| Saturday, March 14, 1 to 4pm Holyoke Library, 250 Chestnut Street |
Given that 1) people of color experience abuse and discrimination everywhere in society and 2) we are a predominantly white community in a country with a 500-year history of brutality and discrimination specifically targeting black, indigenous and other non-white people, it feels essential that we come together to explore these issues as a community, including:
- How can we expand our understanding of what it means to be “trauma-informed” to better include the lived experience of those targeted by racial violence and oppression?
- How does racism manifest in the psychiatric system and in our own healing communities?
This community forum will consist of two parts. First, we will hear personal reports from people of color. In the second part, people of color will have an opportunity to leave the space to continue discussing their experiences. During this time white folks (and anyone else who wishes) will participate in a circle focused on exploring our feelings, questions, and desires around the trauma of racism and working to dismantle racism in our communities.
There are several reasons for separating this forum into parts, including: It can potentially be re-traumatizing to ask people of color to be a part of conversations where others are reacting from their own defensiveness to the idea that they have taken part in some way in a racist culture, and yet the forum aims to create a space where it is safe to really explore this reaction as a part of supporting people to move through it.
Following this forum, it is anticipated that a regular group will form and meet regularly in coming months to continue the discussion.