Emotional Resilience and Accountability Training

Module 4: Communication in Connection

Part 2 – Synthesizing, Bringing Ideas Together Towards Practice

As mentioned in part 1 of this final module, to be in conversation about racism and white supremacy with others can be anxiety-producing. We can feel unsure of ourselves, feel blocked in the throat from speaking up, be afraid of losing our job/friends/family, and afraid we’ll cause more harm.

The great news is that when we practice awareness of our initial reactions and tendencies, we get better and better at creating space where we can choose how to be and what to do instead of just reacting from self-preservation and comfort habits.

Take your time in this final reflection– this is where you really settle into your commitments to communicating in connection, with the common good as your goal.

Putting it all together

Please read over these potential tools for communicating in connection, and answer the reflection questions below. When talking to people in your life about race, racism, and white supremacy culture:

  1. Slow down and energetically move back from your first reaction to check your vibe. You can allow your initial emotions to move through and out of your body (move back from the fire).
  2. Remember your convictions (feel the presence of those jewels in your heart).
  3. Make space to settle into the humble layer of connection, your core self before social conditioning, your sparkle of joy, courage, and feeling loved.
  4. Distinguish aspects of your self (your true self who wants racial healing).
  5. Feel into yourself as part of a flowing ecological circle, remembering we’re all in this together.
  6. Do regular humility checks because the condition of whiteness can distort our sense of being right and superior.
  7. Coming from a place of humility, have the courage to risk upsetting another white person (prioritize racial healing over keeping you or another white person comfortable).

Think of a situation where you wish you had spoken up, kept quiet, done something differently, and/or said something differently. If you could re-do the experience, what would you do?

What might communicating in connection look like for you when someone lets you know your whiteness is negatively impacting others?

Practice again doing a body scan and emotion check to see what you need. Click here to access the guided body scan from Module 1.

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