Do the Work Study Group Lunch Hour

Do the Work Study Group – Topical Lunch Hour Meeting

This lunch group will meet once a month and is topical (based on current events in our community). The purpose is for white women to process topical events without causing harm to our BIPOC community while learning how to show up BETTER. The topic will be announced roughly a week before. Eat your lunch at your computer and join Embrace Bend!

Why? In conversations about race and racism, White people often feel exempt, because they don’t think they are racist, they don’t think they are a part of the problem, or because it doesn’t concern them. Because we are taught so little about these topics in school, and what we are taught is often a white-washed falsehood, we lean into ignorance and pretend the problems aren’t real.

For the White people who want to learn more about race and racism, there is the question of “Am I ready?” Am I ready to hear things I don’t want to hear? Am I ready to engage with those who are more knowledgeable about this than I am? Am I ready for the emotions that come with these conversations?

And, perhaps even more importantly, there is the question of “If I participate, will I cause more harm than good?”

White people aren’t exempt from conversations about race and racism. We benefit from systems that uphold White Supremacy, while everyone else is punished through microaggressions, racist policies, personal and communal violence, and systems of oppression.

In order to engage in these conversations meaningfully, without taking up space, without causing additional harm, without speaking over others, without making it about us, and without distracting from the work, we need to prepare ourselves with knowledge and emotional readiness. Specific spaces need to be established to provide us the room, resources, and time to go about this preparation in healthy, sustainable ways.

This is why the Do the Work Study Group is here.