Cracks in the Cement
By Robin Q
(1) What is colonizer culture? In what ways does it surround us?
(2) How did it get here?
(3) Where do we want to go from here?
Cracks in the CementSep 03, 2022
Extending grace to cancel culture
Those of us who are justice-oriented, and raised with white supremacy conditioning, can often find ourselves in the habit of being hyper-judgemental. For this episode, I reflect on how whiteness interacts with this phenomenon (we white folx have got to practice humility...), as well as my realization that being honest about how my discernment can easily slip into hyper-judgement opened me up to feel a respect and kindness to those who are prone to cancel others. Undoing our colonized brain means not canceling those who cancel us.
The grand discovery: we are not going to be able to make the big problems go away in our lifetimes, therefore, it's all about building relationships and holding space for each other along the way (and as Layla Saad and other teachers and leaders have said, being a good ancestor).
Grief is the shit
A treasured friend of mine, M, requested I do an episode on grief, so here it is. Grief has become one of my favorite topics because thanks to friends of mine like Drea, and teachers like Martín Prechtel, I have come to understand that feeling (1) safe enough to work through our own grief, and (2) comfortable to hold another in working through their grief are necessary components of a healthy culture. And white folks like me really need to tap into that. AND as Martín teaches, we grieve because we praise, which is BEAUTIFUL~~~
Martín Prechtel's talk: https://youtu.be/UUwewfPPSbE?si=6QOUDD0fSqHk3orI
Bayo Akomolafe on grief (one of my FAVORITE speakers/teachers): https://youtu.be/rcu60pvVs8s?si=Ehl7XaIENMgECF5K
Updates on Rise Up Rooted
This August episode offers updates on what going on with Rise Up Rooted (the organization from which this podcast springs), including its place on the path towards nonprofit status, as well as a bit of background and more information on the upcoming “Me and White Supremacy” book/learning groups (they start in October). If you or anyone you know is curious about these book/learning groups, this episode will offer you more understanding of how they roll. Thank you! :)
More info:
https://www.riseup-rooted.org/learning-groups/
https://www.riseup-rooted.org/workshops-with-robin/
Sign up for upcoming groups here: https://forms.gle/yoDg6CLRJtiweDybA
Questions? You can email me at robin@riseup-rooted.org
crushed on yourself lately? + the dangerous mix of having experienced oppression, and being white
For this podcast, I get into...
Cracks: I have been FEELING Janelle Monáe's new album, "The Age of Pleasure"-- it has it all... summer vibes, the absence of the male/white gaze, juicy queerness, sovereign sexiness, joy, pleasure (of course!), and crushing on oneself with ZERO apologies~~!!! When's the last time you had a crush on yourself, for yourself and nobody else? What were you wearing? How was your hair? Do more of that!
Cement: How legit oppression that has occurred to a white-bodied occupier who has been conditioned as a girl/woman can be dangerous as hell in this white supremacy system.
White ppl: accountability is an iterative process for us to step up and do
While attending a recent environmental law conference, I noticed the importance of Accountability among occupier white folks. Take a listen!
white ppl, we need to:
feel,
acknowledge,
grieve,
apologize, and
let go of
W.S. culture
again and
again and
again and
again...
My gender journey
For this new Cracks episode, I share my journey of stepping into my embodied, empowered self as nonbinary, transmasculine-leaning (feel free to imagine me singing a made-up joy tune “it feels so good to be Me~~ yeah yeah yeah~~!"). If you have kids in your life, I hope you listen to this episode.
When we squish the magic of our and other's sacred masculine/feminine balance, we nearly halt the evolution of humankind. That isn't hyperbole, folks.
White guilt and the importance of white people getting grounded and whole
For this episode, I reflect on how white guilt (and regret and shame) is a healthy reaction when a white person first learns the ways in which they have caused harm and contributed to a super f-ed up system
+ what might be some reasons white guilt can get stuck and amass
+ how that potentially blocks progress on the path towards dismantling white supremacy
Thank you so much for listening!
You can share your thoughts with me here: https://forms.gle/R6mjUFDWquAmHduP7
The difference between individualism and sovereign beingness
For this podcast episode, I noodle on how ideas of self-empowerment can show up as individualism (separation from others), as compared to sovereign beingness (connection with others), and the importance of noticing when my anger at white supremacy and the male gaze is actually anger at myself for assimilating and contorting to the male gaze for financial security. I realize a major aspect of sovereign beingness is taking responsibility for one's self. This is super big stuff!
Relatedly, I am cutting most of my hair off this Thursday! Does the idea of that scare the poopy out of you, in a mirror neuron sort of way? If so, why do you think that is?
Settling in and surrendering to velvety dark potential while guided by your personal "north star"
As an antidote to white supremacy, let's ride the waves of what the dark season has to offer us. What does it feel like in your body to imagine settling and surrendering into the dark, rich, liminal void of self-reflection with the intention of letting go of white supremacy? In the dark shadows of You, what aspects of your Self no longer serve you, and what parts of you that got squashed by dominant culture wants to come out into the light? As we reflect on these things this fall/winter season, I invite you to hone your "north star," that which guides you every step of the way as we imagine new culture and ways of Being!
Erin Bruce: https://www.theseasonalsoul.com/author/erin/
Aspects of white culture -- go here: https://www.riseup-rooted.com/cracks-in-the-cement-episode-1-resource/
Share your thoughts with me here: https://forms.gle/3MKJnH7vacBs7mFt5
Get high on context (relationships, multi-dimensionality, who we are, how our day is going, the weather, the place we sit/stand, what happened on our walk over, how well we slept last night, ...)!
This Cracks in the Cement episode explores the ways in which white colonizer settler culture insists we ignore context (relationships, multi-dimensionality, who we are, how are our day is going, the weather, the place we sit/stand, what happened on our walk over, how well we slept last night, our astrological tendencies, ... and on and on) and pretend we are individuals, and that aspects of Earth and Life can be looked at as if they exist outside of the web of life. And there's some stuff about how that way of being was invented by a scared man seeking safety and predictability, Thomas Hobbes. And also some stuff about taking responsibility for following social rules that enable Hobbes's system of separation, oppression, and control. Punchline: Sloooow down and get high on context.......... WOOHOO!
Books referenced (two of my favs)
Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World, by Tyson Yunkaporta
America's Unholy Ghosts: The Racist Roots of Our Faith and Politics, by Joel Edward Goza
Join the convo: https://forms.gle/moEEcgvWZqgJnDsj7
Bringing the magic with Color, Queerness, and a Refusal to be contained
For episode 6 of Cracks, we'll talk about how colonizer/settler/white supremacy culture seeks to contain and control our minds, bodies, and souls. We'll get energized about our relationship to color and gender and how they intersect and offer endless opportunities to sprout our soul selves from the cracks in the cement. Woohoo~!!!
Queerness in this context, for me, is my dwelling outside of the binary boxes created to control me. It's feeling into who I truly am without subscribing to fear-based societal containments. It's stepping out of the absurd obsession with putting rules on how we're supposed to be and present in the world. Feeling into the spectrums are where the magic and beautiful power lie~~!!! Remember as a kid we'd say "Let's go outside to play!" Well, I'm saying that now-- get out of those boxes and come out and play!!!!!
Books mentioned:
The Invention of Women, by Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmí (I heard about it from Alok Vaid-Menon- https://www.alokvmenon.com/)
Chromophobia, by David Batchelor
If you want to join the conversation (please do!): https://forms.gle/fXjuNfAms9VVUpM49
Flow pairs as an alternative to self-as-island individualism
For episode 5, I talk about a truly magical alternative to individualistic I-am-an-island way of being: flow pairs-- getting into a state of creative explosions and growth with another human. So fricking awesome!
Book referenced: "Sand Talk," by Tyson Yunkaporta
You can share your thoughts here. Thank you!
Taking a step back to share how I ended up doing this work
In this episode, I share a bit about how I ended up focusing on colonizer/white supremacy culture, and how that work brought me to a place of developing awareness of multidimensional and plant/tree beings. I had no idea that would happen! So literally AWESOME!!!
Unplugging the colonizer gaze + what makes white supremacy culture a unique system of oppression
Episode 3 offers some historic background on what makes colonizer (AKA white supremacy) culture a unique system of oppression. [Please note--> I talk a few times about how certain groups were/are left out of accessing resources-- in retrospect, I wish I had added it goes way beyond that-- it is a system of dehumanization, separation, and abuse.] Starting with the ancient Greeks and ending with the West’s obsession with the sense of sight: the ghost gaze of colonizers past still has us judging and categorizing ourselves and others. (Also, thank you to those of you who shared your thoughts on the Smithsonian’s aspects of white culture in the U.S.— I share some of your shares at the end of this episode!)
Join the conversation!
Episode 3: What gifts/skills would you share with your community if you were not haunted by imposter syndrome or feeling constrained by white culture in the U.S.? Answer here: https://forms.gle/PpTuACboWvSpMw2j6 (or email me)
Episode 1: List of white culture in the U.S. attributes found here: https://www.riseup-rooted.com/cracks-in-the-cement-episode-1-resource/ Share your reflections here: https://forms.gle/PpTuACboWvSpMw2j6 (or email me)
Stepping outside of good/bad + engaging your imagination
In episode 1, listeners are invited to reflect on aspects of white culture within the U.S. (rugged individualism, the King's English rules, compete to prove our worth, stuck in the head and locked out of the body, etc.). Episode 2 adds some layers to that invitation:
--> instead of hot potato-ing these aspects into a good vs. bad category, let's get them out on the table so we can look at them, think about who these most benefit, and which aspects we want to transform into something different (WOOHOO!).
--> when thinking about and noticing aspects of white culture all around, if overwhelm creeps in, it can be helpful to remember we're looking for those cracks in the cement-- where is the **wiggle room** within your life to try something different?
--> bring on the imagination!!! how might your ideal community and self be if white supremacy culture were melted away~~?!?
Join the mailing list here: https://www.riseup-rooted.com/email-list/
Episode 3 (coming soon!): Unique aspects of colonizer oppression + your thoughts
Episode 3 will offer some historic background on what makes colonizer culture a unique system of oppression. Starting with the ancient Greeks and ending with the West’s obsession with our sense of sight: the gaze of colonizers past still has us dancing a dance we did not consciously sign up for. (And thank you to those of you who shared your thoughts on the Smithsonian’s aspects of white culture in the U.S.—I will be voicing one or two at the end of each episode.)
Join the conversation:
White culture bullet point list--> https://www.riseup-rooted.com/cracks-in-the-cement-episode-1-resource/
You can share your thoughts here--> https://forms.gle/qbNz5UFTXc6WZVFf8
Our Personal Values and the Energy Body
In this episode, we start the ball rolling on the conversation around aspects of colonizer culture that show up in each of our own personal values (join the conversation!), and I (Robin) share where I'm at on the journey of getting out of my head and into my heart (while encouraging multidimensional communication-- oh, yeah, I go there).
Episode materials:
Aspects of white culture -- go here: https://www.riseup-rooted.com/cracks-in-the-cement-episode-1-resource/
Reflection questions (feel free to pick one or two that pop out at you):
1. Which of these cultural aspects listed above do you most value and prioritize?
2. Who most benefits from the cultural values you tend to prioritize?
3. How do these feel these in your body?
4. Are there any you don’t understand or feel like they’re unavoidable?
Join the conversation by sending me your answers here: https://forms.gle/ZxAUVbPGZux7WYe89
Join the mailing list here: https://www.riseup-rooted.com/email-list/
Cracks in the Cement Trailer
Hosted by me, Robin, Cracks in the Cement is a podcast series that aims to bring awareness to colonizer culture so we can make conscious choices in how we want to be with each other and the world. This series weaves three themes:
(1) What is colonizer culture, and in what ways does it surround us?
(2) How did it get here?
(3) Where do we want to go from here?
Join the mailing list here: https://www.riseup-rooted.com/email-list/