Episode 13: Ten Ways to Disrupt White Supremacy

The Water We’ve Been Swimming In, The Air We’ve Been Breathing

One thing white supremacy is great at is hiding its existence from white people. I’m not talking about the kind of white supremacy that stormed the Capitol, but the everyday, everywhere, now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t type. The kind that masquerades as the normal order of things and that appears to us to be just the way it is and the way we’ve always done it.

The deniability of white supremacy is its greatest asset. (“What, this is a problem for you? You’re just too sensitive — that’s the problem!”) That goes a long way toward explaining why we’ve been so slow to catch on to its insidious tricks. White supremacy has been working exactly as planned.

For more than 400 years.

The good news is that once you begin to see it, you can’t un-see it. And it hates for its subtleties to be identified.

In today’s episode of the Accidental Muralist Podcast, I’m exposing white supremacy to the light of day and suggesting eight, then nine — ok, TEN things we can each do to disrupt it. Once we learn to recognize that it IS the water we’ve been swimming in and the air we’ve been breathing, the possibilities for meaningful change are endless — and urgent.

Ok, Beautiful Disrupters, let’s do and be everything white supremacy is NOT.

Sounds crazy but the changes can be joyful. And definitely healthy. Life-affirming. In essence, everything white supremacy is not. How could it be otherwise? This is the most heartfelt way I could think of to honor Black History Month.

I do NOT want to trivialize or gloss over the devastating, murderous impact white supremacy has had — and continues to have, daily — on Black people and other marginalized groups in our country. In fact, it’s all too easy for white people to see it as someone else’s problem or think “I’m a good person, so I’m doing my part.” But it’s much more pervasive than that, and our inaction perpetuates the harm. I DO want to insert imagination and creativity into the work and show how each of us can make a difference. Lives are being lost while we figure this out, so let’s not delay.

Join me for a listen. There’s an invitation around minute 24 — a chance for you to chime in.

Ok, I’ll just tell you about it here.

After listening to my 10 ideas for how to disrupt white supremacy, I’d love to hear yours. I want to crowd-source an even longer list to include in my next blog post, which will come out next Wednesday, March 3rd. You can post your ideas in the comments below, or send me an email (pam@AllHandsArt.com).

Life is heavy right now. I wish for you lightness and grace. Perhaps you’ll find some in this episode. ❤️🙏🏽✨

With love,
Pam

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Episode Notes

I refer to a blog post I wrote last year that referenced Kristen Neff’s research on self-compassion. That article is here and the reference is in the section called “Step Two: Flip the Script.”

I’d also like to acknowledge more of the wise teachers whose work has helped shape my ideas. They include Rev. angel Kyodo williams, Michael Meade, Bo Forbes, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Acharya Shunya, Mirabai Starr, Leonard Schlain, bell hooks, Brené Brown, Ibram X Kendi, Jason Reynolds, Liz Gilbert, Bessel van der Kolk, Jacqueline Suskin, my own children and sisters and friends, and more. One way I’m trying to be less white supremacist in my thinking is to notice when I’m feeling like “I did this all myself!” and instead stop to recognize the many people whose voices and efforts have informed my own. I stand on the shoulders of many. Lifting oneself up by one’s bootstraps is not possible nor advisable.