Stay Connected / Radical Optimist Collective

“For too long, powerful people have expected the people they have mistreated and marginalized to sacrifice themselves to make things whole. The burden of working for racial justice is laid on the very people bearing the brunt of the injustice, and not the powerful people who maintain it. I say to you: I refuse.”

Hannah Jones

Where are places in your life where you set boundaries and resist and refuse? When imagining what freedom and liberation look and feel like - what comes to mind for you?

“In a real sense all life is inter-related. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied to a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the the inter-related structure of reality.”

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr

Take a moment to write down the names of 2 people you can actively lift up today? An awesome way to do this is to extend sympathetic joy for someone else's accomplishments or happiness in their lives.

“Despite our differences, we’re all alike. Beyond identities and desires, there is a common core of self – an essential humanity whose nature is peace and whose expression is thought and whose action is unconditional love. When we identify with that inner core, respecting and honoring it in others as well as ourselves, we experience healing in every area of life.”

Joan Borysenko, Minding the Body, Mending the Mind

Pause. Give yourself a moment of quiet.

“People are opting out of vital conversations about diversity and inclusivity because they fear looking wrong, or being wrong. Choosing our own comfort over hard conversations is the epitome of privilege, and corrodes trust, and moves us away from meaningful and lasting change.”

Brene Brown: Dare to Lead

Take a moment to reread that statement. In your daily life and interactions, what are ways that you can opt-in?

“No one who has ever touched liberation could possibly want anything other than liberation for everyone.”

Rev. Angel Kyodo Williams

What is your definition of liberation? In what ways is your liberation tied to others liberation and humanity?

“Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible.”

Maya Angelou

How does prejudice show up in your thoughts, actions, and beliefs? Notice where these beliefs, thoughts, or actions serve as a barrier to connection.

“Ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year. Ours is not the struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term. Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part.”

U.S. Rep. John Lewis

Consider your legacy and the legacy of your ancestors. Breathe into the stories that raised you. What story are your writing today? What will it say?

“The beauty of anti-racism is that you don’t have to pretend to be free of racism to be anti-racist. Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself. And it’s the only way forward.”

Ijoema Oluo

"In joy and sorrow all are equal,
Thus be guardian of all, as yourself." Shantideva

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

Desmond Tutu

How does this statement resonate with you? Where do you feel it in your body? Read it again.

“The most addictive drug known to America. Racism. It causes wealth, an inflated sense of self, and hallucinations.”

Jason Reynolds, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You

How has the system and structures of racism impacted your life personally and/or professionally.

“Humanity is not without answers or solutions regarding how to liberate itself from scenarios that invariably end with mass exterminations. Tools such as compassion, trust, empathy, love, and ethical discernment are already in our possession. The next sensible step would be to use them.”

Aberjhani, Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays

Notice where you already practice compassion, empathy, and ethical discernment in your life. Consider what it would look like to apply those qualities to more challenging relationships and environments with conflict.

“May I be safe and protected and free from inner and outer harm. May I be happy and contented. May I be healthy and whole to whatever degree possible. May I experience ease of well-being. May she, he, they be safe and protected and free from inner and outer harm. May she, he, they be happy and contented. May she, he, they be healthy and whole to whatever degree possible. May she, he, they experience ease of well-being.”

Excerpt from Loving Kindness meditation

Repeat this quietly to yourself and notice any reactions you have in your body. This is a good time to grab a pen and paper to write down how you experience this meditation prompt.

“A real apology requires some labor.”

Rachel Ricketts; Racial Justice Educator, author of Do Better

What does a real apology feel like in your bones?

“Sometimes it’s okay to think that our anger is trying to protect us. However, it is more truthful to think that it’s actually protecting something else that’s a little deeper than that. It’s protecting our hurt. It’s protecting our broken hearts. The work to turn our attention back to the woundedness is this really intense, profound path of transformation, which doesn’t feel as good as just responding to the anger, because the energy of anger makes us feel powerful.”

Lama Rod Owens, Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation through Anger

As Rev. Angel Kyodo Williams expresses so beautifully which helps to deepen Lama Rod Owens words, "anger is capable of pointing us back to love. It arises as a result of an offense to what we love. If we can use anger to reconnect to love, then that anger—the response that we have to injustice, pain, and suffering in the world—can be a generative force rather than a destructive one."

How does anger point you back to love?

“We can’t meaningfully proceed with healing, with restoration, without ‘re-story-action.’ In other words, our relationship with the land cannot heal until we hear its stories. But who will tell them?”

Robin Wall Kimmerer

We know how important land and place is to our sense of healing internally and within community. Take this moment to acknowledge the story of the land you stand on. Name who was there before you and who will be there after you? What story do you tell about this land?

“If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

Lilla Watson

The question isn’t how we can help or be allies. The question is, what will we give up in service of the liberation of our neighbors? How do we reorient ourselves to this world and to each other?

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“People are opting out of vital conversations about diversity and inclusivity because they fear looking wrong, or being wrong. Choosing our own comfort over hard conversations is the epitome of privilege, and corrodes trust, and moves us away from meaningful and lasting change.”

“No one who has ever touched liberation could possibly want anything other than liberation for everyone.”

“Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible.”

“Ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year. Ours is not the struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term. Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part.”

“The beauty of anti-racism is that you don’t have to pretend to be free of racism to be anti-racist. Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself. And it’s the only way forward.”

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

“The most addictive drug known to America. Racism. It causes wealth, an inflated sense of self, and hallucinations.”

“Humanity is not without answers or solutions regarding how to liberate itself from scenarios that invariably end with mass exterminations. Tools such as compassion, trust, empathy, love, and ethical discernment are already in our possession. The next sensible step would be to use them.”

“A real apology requires some labor.”

“We can’t meaningfully proceed with healing, with restoration, without ‘re-story-action.’ In other words, our relationship with the land cannot heal until we hear its stories. But who will tell them?”

“If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

Every relationship starts with a conversation.

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“People are opting out of vital conversations about diversity and inclusivity because they fear looking wrong, or being wrong. Choosing our own comfort over hard conversations is the epitome of privilege, and corrodes trust, and moves us away from meaningful and lasting change.”

“No one who has ever touched liberation could possibly want anything other than liberation for everyone.”

“Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible.”

“Ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year. Ours is not the struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term. Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part.”

“The beauty of anti-racism is that you don’t have to pretend to be free of racism to be anti-racist. Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself. And it’s the only way forward.”

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

“The most addictive drug known to America. Racism. It causes wealth, an inflated sense of self, and hallucinations.”

“Humanity is not without answers or solutions regarding how to liberate itself from scenarios that invariably end with mass exterminations. Tools such as compassion, trust, empathy, love, and ethical discernment are already in our possession. The next sensible step would be to use them.”

“A real apology requires some labor.”

“We can’t meaningfully proceed with healing, with restoration, without ‘re-story-action.’ In other words, our relationship with the land cannot heal until we hear its stories. But who will tell them?”

“If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

Every relationship starts with a conversation.