Jews Talk Racial Justice - Ep 17: BOTH Ownership AND Community

QUICK EPISODE OVERVIEW

As 2020 comes to a close, April and Tracie talk about the importance of everyone taking ownership over their own journeys, even as we work in community. With some tips and insights to think about, we invite everyone to make a commitment to pursue greater racial justice in the new year.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

All of our episodes have closed captioning.
Click here to access the audio version and transcript on Buzzsprout.

  1. Tracie remembers that when she first started thinking about white supremacy and racial justice she thought, "I don't know what I can do, what can I do? I'm just whatever." Have you ever thought this? What would you say to your past self given where you are now? 

  2. Tracie names the emotional labor that it takes for oppressed people to talk about the oppression they navigate. Have you thought about this before? If you are in the position of explaining oppression to those not, what are ways you honor the work you do and how do you restore it? 

  3. Tracie and April role model a conversation about White folks approaching people of color to discuss their experiences with racism and oppression. How does this conversation land with you? What would your own version of asking or responding be? 

  4. April wants us to take ownership of  your racial justice vision for your life and for the world? What is it? How does it make you feel? 

  5. April shares the belief that “We didn't just need to get rid of Jim Crow, we needed to get rid of the Jim Crow that was embedded in our minds.” What are those internalized thoughts around race that you have? 

INSIGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE

I take full ownership around advancing racial justice as meaningfully and powerfully and courageously as I can within my own life and within the spheres in which I operate. I’m focused on myself and I want you to focus on yourself, not to the exclusion of community, but also in the context of other pieces.
— April N. Baskin
It takes emotional labor for folks of color to talk about the ways that oppression that affects them shows up.
— Tracie Guy-Decker
This is a learning journey and a healing and incremental, ongoing learning process for all of us, but that you will commit to taking ownership of being on that journey.
— April N. Baskin
For this work, we need both our head and our heart, so let’s imagine those visions and use both our head and our heart to steer us toward them. And it is our job, each of our responsibility, to do our own work and work in community, and I look forward to a more racially just and equitable 2021 with you April.
— Tracie Guy-Decker

COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS?

Let us know in the comments below!