Join Dylan Wilder Quinn and Jennie Pearl for a 16-week relational program on building resistance and resilience for white people working on undoing our racism. We will focus on relationship building, sharing strategies for working with other white people in our lives, processing our whiteness present in the room, and moving through the elements of White Supremacy Culture, compiled by Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun and their collaborators, over the course of the 16 weeks.

MORE INFO AND REGISTRATION

Mondays 1-3 pm PST

Chico, CA Three Day Event (come to one, two, or three days)

(1) SINGING CIRCLE

Saturday May 18th (3hrs)

Valley Oaks Village Community Center, Chico

Suggested donation $5 - $25

In this three-hour singing circle we will raise our voices together, using collective singing as a healing modality to build the deep connections we need to fight systems of oppression and to dismantle racism as it operates within and between us, releasing our distress in the container of song we build together.

For People of Color and white identified folks.

All voices are welcome.

(2) INTRO TO GETTING CLOSE TO BLACKNESS

Sunday May 19th 2:30 to 6:00pm @ Chico Women's Club

- 30 people maximum

- sliding scale $50 - $150

This weekend workshop is for white-identified folks to dive deeply and courageously into exploring topics of racism, oppression, and privilege. Please dress comfortably as we will be both talking and physically working on this material. Integrated throughout the experience we’ll be calling upon healing soulful traditions such as yoga, meditation, dance and music to help us stay in the conversation and deepen our capacity to be vulnerable and honest with ourselves and others. What to Expect...

- Deep connection and relating to people across identities about oppression and liberation

- Self-inquiry and witnessing others in deep inquiry

- Being physical and in close proximity with others (consent-based; no intensive exercise, at max we will be doing light yoga stretches that will be made accessible for everyone in the room)

-Expanding your ability to sit with discomfort

-Using your voice in various ways to express and discharge emotions

-Exploring the question - What keeps white people from deeply connecting with black people?

-A one hour lunch break

(3) TOUCHING BLACKNESS: THE TRAUMA STORY AROUND TOUCHING BLACK BODIES AND THE CHRONICALLY UNDER-TOUCHED

Monday May 20th 4:00 to 8:00 @ Chico residence, Barber Neighborhood

6 people maximum

sliding scale $100 - $250

What is the lasting impact today? Reaching for Blackness is about hearing our stories, feeling the story in our skin, in our voices, and in our tears. It is also about you. What experiences around touch do you bring to the room? Of black bodies? Of messing up or feeling awkward? The purpose of a deep dive is to start a conversation that continues for a lifetime. We invite you to begin here.

What to Expect...

A deep dive has a maximum of six white-identified participants with a minimum of two participants. This event is about connecting and building bonds that dismantle racism. Having a small group can slow down how we see, hear, and reach for each other. A deep dive lasts for three- five hours. Breaks will be taken as needed. Light snacks and water will be provided and participants are welcome to bring a full meal if desired. The team will consist of two African heritage facilitators with one white support ally.

FACILITATED BY AARON JOHNSON AND PORSHA BEED

*Aaron Johnson and Porsha Beed will be the main facilitators for this weekend’s program and material for us to work with. Jennie Pearl plays the role of support group leader, including small group work and mindfulness practices involving breathing, movement, and meditation.

For any questions pre-registration about what else to expect, contact Jennie. jenniepearl1@gmail.com

PLEASE RSVP BY EMAILING jenniepearl1@gmail.com

PAYMENTS can be sent through:

*Facebook Messenger to Jennie Pearl (click the plus sign next to where you would type in text, then click green “payments” icon. This is a super easy, fast way to transfer payment. Takes about 2 min to set up in case it’s your first time)

OR

*Venmo (find me via my email, jenniepearl1@gmail.com)

If these payment options don't work please email ( jenniepearl1@gmail.com ) for other arrangements.

Accessibility is important to us. If you can afford to, please consider paying it forward by paying any amount above the ticket price. This allows us to continue scaling the prices of our workshops so that everyone is included. If you want to be there, we want to have you. Please also consider donating a ticket so that someone else can attend. Please contact Jennie for more information.

NOTAFLF (No One Turned Away For Lack of Funds)

Email jenniepearl1@gmail.com to discuss options.

AARON JOHNSON

I am an earth builder, a teacher of closeness, and an activist. I graduated from the California Institute of the Arts in 2007 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts. I use intimacy to dismantle racism; I have made a lifelong commitment to use the skills I possess to end racism. The tools I frequently use for that end are speaking, teaching, closeness to blackness, and minimalism. Deep connection is one of the most powerful tools one can use in dismantling racism.

My goal is to help white people slow down their reality enough to see blackness, primarily through the use of deep questions. I also use questions as a lens that white people can use to look at themselves and see how their own wounds and trauma from racism are stopping them from being close to black people. I am a firm believer that if you cannot get close to black people, you cannot be a true advocate for them. Being close to blackness is the revolution. https://www.facebook.com/Turnitupnow1982/

PORSHA BREED

Porsha Beed is a twenty-four year old African American woman from Phelan, California. As an intimate activist and mentor, she specializes in teaching young people and adults about the importance of deep human connection, holistic resistance, and the importance of self-love and resiliency. Porsha is passionate about dismantling racism and oppression. As an earth builder and integrator of race, she strives to build a lifelong community to end racism. Her love for the Earth and for intentional community is the nest in which Porsha has chosen to fight systems of oppression.

JENNIE PEARL

Jennie Pearl is a facilitator, yoga teacher, and bodyworker bridging the gap between social justice and healing work. She is an anti-racist facilitator who offers trainings and workshops in yoga, wellness, and healing communities. She founded and facilitates Wake Up: a group for white-identified people who want to unlearn their racism, unpack their privilege, and untangle white supremacy from the inside out. They explore how yoga and meditation can help them wake up without spiritual bypassing or diminishing racial justice.

This Series is being hosted by Laura Halpin. MORE INFO AND REGISTRATION

Thursdays May 9th, 16th, 30th

6:30-8:30pm PST

***This workshop has two dates to choose from:

Sunday Dec. 9th 5-7PM PST/ 8-10pm EST

OR

Wednesday Dec. 12th 12-2pm PST/ 3-5 EST

REGISTRATION AND TICKETS HERE

Join Dylan Wilder Quinn and Jennie Pearl for a relational workshop on building resistance and resilience for white people working on undoing our racism. While this webcast is geared towards white identified people, all racial identities are welcome.

In this session, we will:

• Create community to dismantle the myth that we can do this work alone or in isolation.

• Share resources and resilience skills and create belonging for each other so that People of Color don’t have to do this labor

• Undo our internalized whiteness as we do this work

• Process and work through questions around racism as they come up in our day-to-day lives (so that we’re not putting this labor on POC)

• Support each other so that we stay in this work

• Use mindfulness and embodiment to create long term resilience and anti-racist patterns in our bodies.

This workshop is for you if:

• You are feeling shame and guilt around privilege and racism.

• You have fear of harming people of color with your questions, confusion, or lack of knowledge.

• You feel like you are the only white person in the room caring about undoing racism.

• You've noticed racism in yourself and/or your community and you were not sure what to do.

• You sometimes feel isolated and want to find other people in this work to connect with. 

While dismantling systems, we also need to be building the world we want to live in. For us white folks, this also involves us taking on the labor of supporting and building skills with each other so that we are centering POC-led movements instead of burdening them with our whiteness. Through this process we will also find wholeness and community. 

What to expect:

• 2 hour Zoom call

• Question-based inquiry to reflect on how racism is showing up in our lives

• Grounding and centering practices for resilience

• Partner and full group work

• Reflections around next-steps and strategies to stay engaged

Please consider paying what you can, and also supporting so that more folks can be a part of this movement.  We are commited to offering sliding scale and particularly want to offer accessible rates to LGBTQIA folks, people who are disabled, and people with low-income.  Please get in touch with us if you are also in need of further scholarship. We want you in this work! 

YOU HAVE TWO DATES TO CHOOSE FROM. YOUR REGISTRATION ONLY COVERS THE DATE THAT YOU SELECT.  IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND BOTH WORKSHOPS (as each group of people is always unique) please sign up two times, one for each date. 

REGISTER HERE

***All Sessions will be Recorded***

***Space is Limited***

We will give 10% of our funds raised will go to Aaron and Porsha’s fundraiser. All workshops that focus on working with white folks on our anti-racism involve a 10% donation to organizations and individuals whose lives are marginalized by racism every day. For more info click here. 

Dylan Wilder Quinn (they/he/she) has been facilitating and educating groups for 16 years. They look to connect deeply with everyone who is wanting to create a different world that we know is possible, based in justice and connection. In addition to their teachers and colleagues (listed on their website), they have found that their combination of life experiences - as a long-term childhood abuse survivor, and living as a trans, non-binary, disabled person from working class background navigating oppression daily, and as a white person navigating their oppressor identity daily - is helpful to do the crucial work of working with people across intersections to heal while centering the needs and justice for marginalized people in a trauma-informed and survival-informed way. They are also an anti-oppression consultant and healer using mindfulness and neurobiology to overcome trauma and oppressive cultural patterns. Read more at www.dylanwilderquinn.com.

Jennie Pearl (she/her) is an anti-oppression facilitator, yoga teacher, and bodyworker, bridging the gap between social justice and healing. She believes relationship is key to dismantling oppressive systems. As a cis-gendered, heterosexual white woman, Jennie aims to build bonds with other white folks and invite them to stay in the fight for justice and equity for a lifetime. She is the founder of Wake Up, a group for white-identified people to unlearn racism, unpack privilege, and untangle white supremacy from the inside out. They explore how yoga and meditation can help them commit to and sustain the work without spiritual bypassing or diminishing racial justice. Jennie collaborates with a core team of facilitators at Holistic Resistance, whose mission is to build connection as the foundation of all of their work.  Read more at www.jenniepearl.com