Unpacking Sexism and White Privilege in Pursuit of Racial Justice: A Workshop

As we strive toward racial justice, there’s an opportunity for people who identify as white women to examine how they have navigated sexism and misogyny and internalized white superiority.

This workshop is open to all booksellers, regardless of how they identify, but will speak specifically to white cisgender women, trans women, and non-binary folks who have internalized feminine gender norms.

The content will focus on three patterns of behavior — control, perfectionism, and defensiveness — in order to help booksellers recognize and replace these harmful patterns with actions that build authentic cross-cultural relationships in the workplace and beyond.

Host: American Bookseller's Association
Location: Zoom

Date: October 21
Time: 12pm - 1:30pm PST
Cost: Free

Ilsa Govan and Tilman Smith with Karena Hooks

When tackling topics of systemic racism, it’s all too easy to build narratives centered around white men and toxic masculinity. But white women have long held seats at the table— from their pre-Civil War ability to buy and sell enslaved people to the million-plus women members of the KKK, and beyond— as systems of white supremacy were built and maintained. We cannot skirt around the gendered roles of white women in systemic racism if we, as a society, hope to dismantle systems of oppression. We need to make space for a deeper understanding; Seattle anti-racist facilitators Ilsa Govan and Tilman Smith offer just such a space in their new book, What’s Up with White Women? Unpacking Sexism and White Privilege in Pursuit of Racial Justice.

Host: Town Hall Seattle
Location: Zoom link

Date: October 21
Time: 7:30pm PST
Cost: $5

Unpacking Sexism and White Privilege in Pursuit of Racial Justice

In this 2-day workshop (October 28th-29th) we use a developmental model to examine how our identities change as we grow in our understanding of personal and institutional oppression. Given the virtual platform, we will still use highly interactive methods including reflective writing, video clips, small group conversations, and storytelling to take a deeper look into our learned patterns of behavior.​

Recognizing these patterns with compassion rather than shame helps us name and practice strategies to better collaborate in multicultural settings. During our time together we will co-create a community where our spirits are renewed and our commitment to social justice is strengthened.​​

Host: Cultures Connecting
Location: Zoom link

Date: October 28-29
Time: 9am - 12:30pm PST (both days)
Cost: $50 - $350