Jews Talk Racial Justice - S2E7: Exhaustion
QUICK EPISODE OVERVIEW
The work of fighting racism can be exhausting. This is especially true for Black folks and other people of color who have to work to dismantle systems that are actively oppressing them. Today April and Tracie talk a bit about strategies and frames to help counter the isolation and the internalized not-good-enough that comes along with the exhaustion and burn out for people of color and the ways in which white allies can provide support.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
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April and Tracie start the episode by naming how exhausting and impactful racism is on all of our health, though in different ways. When was the last time you gave yourself permission to feel exhausted by navigating a racist society? What do you do for yourself to alleviate the exhaustion you feel? For our white, have you pause to reflect on the number of microaggressions, our BIPOC fam have to endure on a daily basis?
April reminds us to listen to the messages our bodies are giving us. What messages is it giving you now in this moment?
April shares the wisdom her friend Shira offered her in a moment of exhaustion, that there were so many outputs in her life and no inputs. Reflect on your journey, what are the inputs and outputs? Is there balance?
Tracie and April discuss the importance of mental health and healing journeys. How do you take care of your mental health? Unfortunately, there are still many barriers to mental healthcare, including stigmas around support and lack of affordable access. If there are barriers, are there ways to seek help to get what you need? If you have the financial resources to do so, what mental health resources/organizations for BIPOC in your community can you donate to?
April shares one practice she has to help her, which is creating playlists with music to help her process emotions and experiences, either getting where she wants to go or releasing emotion. What are some songs that you would add to your playlist if you don’t have one? What are the songs on your current playlists that have the same impact as April’s?
In the moments that BIPOC folks are sharing their exhaustion from racism, Tracie reminds white folks that it is not appropriate to go into “fix-it” mode. Can you think of a time this may have happened in your life, when this happened to you or you did it yourself?
The episode closes with naming the difficulty of oppression and that anyone who fights against it deserves respect and that it is also really hard; a task too large for one person to take alone. April and Tracie lift up how important it is for us to be in community with each other so we can support each other in the work, that includes times for rest and healing. What would it look like if we structured our organizations to provide this space? What would it require?
INSIGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE
“And there’s a POC and Black Indigenous people of color tax that we need to pay, and it’s got to come somewhere else because we both live in an abundant universe, which I do believe. And, we’re also human and mortal, and there are finite limits to our human capacity and only so many hours in a day.”
“Be gentle with ourselves and listen to the messages our bodies are giving. I believe that our bodies are our allies. It doesn’t always feel that way, but I believe they’re trying to communicate with us in different ways for our thriving, and the more we can slow down and soften enough to listen, the better it is.”
“We can reach for help to help think through some of these things if it’s feeling overwhelming. I think what I would say is you get to heal; you get to take the time that you need to heal. And if you don’t have the time because I know what that’s like, when you or a family member of yours may be ill or dying and the rent needs to get paid - and it’s difficult - also reach for help.”
“But, I think in this specific situation and in all situations when someone shares their lived experience, we need to believe them, and just be with it and offer what support we can. And I think that that sounds really obvious, but it’s not what we’re taught to do, right? Our society teaches us to try to fix things. Especially for us white folks, if our colleagues, friends, loved ones of color are expressing exhaustion at the work, fixing it should not be the first thing we go to.”
COMMENT OR QUESTION?
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