[Libs-Or] Unpacking Discussion Issues a Challenge!

[Anna Skinner]

Bryan Stevenson:

"You can be very progressive, you can be very educated, and you can still
be complicit in the kind of microaggression that takes place
when you look at people through this lens of racial difference. So we all
have a lot to learn. I don’t think that we should expect to make
progress on these issues without bumping into one another, without making
mistakes. We just have to have the humility and the patience
and the courage to work through that. What I don’t think we should do is
just retreat because we don’t know exactly where all the landmines are."

Best,
Anna

On Wed, Mar 1, 2023 at 1:30 PM Unpacking Discussion Group via Libs-Or <
libs-or at omls.oregon.gov> wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> Last month in Unpacking, we started working our way through the White
> Supremacy Culture article by Tema Okun. We talked a lot about perfectionism
> and a fear of failure. The vast majority of us (white folks) are scared to
> venture into difficult discussions, especially about EDI, because we're
> afraid of "messing up." *We challenge you to overcome that fear and join
> us tomorrow. *We don't bite. In fact, we all leave feeling more
> supported, informed, and reflective than when we came into the (virtual)
> room. Realizing you've misstepped doesn't mean you are a bad person; it
> means you are willing to push yourself and learn. That's a great thing!
>
> If you have any questions, please just let us know. You can sign up for
> tomorrow's discussion and future updates on our website
> <https://unpackingdiscussion.weebly.com/about--contact.html>.
>
> Best,
>
> *The Unpacking Team*
> unpackingdiscussion.weebly.com
> unpackingdiscussion at gmail.com
> Caitlin McMahan (she/her) Eugene Public Library
> Taylor Worley (she/her) Eugene Public Library
> Brittany Young (she/her) Lane County Law Library
>
> *Unpacking  <https://unpackingdiscussion.weebly.com/>*is a
> discussion-based forum created to provide a space in which white and
> white-identifying individuals can examine the realities of their white
> privilege. Through conversation, we explore how to actively dismantle
> systems which oppress Black, Indigenous, and People of Color and from which
> all white and white-identifying individuals benefit. *Unpacking* is
> designed for the communal education of white and white-identifying
> individuals, but welcomes all people who would like to contribute to or
> engage in this work. Additionally, though *Unpacking *is rooted in
> conversations about race, we welcome a broad range of topics which can help
> libraries and museums to become more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and
> accessible.
>
> *Spring Season:*
> Tema Okun's White Supremacy Culture article.
> <https://www.whitesupremacyculture.info/uploads/4/3/5/7/43579015/okun_-_white_sup_culture_2020.pdf>
>  *We're going to work through this together in real time, so there is no
> expectation that you will have already read the article.* That being
> said, if you would like to build yourself a more robust foundation, we
> highly recommend reading the original article, exploring Okun's website
> <https://www.whitesupremacyculture.info/>, and checking out their recent
> update, "White Supremacy Culture: Still Here
> <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XR_7M_9qa64zZ00_JyFVTAjmjVU-uSz8/view>"
> from May 2021.
>
>
>

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anna Skinner
factwrangler at gmail.com
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