[Rhonda Freeman]

https://laceonrace.com/2022/02/25/rhondas-hope-vision-2022/

Rhonda’s Hope & Vision 2022

Discussion

[Kelsi Watters]

Rhonda, thank you for sharing and for walking with us. The chocolate company sounds amazing, by the way. It can be a significant transition, unlearning some of the things our families have taught us, such as not to see or acknowledge a person’s color. Interestingly, my journey began with the then-shocking results of an intercultural competence inventory (the IDI), after which I immersed myself in books, mostly Black liberation theology. Then my clinical educator challenged me to listen to the current experiences of Black and brown people. I stumbled upon LoR shortly before the Black Spring. I am so glad I did. Yes, I too agree that the hardest part is knowing that I personally cause harm to Black and brown people. As you said, itis past time to mitigate. That’s why I am here, joining LoR’s hope and vision to create a better world for Black and brown people, (which will be a better world for everyone).

[Rebecca McClinton]

Rhonda’s words have me thinking on how ingrained whyte woman perfectionism is…and how it bleeds into this work. Whyte supremacy has women fighting to be the best at everything, (often against each other) even racial justice, because doing so keeps us scrambling, up and over…others. keeping us just the place whyte supremacy wants us. The relationships here, the eye to eye and shoulder to shoulder, the calling a thing a thing, the love, repairs and open invitation to come back, try again, pivot, all challenge that perfectionism.

[Emily Holzknecht]

The system is set up to ensure that I cause harm to Black and brown people. I must continue to work to lessen that harm. Lessening that harm isn’t something I can do without sacrifice. Accepting that I cause harm and that I will always cause harm makes room for me to work to mitigate harm as well. Lesson and mitigate. Lessen and mitigate.

[Author]

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