I’ve worked with TRHT (Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation) to facilitate virtual circles where we invite brave participants to join us in listening deeply, speaking honestly about how we’ve been shaped by a racist society, and making commitments to bring more healing and justice to ourselves and our worlds. I’ve collaborated with co-facilitators in multiracial circles as well as circles of white people, creating immersive online experiences with visuals, music, somatic experiencing, and calls for action.
I’ve hosted healing whiteness circles, inviting anyone with a complicated relationship with whiteness to show up and call themselves in. We practice witnessing, via listening to the words of Black and Indigenous people and people of color; we reflect on our families and our unconscious beliefs; we get curious about lost parts of ourselves and our cultural and spiritual roots, so as to avoid appropriating from others; we learn about state violence and abolitionist solutions; and we make commitments to change.
We’re not just talking faces on a screen. Virtual circles can be creative time, party time, and sacred time - from group discussions, to small breakouts, to time to turn off the camera and meditate, draw, brainstorm or do something soothing or cathartic, to listening to podcasts together, and rituals to get more present and grounded in our values, as inspired by restorative justice practices and The Work That Reconnects.
We use principles of universal design, closed captions, and accommodations to make this an accessible space for you - whether you’re neurodivergent, you’re an introvert, you’re having a rough day, or the idea of being in a circle just makes you cringe. Speaking up is always voluntary.
“We need practices to build habits of living from the core self” from the Seven Core Assumptions
Circles work. We grow our minds, and sometimes we change them. We remember parts of ourselves we’ve hidden. We notice what we’ve numbed to and drowned out from the world, and let ourselves listen again. This work can shape how we show up, how we relate to others, and how others relate to us.
But “changing hearts and minds” is not enough. In 2023, I’m shifting this work to make the impact more tangible, using circles and 1:1 call-in sessions to raise funds for justice - redistributing resources to individuals who need them, and organizations led primarily by BIPOC, LQBTQIA+, and/or disabled people. Check out the Resources page for places to donate, and e-mail [email protected] for more info on how to schedule a 1:1session or a circle.