In the journey to dismantle structures of white supremacy there must be attention paid to community rebuilding and healing. Trauma from racism has negatively impacted Black and Brown people, and it will remain in our communities and bodies – even passed to next generations – unless there is a collective and intentional effort to build healing and repair into the structure of our communities and systems. Authors in this section emphasize compassionate connection, celebration of Black and Brown culture, uplift, and self-love, and also articulate the characteristics of a movement to cultivate growth and flourishing.

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Read through the following questions and answer them based off what you learned from the readings:

1. Oscar Contreras Telón emphasizes that one way to foster healing is to create connections across cultures through the provision of spaces for sharing, joy, and healing. Do such cross-culture healing spaces exist in your community? What characteristics would you want in these spaces?

2. Dr. Ram Bhagat proposes that white people build positive allyship with people of color. In your own words, what does it mean to be an ally in this context? What would it look like for organizations or institutions to model positive allyship?

3. Angela Patton and Ashley Mejias examine different dimensions of racialized trauma in their essays and note that part of healing comes from valuing Black lives instead of silencing and sentencing them. What are 1-2 ways that you can actively value Black lives in your personal life, your work, in your community?

Commonground

https://www.commongroundprogram.com/

A New Way of Life

https://anewwayoflife.org/

Massive Resilience — Dr. Ram Bhagat

https://www.rambhagat.com/massive-resilience

Common Justice

https://www.commonjustice.org/home#mission

KOINONIA School of Race & Social Justice – Richmond Hill

https://www.richmondhillva.org/programs-events/koinonia/

BLKRVA

https://www.visitblkrva.com/

Girls For A Change

https://girlsforachange.org/