Frequently Asked Questions

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How is what you offer different from Diversity & Inclusion Training?
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Diversity & Inclusion training has its place, but is only a stepping-stone in anti-racism and collective liberation. Diversity & Inclusion efforts do not always address the culture change needed, and often centre whiteness and the comfort of white, cisgender and non-disabled people. What I am offering goes beyond checking boxes of who is in the room. I offer support and guidance in the deep personal work of bearing witness to prejudiced implicit biases and our work on the path of liberation. 

What is your accountability network?

Anti-racism is about being in process all the time, and so I have built a network of people to ensure I have an accountability process in this work. In addition to continuously reading and listening to leaders in the area of anti-racism, I have been part of an anti-racist white caucus group and have an ever deepening relationship with S.Rae Peoples of Red Lotus Consulting. I have been an active member in Reverend angel Kyodo williams' ​Liberated Life Network and Lama Rod Owens' online community, Bhumisparsha, as well as the greater Radical Dharma community, where I connect with and get support from others on this path. Below, in the section on Gratitude & Appreciation, I have included details of teachers I have studied with and books and talks that are resources and supports for me. Everything I offer is informed by the work of those listed below and my ongoing personal commitment to liberation.  

Why are some offerings for white people only?

I give direct credit to Resmaa Menakem's approach to anti-racist work. He acknowledges and recognises that bringing white people and Black, Indigenous, Latinx, East-Asian, South-Asian and mixed-race people together re-traumatizes BIPoC communities. As white-bodied people, we have our own work to do around disarming defensiveness, white guilt and shame, and unlearning our implicit and explicit biases. None of that work requires having non-white folks in the room. In the words of my friend and colleague S.Rae Peoples, "You don't build muscle by watching others work out at the gym. You have to lift your own weights." 

What is the cost of these offerings? 
 
Offerings are priced on a sliding scale depending on multiple factors. As a human being living under capitalism, there are inevitable costs associated with this work that the fees help me to cover. Ultimately, my interest in making these offerings available are about our collective liberation and helping other white people step up. When a group or individual can pay a greater fee, it allows me to offer this to a wider audience on a sliding scale.
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​I also make ongoing direct contributions to various organizations on the front lines of social change, including Buy From a Black Woman and Translifeline, and I pay Real Rent to the Duwamish Nation as an occupier of their unceded lands.

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Gratitude & Appreciation

I am able to step into this work thanks to a multitude of others who came before. I acknowledge and recognize the many teachers I've had, who I continue to learn from and turn to in this work. They model for me what it looks like to grow with movements for social change and stay in the work.

The most significant folks for me in this lineage, with whom I have practiced, spoken with or learned from directly, are: 

• Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, author of The Way of Tenderness: Awakening through race, sexuality & gender
• Reverend angel Kyodo williams, co-author of Radical Dharma: Talking race, love & liberation, author of Being Black:Zen and the art of living with fearlessness and grace & founder of the Liberated Life Network
• Lama Rod Owens, co-author of Radical Dharma: Talking race, love & liberation, author of Love and Rage: The path of liberation through anger, & co-founder of the Bhumisparsha dharma community
• adrienne maree brown, co-host of How to Survive the End of the World podcast & author of Emergent Strategy: Shaping change, changing worlds and Pleasure Activism: The politics of feeling good 
• Rhonda Magee, Professor of Law & author of The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing ourselves and transforming our communities through mindfulness
• Dr. Jan Willis, Professor, Spiritual Teacher & author of multiple books and essays. 
• Tada Hozumi, Cultural Somatic Therapist
• Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility: Why it's so hard for white people to talk about racism

I also acknowledge the work and influence of the following leaders whose offerings I have studied extensively & continue to revisit:

• Angela Y. Davis, Revolutionary, scholar, philosopher & author of multiple books, including Women, Race & Class & Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine and the foundations of a movement
• Resmaa Menakem, Somatic therapist and author of My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized trauma and the pathway to mending our hearts and bodies
• Mahzarin Banaji, Professor, co-creator of the Harvard Implicit Association Tests & co-author of Blindspot: The hidden biases of good people
• Ijeoma Oluo, author of So You Want to Talk About Race
• Patrisse Cullors, Revolutionary, co-founder of the BlackLivesMatter movement & author of When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black lives matter memoir
• ​Kwame Anthony Appiah, Philosopher and author of The Lies That Bind: Rethinking identity​
• Krista Tippett, founder of the OnBeing podcast/project & author of Becoming Wise: An inquiry into the mystery and art of living
• Eula Biss, Author of several books & essays including White Debt, published in the New York Times Magazine

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And finally, I uphold those who paved the way for this work, these ancestors of justice and liberation who imagined a better way and whose acts of resistance and calls for revolution have informed my own path and practice: 

• Marsha "Pay it no mind" Johnson (24 August, 1945 - 6 July, 1992), Leader in the Stonewall uprising of 1969 & community support for Black & brown drag queens and transfolk
• Sylvia Rivera (2 July, 1951 - 19 February, 2002), Transgender and gay liberation activist & advocate for unhoused members of the trans and queer community
• Anne Braden (28 July, 1924 - 6 March, 2006), Civil rights leader in the United States & strong example of servant leadership & active anti-racism on the part of a white person
• Louis Riel (22 October, 1844 - 16 November, 1885), Métis Freedom fighter & resistance leader sentenced to death by the Canadian government