Up With Community: Recent Episodes
Nico Chin
Up With Community helps teams and organizations connect to their personal power for change: spurring creativity, increasing impact, and orienting themselves towards freedom. We are a woman of color owned practice, led by @nicomchin. For more: www.upwithcommunity.org
As a racial justice practitioner, I am highly interested in making white supremacy culture visible and pursuing the antigens. Early this month, I had a chance to sit down and uncover Dr. Okun’s racial justice and equity journey and share her wisdom.
We’ll explore:
❋How she thinks of the concept of white supremacy culture for those who’s haven’t been introduced to it before?
❋What is her goal to offer the White Supremacy Culture website + how she hope to see communities using it for racial justice in organizing and building? How did she formulate the concept?
❋What’s the reason the white supremacy culture tries to make us feel fear on a very personal level?
❋Why should we stop weaponizing the tools we have?
Tema Okun has spent over 30 years working with and for organizations, schools, and community-based institutions as a trainer, facilitator, teacher, and mentor focused on issues of racial justice and equity. She got her start at Grassroots Leadership with a strong team including James Williams, Cathy Howell, and Kamau Marcharia. For 12 years she worked with the late and beloved Kenneth Jones at ChangeWork and then for another decade with Michelle Johnson and many brilliant colleagues at DismantlingRacismWorks. Dr. Okun currently co-leads the Teaching for Equity Fellows Program at Duke University, which works with faculty seeking to develop stronger skills both teaching about race and racism and across lines of race, class, and gender. She also facilitates and supports leaders and organizations with colleagues at Teach.Equity.Now. housed at the Pauli Murray Center in Durham, NC. Tema was a member of the Educational Leadership faculty at National Louis University in Chicago and has taught undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral level students in educational leadership and education. She is the author of the award-winning The Emperor Has No Clothes: Teaching About Race and Racism to People Who Don’t Want to Know (2010, IAP) and the widely used article White Supremacy Culture. She launched a website based on a revision and update of the article in May 2021: www.white supremacy culture.info. She publishes regularly on the pedagogy of racial and social justice. Tema is a member of the Bhumisphara Sangha under the leadership of Lama Rod Owens. She is an artist, a poet, and a writer. She lives in Carrboro NC where she is fortunate to reside among beloved community. Her current project is deepening her ability to love her neighbor as herself. She is finding the instruction easy and the follow through challenging, given how we live in a culture that is afraid to help us do either or both.
White Supremacy Culture Website: https://www.whitesupremacyculture.info
Tema's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tema-okun-0a14311a1/
Our podcast and videos are made possible by our supporters on PayPal and Patreon. I want to thank Carol Wishcamper for your support. You too can broaden the impact of our conversations here. Please consider supporting us on Patreon–and getting some cool perks–by visiting Patreon.com/upwithcommunity or making a one-time donation on PayPal by visiting our site at upwithcommunity.org/support.
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Alexandra Brodsky joins Unearthing today to talk about her new book, Sexual Justice: Supporting Victims, Ensuring Due Process, and Resisting the Conservative Backlash.
Values and principles that can guide how institutions handle allegations of wrongdoing by their members. How do we address accusations of sexual harm that the accused denies? Where is dignity for all in the process without a lack of accountability and justice for all?
Alexandra is a civil rights lawyer and founder of Know Your IX, an organization devoted to ending gender violence in schools.
Alexandra’s Twitter Profile: https://twitter.com/azbrodsky
Sexual Justice: Supporting Victims, Ensuring Due Process, and Resisting the Conservative Backlash by Alexandra Brodsky: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250262547
Our podcast and videos are made possible by our supporters on PayPal and Patreon. I want to thank Carol Wishcamper for your support. You too can broaden the impact of our conversations here. Please consider supporting us on Patreon–and getting some cool perks–by visiting Patreon.com/upwithcommunity or making a one-time donation on PayPal by visiting our site at upwithcommunity.org/support.
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Want more inspiration each month? Sign up for our personal, monthly letter with videos, resources and reflections for moving from ideas to action: http://eepurl.com/NKUnv
Ideas To Action Field Guide: https://upwithcommunity.org/turn-ideas-into-action/
Up With Community Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/UpWithCommunity
Visit our website - https://www.upwithcommunity.org
Follow UWC on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/upwithcommunity/
Like UWC on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/UpWithCommunity/
Follow me on Twitter - https://twitter.com/nicomchin
Passive house standards are calling us to help address climate change to make more resilient buildings that are healthier for us.
In this episode of Unearthing, Naomi shares her story of how she got into the passive house industry + how she’d like to see communities in Maine benefit from it.
Naomi Beal is the Executive Director and founding member of passivhausMAINE and a founding board member of the North American Passive House Network. Naomi embraces the challenge of developing phME into a sustainable organization through local, national and international partnerships. Naomi believes Maine’s economic development can be fostered through a framework of building efficiency and innovative and traditional wood products. She lives in South Freeport, ME.
passivhausMAINE Website: https://www.passivhausmaine.org
passivhausMAINE Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/passivhausMAINE/
passivhausMAINE Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/passivhausmaine/
US Architects Declare Climate, Justice, and Biodiversity Emergency: https://us.architectsdeclare.com
Our podcast and videos are made possible by our supporters on PayPal and Patreon. I want to thank Carol Wishcamper for your support. You too can broaden the impact of our conversations here. Please consider supporting us on Patreon–and getting some cool perks–by visiting Patreon.com/upwithcommunity or making a one-time donation on PayPal by visiting our site at upwithcommunity.org/support.
.
Want more inspiration each month? Sign up for our personal, monthly letter with videos, resources and reflections for moving from ideas to action: http://eepurl.com/NKUnv
Ideas To Action Field Guide: https://upwithcommunity.org/turn-ideas-into-action/
Up With Community Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/UpWithCommunity
Visit our website - https://www.upwithcommunity.org
Follow UWC on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/upwithcommunity/
Like UWC on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/UpWithCommunity/
Follow me on Twitter - https://twitter.com/nicomchin
There is hope for economic justice in America.
That hope begins with having more explicit conversations about the ties that bond us, and building economic systems that bring us together, rather than tear us apart.
I was grateful for the chance to sit down with friend and author, Brian Johnson, to hear more about his new book: Our Fair Share. Brian shares his proposal for a Citizen Dividend that can transform how we connect to each other and our economy.
We’ll explore: what brought him to this idea, what experiences drove him while writing, and how communities can use his ideas in action.
Brian C. Johnson has spent a career in social justice across the country. He currently serves as the CEO of Equality Illinois, the statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization for Illinois. Prior to this role, he has served as a first grade teacher in Baton Rouge, a public school leader in Hollywood, a political candidate in Los Angeles, and the head of a community organizing team working in two dozen cities across the country. His book Our Fair Share: How One Small Change Can Create a More Equitable American Economy brings his fresh view on our country's values as it seeks to help tackle economic inequality in America.
Brian’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamtherealbcj
Brian’s Website: https://www.briancjohnson.org
Our podcast and videos are made possible by our supporters on PayPal and Patreon. I want to thank Carol Wishcamper for your support. You too can broaden the impact of our conversations here. Please consider supporting us on Patreon–and getting some cool perks–by visiting Patreon.com/upwithcommunity or making a one-time donation on PayPal by visiting our site at upwithcommunity.org/support.
.
Want more inspiration each month? Sign up for our personal, monthly letter with videos, resources and reflections for moving from ideas to action: http://eepurl.com/NKUnv
Ideas To Action Field Guide: https://upwithcommunity.org/turn-ideas-into-action/
Up With Community Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/UpWithCommunity
Visit our website - https://www.upwithcommunity.org
Follow UWC on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/upwithcommunity/
Like UWC on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/UpWithCommunity/
Follow me on Twitter - https://twitter.com/nicomchin
What is white resiliency? What are some ways to build + develop it? What does the characteristics of white resiliency include? What is the application or connections of racial resiliency to other identities in the world? How resiliency is connected to the greater liberation?
Today we’re talking about a tool I’ve been using extensively since the first day I found it: The White Resiliency Framework. Craig has lots to teach us about entering into the conversations about racism without defensiveness, denial and centering ourselves.
Check out Building White Resiliency by Craig White: https://www.nonprofitmaine.org/wp-content/uploads/Building-White-Resiliency.pdf
Craig White is the founder and principal of Craig White Consulting, working with schools, nonprofits and foundations around the US to offer racial equity training and consulting, give voice to marginalized groups and shine a light on issues of equity and underrepresentation. In addition, Craig serves as the Supportive Schools Director and Special Projects Advisor for the Campaign for Southern Equity, where he provides training, policy guidance, and assessment services to assist Southern schools in becoming more inclusive and welcoming for students of every sexual and gender identity. He also advises and advocates on other LGBTQ youth-related issues and policies.
Craig is an adjunct faculty member in the education program at Warren Wilson College and serves as a co-leader of the Leadership Learning Exchange for Equity, a program of the Maine Community Foundation. Craig graduated from Brown University before getting a master's degree in social work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a William C. Friday Fellow for Human Relations through the Wildacres Leadership Initiative. He has lived with his family in the Asheville, NC area since 1999.
Our podcast and videos are made possible by our supporters on PayPal and Patreon. I want to thank Carol Wishcamper for your support. You too can broaden the impact of our conversations here. Please consider supporting us on Patreon–and getting some cool perks–by visiting Patreon.com/upwithcommunity or making a one-time donation on PayPal by visiting our site at upwithcommunity.org/support.
.
Want more inspiration each month? Sign up for our personal, monthly letter with videos, resources and reflections for moving from ideas to action: http://eepurl.com/NKUnv
Ideas To Action Field Guide: https://upwithcommunity.org/turn-ideas-into-action/
Up With Community Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/UpWithCommunity
Visit our website - https://www.upwithcommunity.org
Follow UWC on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/upwithcommunity/
Like UWC on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/UpWithCommunity/
Follow me on Twitter - https://twitter.com/nicomchin
Hi friends. Welcome to Unearthing: Our chats with organizers, leaders, and teachers about the powerful tools they’ve created to build justice. I’m Nico Chin, founder of Up With Community in Lewiston, Maine. We help people learn better together.
In season one, Brass Tacks, I interviewed change makers to understand their achievements and challenges. In this season, Unearthing, and it'll be a little different. We're taking pieces of media and mining them for key insights. We’ll chat with the creators of these tools to explore why they created them, how they are being used in the world, and how you might use them in your work.
Our podcast and videos are made possible by our supporters on PayPal and Patreon. I want to thank Carol Wishcamper for your support. You too can broaden the impact of our conversations here. Please consider supporting us on Patreon–and getting some cool perks–by visiting Patreon.com/upwithcommunity or making a one-time donation on PayPal by visiting our site at upwithcommunity.org/support.
Let’s get into it!
For the inaugural episode of our second season, Unearthing, my husband Ben and I will be diving deeper into topics relevant to organizing and organizations: How they self structure, whether and how they adapt to crises, how they scale, why they shrink, and what practices they utilize to carry out their missions, among a lot of other nuanced tidbits of history and learning. Today, we're looking at organizations as living organisms.
Support the Maine People's Alliance: https://www.mainepeoplesalliance.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=2
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Want more inspiration each month? Sign up for our personal, monthly letter with videos, resources and reflections for moving from ideas to action: http://eepurl.com/NKUnv
Ideas To Action Field Guide: https://upwithcommunity.org/turn-ideas-into-action/
Up With Community Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/UpWithCommunity
Visit our website - https://www.upwithcommunity.org
Follow UWC on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/upwithcommunity/
Like UWC on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/UpWithCommunity/
Follow me on Twitter - https://twitter.com/nicomchin
Question: What do we say when we're asked "What does equity have to do with my mission?" Put differently, how do we respond to the following comment? "Well, I don't think equity is a part of our organizational mission." We were fortunate to sit down with Kerrien Suarez, Executive Director of Equity in the Center, to explore how she navigates situations like these. An answer: You've got to be comfortable telling the truth to yourself before you can invite others to make their own discoveries. "The goal is to help people learn and catalyze actions so they can transform their culture to center equity." Check out our full conversation here. For more resources visit www.equityinthecenter.org! Original publishing date: December 16, 2019
The project of white supremacy is deeply intertwined and at times is no different than the project of patriarchy. It is our responsibility to pull back the misogynistic interpretation of feminism that would have us ignore it, make fun of it, or push it aside as "not for me". What is feminism? What is misogyny? And what is the value to each of us of reclaiming a useful sense of these terms? We chat with Professor Kim Simmons, about the multiple useful definitions of feminism and what we can do with them.
There are moments of change that completely redefine who we are - to the world, and to ourselves. How do we walk through these moments with grace and courage? How do we explore connections to race and gender that influence these changes? Check out our conversation with Professor Leslie Hill. Original publishing date: September 29, 2019
Where do I need to relax more? Where could I bring myself joy? Comedy improv has always been a tool that helps me in those reflections. I wanted to spend some time with Emily talking more about our experiences as women of color in comedy and what it brings us in life. Original publishing date: July 30, 2019
How do we manage when parts of ourselves (our power, courage, warts, energy) scare us? How do we find the humility and grace to fully see ourselves, and share ourselves fully with the world? Check out our conversation with Cathy Kidman! Original publishing date: June 13, 2019
What does it mean to organize for climate change solutions in your own backyard? What can we do to live our racial justice values in organizing with our neighbors? Every time I sit down with Devon Hall, Executive Director of Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help, I learn something that I can take back to the hard work of organizing back in my own community in Lewiston, Maine. We hope this chat shines some light into your backyard. For More on Devon's work: https://www.ncruralempowerment.org/ Original publishing date: April 15, 2019
How do we stop using pain as our barometer for life? How do we find new shapes that let us take new risks in our work? Check out our conversation with Jennifer Sconyers, President and Founder of Abundance Leadership Consulting - http://www.jennifersconyers.com/ Original publishing date: January 28, 2019
Gratitude is the oxygen of my fire. And yet, this season of Thanksgiving, it's easy to start to feel like gratitude is cliche, something we do for others or because of obligation. Thanks to Grayling, I've been spending the last few weeks slowing down during my day and stopping to breathe in all I'm truly grateful for - staying connected to others and myself in the process. Original publishing date: November 15, 2018
Welcome back to Up With Community: Brass Tacks, our series on the tough questions for moving from ideas to action. Today, we’re taking an in-depth look at how we can experience joy in tough times with Veronica. Hope you enjoy this episode and subscribe for the next one! Original publication date: September 1, 2018
Welcome to Up With Community: Brass Tacks. This season we tackle your toughest questions on moving from ideas to action.. Join me and Dean Danielle Conway if you’re seeking practical skills for leadership, organizational development, adult learning or team building. And subscribe for more episodes! Original publication date: September 16, 2018