a framework called the 4 I's of Oppression to explore how layers of privilege and oppression contribute to systemic oppression as a whole. During the session, participants will dialogue, write, and reflect on the ways that oppression has played out according to their racial identities. This session takes place from 4:00-6:00 in MST on the dates listed.
The session will include:
- Define terms related to privilege and oppression
- Explain the 4 I's framework with real-life examples around oppression, advocacy and anti-racism from two BIPOC co-facilitators
- Guide real-time practice and reflection around the 4 I's and how they relate to racial equity, colorism in BIPOC communities, and further liberation of BIPOC as a whole
- Facilitate group dialogue and refection around the 4 I's, racial equity, and how to deepen a practice to diversity, equity and inclusion in your personal and professional context
Registration for this session is $15. Ideally, we ask that you or your organization cover this fee. However, if you are unable to pay this cost, please reach out to our Shift Program Manager (jenny@buildingbridgesshift.org) for discount or scholarship options. August and September dates are now available here.
Our Groundwork sessions are a great starting place for folks new to Building Bridges and invested in deepening their journey of inclusion and equity. These occur as one-time sessions that repeat the same curriculum each session. BB Groundwork sessions also are required as a prerequisite for our Fall cohort-based trainings (Uprooted, Liberated and Rooted).
A few additional notes:
This online training session is NOT A WEBINAR FOR PASSIVE PARTICIPATION. Instead, it requires all participants to be ready to fully lean into a time of learning and dialogue. Because of the nature of the session, it will not be recorded for public use or re-watching after the session. Please only register if you are able to be fully present at the session. Each session will be 1.5 hours-long and happen via Zoom (Colorado - Mountain Time).
*WHY JUST BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color)? BB Groundwork Sessions occur in two, race-based affinity spaces (BIPOC and White) in order to ensure that racial equity is embedded in the learning environment. Other Building Bridges training and cohorts occur in multi-racial settings, once all participants receive groundwork training around racial equity.
**WHY FOCUS ON RACIAL EQUITY? Although Building Bridges aims to provide all trainings through a lens of intersectionality and anti-oppression, our organization centers on racial equity. For this reason, we have made it a priority to provide foundational trainings that are focused on privilege and oppression from a racial equity standpoint. We acknowledge that all people hold many complex identities and other types of privileges exist (i.e. class, gender, citizenship status, ability, etc.) but we have chosen to center our BB Groundwork Session in racial equity because of the weight that racial identity holds in the U.S. context.
